The gravestones at the Srebrenica Genocide memorial. |
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Year established | September 20, 2003 |
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Location | Potočari, Srebrenica |
| Type | Public |
| Website | www.potocarimc.ba |
The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide[1], is the memorial-cemetery complex in Srebrenica set up to honour the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
DNA tests and other forensic methods have led to the identification and burial of 8372 victims.[2]
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The $5.8 million memorial-cemetery complex paid for with donations from private groups and governments. The United States provided $1 million toward the project.[3][4] The memorial was opened by the former United States President, Bill Clinton, on September 20, 2003, when he told thousands of relatives of the Srebrenica massacre victims:[5][6]
| “ | Bad people who lusted for power killed these good people simply because of who they were. But Srebrenica was the beginning of the end of genocide in Europe. [...] We remember this terrible crime because we dare not forget, because we must pay tribute to the innocent lives, many of them children, snuffed out in what must be called genocidal madness. [...] I hope the very mention of the name “Srebrenica” will remind every child in the world that pride in our own religious and ethnic heritage does not require or permit us to dehumanize or kill those who are different. I hope and pray that Srebrenica will be for all the world a sober reminder of our common humanity. [...] May God bless the men and boys of Srebrenica and this sacred land their remains grace. | ” |
Bill Clinton was the President of the United States during much of the Bosnian war and presided over the Dayton peace agreement.
On July 5, 2005, Bosnian Serb police found two bombs at the memorial site, just days ahead of a ceremony to mark the massacre's 10th anniversary, when 580 identified victims were to be buried during the ceremony, and more than 50,000 people, including international politicians and diplomats, were expected to attend. The bombs would have caused widespread loss of life and injury had they exploded, and were probably aimed at plunging the region into further bloodshed.[7][8]
On July 11, 2007, 30,000 gathered to the 12th anniversary. Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, also attended.[9] On July 12, 2007, a day after the 12th anniversary of the massacre and the burial of a further 465 victims, a group of men dressed in Chetnik uniforms marched the streets of Srebrenica. They all wore badges of military units which committed the massacre in July 1995.[10][11]
On July 11, 2009, marking the 14th anniversary, some 40,000 Bosniak mourners, a number of western diplomats and civic associations from across the region attended the burial ceremony on Saturday for 534 newly identified victims. Among the victims were 44 teenagers. No Bosnian Serb high-level officials were present at the ceremony. Ethnically related incidents such as graffiti containing threats on a mosque and the vandalism of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national flag torn from the Bratunac town-hall building occurred.[12][13] Members of the Ravna Gora Chetnik movement desecrated the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina, marched in the streets wearing T-shirts with the face of Ratko Mladić and sang Chetnik songs.[14][15][16] A group of men and women associated with Obraz "chanted insults directed towards the victims and in support of the Chetnik movement, calling for eradication of Islam".[17] A full report of the incident was submitted to the local District Prosecutor's Office but no one has been prosecuted.[18] Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a law banning fascist organizations and similar groups and the police there considered it "freedom of association".[19]
On July 11, 2010, the 15th anniversary, 775 coffins were buried including one of a Roman Catholic Bosnian Croat.[20][21] A statement by the US president Barack Obama was read:
| “ | On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, and on behalf of the United States, I join my voice with those who are gathered to mourn a great loss and to reflect on an unimaginable tragedy.
Fifteen years ago today, despite decades of pledges of “never again,” 8,000 men and boys were murdered in these fields and hills. They were brothers, sons, husbands, and fathers, and they all became victims of genocide. I have said, and I believe, that the horror of Srebrenica was a stain on our collective conscience. We honor their memories and mourn with their families, as many of them are laid to rest here today. They were people who sought to live in peace and had relied on the promise of international protection, but in their hour of greatest need, they were left to fend for themselves. Only those of you who suffered through those days, who lost loved ones, can comprehend the unspeakable horror. You have carried this burden and live with pain and loss every moment of your lives. This atrocity galvanized the international community to act to end the slaughter of civilians, and the name Srebrenica has since served as a stark reminder of the need for the world to respond resolutely in the face of evil. For fifteen years, the United States has joined with you to foster peace and reconciliation in this troubled land. We recognize that there can be no lasting peace without justice, and we know that we will all be judged by the efforts we make in pursuit of justice for Srebrenica’s victims and those who mourn them. Justice must include a full accounting of the crimes that occurred, full identification and return of all those who were lost, and prosecution and punishment of those who carried out the genocide. This includes Ratko Mladic, who presided over the killings and remains at large. The United States calls on all governments to redouble their efforts to find those responsible, to arrest them, and to bring them to justice. In so doing, we will honor Srebrenica’s victims and fulfill our moral and legal commitments to end impunity for crimes of such awful magnitude. We have a sacred duty to remember the cruelty that occurred here, and to prevent such atrocities from happening again. We have an obligation to victims and to their surviving family members. And we have a responsibility to future generations all over the globe to agree that we must refuse to be bystanders to evil; whenever and wherever it occurs, we must be prepared to stand up for human dignity. May God bless you all, and may God bless the memory of all those who rest here.[22] |
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Serbian President Boris Tadić attended the ceremony.[23]