Balkans | ‘Unidentified’ victims of the Srebrenica genocide await burial

The skeletal remains of more than 100 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which more than 8,000 Bosnian civilians were killed, are preserved in morgues.

The victims of the Srebrenica genocide, which has been described as the greatest human tragedy after World War II in Europe, who were killed by Serb forces and who have not been identified because there were no surviving relatives, show the gravity of the persecution. .

The former head of the Institute for Missing Persons, Amor Masovich, who went to great lengths to find the skeletal remains of those killed in the Holocaust, drew attention to the unknown victims waiting in the morgue for an AA reporter, and said: “When I was on duty, that number was 98. It’s probably more than 100 now.” He said.

“The unknowns are people whose DNA has been analyzed but whose DNA cannot be compared with blood samples because they have no living relatives. Perhaps his relatives suffered the same fate. There may be genocide victims whose bones were found 15 years ago.” And who have been waiting for years in the cold morgue rooms.” Use phrases.

‘The unknowns should also have tombstones in Potocari’

The victims, the unidentified owners of the bone remains, also suffered from hunger, thirst and cruelty in Srebrenica, Masović said, “They also suffered a genocidal fate. They were also shot along with the tombstones in Potocari today.” He said.

Noting that the remains of unnamed mass graves have also been exhumed, Masović said, “They should also find peace in Potocari with their friends, loved ones and acquaintances. They should also have a white tombstone. It may contain unnamed information.” And the mass graves that have been excavated. They also deserve to be recited to their souls, Al-Fatiha. He rated it.

Noting that the information on the headstone may change when a relative turns up alive, Masovich noted that those unidentified victims waiting in the morgue should be treated more humanely.

At least 8,372 people were killed in Srebrenica

Sentenced to life in prison by the International Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, for several war crimes, including the Srebrenica genocide, former Serbian commander Ratko Mladic captured Srebrenica with Serbian soldiers under his command on July 11, 1995.

Dedicating Srebrenica to the Serbian nation on the eve of Serbia’s holiday, Mladić said, “Finally, the time has come to take revenge on the Turks (Muslims in the region are also called Turks) in this land.” Use phrases.

Although the civilians living in the city hoped to survive by taking shelter with the Dutch soldiers serving in the area under the supervision of the United Nations (UN), the Dutch handed over everyone without exception to the Serbian forces.

In the end, within a few days, no less than 8,372 people were brutally murdered in Srebrenica and the surrounding settlements, and many families were exiled.

The dead were buried in various mass graves

After the fall of Srebrenica to the Serb soldiers, some Bosniaks who did not want to take refuge with the Dutch wanted to reach the area under the control of the BH Army through the forest road.

The fate of the majority of those who chose the jungle path is the same as those who took refuge in the UN base. Thousands of Bosnian civilians who crossed the Jungle Road, also known as the “Death Road” among the people, lost their lives in the traps set by the Serbs.

While the civilians who had taken refuge with the Dutch soldiers realized what would happen to them after the first night, the Serbs, entering the civilians being held in the factory compound used as a base, checked their identification and took some of the men by arbitrary choice.

The next day, Serb soldiers were waiting outside the base, a few meters away from the Dutch soldiers, and put the women and children into buses, separating the men from their families there.

Thousands of men, separated from their families, were murdered and buried in various mass graves, while women and children were banished from the towns in which they had lived for years.

While the Serbs aimed to destroy the Bosnian population by killing men, they called this “ethnic cleansing”.

30 genocide victims will be buried this year

After the war, the victims whose bodies were found were buried in mass graves in an effort to find the missing in a ceremony held at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery on 11 July each year after their identification.

On the 28th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, another 30 genocide victims, whose identities have been identified and approved by their families, will be buried at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery.

AA