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The ceremony on Thursday in front of the Bosnian presidency building was held in honour of the 136 victims of the July 1995 massacres whose remains will be buried at a commemoration in Srebrenica.
Suhra Sinanovic, the president of the Mothers of Podrinje victims’ association, told BIRN that it was shocking that so long afterwards, people were still being buried.
“We are 20 years on from the war and we are still finding our loved ones. Some are being buried this year, some are still missing… hundreds,” said Sinanovic, whose husband was killed in the massacres.
The ceremony was attended by Bosniak and Croat members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic and Dragan Covic, the Muslim religious leader in the country, Husein Kavazovic, and representatives of local authorities.
Izetbegovic said that denial that the massacres were genocide was still common, and must be put to an end.
“What is happening now is disrespectful to the victims,” said Izetbegovic.
Srebrenica’s mayor Camil Durakovic said that without admitting genocide, there can be no real reconciliation.
“The hardest thing to be is a Bosniak in Srebrenica. We have to live with denial and keep living like that every day,” said Durakovic.
The US ambassador to Sarajevo, Maureen Cormack, also attended the ceremony and said she would join marchers who are currently heading to Srebrenica to mark the anniversary.
“Genocide is the most heinous crime and must be condemned. I will attend the Peace March tomorrow to honour the victims,” said Cormack.
This year the remains of 136 victims will be laid to rest at the Srebrenica memorial centre in Potocari.
Among them are 18 minors; the youngest were 16 years old when they were killed. The oldest victim, Jusuf Smajlovic, was killed when he was 75.
