Newly identified Srebrenica victims to be laid rest on anniversary

BELGRADE

Bosnia and Herzegovina has finalized arrangements to bid farewell to 14 additional victims of the Srebrenica genocide on the 29th anniversary of the atrocity.

Green coffins with the remains of the victims are ready in Visoko from where they will depart July 9 for the village of Potocari to be buried July 11 at the collective funeral.

Every July 11, newly identified victims of Europe's worst genocide since World War II, which killed more than 8,000 people, are buried in a memorial cemetery in Potocari in eastern Bosnia.

The youngest victim to be buried this year is Beriz Mujic, 17, born in 1978 in Zvornik.

His remains were found 28 years after his death and exhumed in May 2023.

He was killed in July 1995 in the Suceska area near Bratunac and his remains were exhumed in the Srebrenica municipality area.

Thousands of visitors from various countries will attend the funeral service and burials. After this year’s funeral, the number of burials in the cemetery will rise to 6,765.

The bodies, whose identification has been completed, are kept in the Visoko City Cemetery.

Coffins bearing the names of the deceased will be transported from Visoko to Srebrenica.

Bosnia Herzegovina's Federation entity passed a decision declaring July 11, 2024, the Day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide, as a Day of Mourning in the entity.

The move came after the U.N. in late May passed a resolution to designate July 11 as Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day, with overwhelming support from the General Assembly.

The resolution, spearheaded by Germany with co-sponsorship from more than 40 countries, called for July 11 to be declared "International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica."

The Day of Mourning will be marked by a mandatory display of the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina at half-mast on the buildings of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, public institutions, and other legal entities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.