New York: Europe and the Arabs

This is the second year that the United Nations has observed the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, which falls on July 11.

Chaloka Beyani, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, said the massacre “will forever remain a heavy burden on the collective conscience of the international community, the United Nations, and the recent history of our world.”

He called for a minute of silence in honor of the victims, as well as the women and girls who were forcibly displaced and suffered torture in the aftermath of the massacre. Two international tribunals of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, have ruled that the actions committed in Srebrenica constituted genocide.

According to the UN Daily News, a copy of which we received on Saturday morning, the United Nations commemorated the more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys killed in Srebrenica in July 1995, and honored the women and survivors who faced the task of rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The massacre in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina was the largest mass killing in Europe since the Holocaust and one of the darkest chapters of the Balkan wars that erupted following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The Bosnian Serb army overran Srebrenica, which had been declared a safe area under UN Security Council Resolution 819 of 1993. Many victims had sought refuge at the nearby UN compound in Potočari, but were separated from their families, then executed and buried in mass graves.

Three decades after the Srebrenica genocide, three survivors told UN News how they continue to document the truth and preserve the memory of the more than 8,300 men and boys killed in July 1995, warning against the dangers of denying the crime and glorifying its perpetrators.

The Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in the Eastern European town, despite it having been declared a "safe area" by a UN Security Council resolution.

The UN later acknowledged collective responsibility for failing to prevent the Srebrenica genocide. Three survivors said they continue their work at the Srebrenica Memorial Center as archivists, ensuring the full truth about the genocide is told and preserved for future generations.

The center is located on the same ground where thousands of civilians sought refuge under the protection of UN peacekeepers.

Almasa Salihović, spokesperson for the Srebrenica Memorial Center, said: “I was eight years old when I survived the Srebrenica genocide. My brother was killed, as were my uncles on both my mother’s and father’s sides. The total number of victims was 8,372.”

Azeer Osmanović said: “On the main road, there was a checkpoint where men and boys were separated from the others. Many of them were then killed.” Almasa Salihović: “I firmly believe that remembrance helps with healing, and it also helps the family to heal. Every time I tell my brother’s story or my family’s story, I feel like I’m telling the story of all the victims. I chose to work at the Srebrenica Memorial Center five years ago because I’ve always wanted to give a part of myself to the efforts of commemoration and contribute to preserving the memory.”

Amra Begić Fazlić: “We left Srebrenica between 1992 and 1995, but in 2003 I decided to return and try to resume my life here. It wasn’t easy. Most of those who decided to return were thinking about staying close to their loved ones, completing the identification of their remains, and burying them here at the Memorial Center, so that we would have a place to visit them.”

Zir Osmanović, Curator of the Srebrenica Memorial Center Museum

Uzeyre Osmanović: "This is part of our history, and it's my duty to speak about it, to speak about the genocide in Srebrenica, and about everything we experienced here. It's not just my personal story, but the story of thousands of people who lived through the siege of this city. The center preserves personal belongings of victims found in mass graves alongside their remains. This shoe belonged to my cousin. He was 16 years old when he was killed, as were his two brothers."

Almasa Salihović: "What frightens me most is the denial of what happened. There are younger generations growing up today on a false narrative that says the genocide didn't happen, that no war crime was committed, and that those killed here were just soldiers. We, however, hold fast to the facts."

Amra Begić Fazlić: "By definition, genocide denial is the final stage. But unfortunately, in Bosnia today, we are talking about another stage: the glorification of war criminals."