From Srebrenica to Gaza: Genocide Denial and the Long Struggle for Justice
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July 11 is an international day of commemoration for the thirtieth anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, the largest mass killing in Europe since 1945. In mid-July 1995, over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys were murdered by the VRS, the army of Republika Srpska (RS), the statelet which Bosnian-Serbian nationalists, in conjunction with the Serbian government, had carved out of Bosnia-Herzegovina during the previous three years.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations and most states have now recognised Srebrenica as a genocide.
The RS leader, Radovan Karadžić, and VRS commander Ratko Mladić, who oversaw the massacre, are both serving life terms for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, which include Srebrenica.
The Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, who instigated the genocidal conquest of Bosnia in 1992 after a campaign in Croatia in 1991, was facing similar charges when he died in ICTY custody in 2006.
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Reform UK Tells Prospective Candidates Who Failed Vetting to Reapply Under New 'Common Sense' Rules
Individuals previously blocked from standing for Nigel Farage's party have been told to reapply under new rules prioritising "freedom of expression"
Josiah Mortimer
Recognition and Denial
The international recognition of the "Srebrenica Genocide" appears to contrast with the denial of Israel's current genocide in Gaza. Yet Srebrenica was also comprehensively denied at the time and continues to be denied by Serbia.
Basic knowledge of the killings, the intention of Serbian leaders to execute so many people, and the extent of Western complicity, all had to be painstakingly exposed over many years. Karadžić and Mladić were on the run for a decade and a half before being caught in 2008 and 2011.
It was not only the international trials and the excavation of the victims' bodies (which the perpetrators had tried to hide) which has largely overcome the denial. The determined campaigning of women survivors has also played a crucial role; although women from Srebrenica were raped and murdered in 1995, most were bussed out while their menfolk, columns of whom tried to flee the Serbian forces, were hunted down and slaughtered - some in methodical executions after being forced to dig their own graves. The Mothers of Srebrenica have been fighting for justice ever since.
Equally, the Serbian nationalists were not the only ones responsible for the Srebrenica killings. In 1993, when Serbians were already threatening to overrun the town, in which thousands of Bosnian refugees were sheltering, the UN had proclaimed a "safe area" around it.
In 1995, a Dutch battalion, commanded by a multinational UN force based in the Bosnian cap
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
July 11 is an international day of commemoration for the thirtieth anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, the largest mass killing in Europe since 1945. In mid-July 1995, over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys were murdered by the VRS, the army of Republika Srpska (RS), the statelet which Bosnian-Serbian nationalists, in conjunction with the Serbian government, had carved out of Bosnia-Herzegovina during the previous three years.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations and most states have now recognised Srebrenica as a genocide.
The RS leader, Radovan Karadžić, and VRS commander Ratko Mladić, who oversaw the massacre, are both serving life terms for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, which include Srebrenica.
The Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, who instigated the genocidal conquest of Bosnia in 1992 after a campaign in Croatia in 1991, was facing similar charges when he died in ICTY custody in 2006.
BREAKING
Reform UK Tells Prospective Candidates Who Failed Vetting to Reapply Under New 'Common Sense' Rules
Individuals previously blocked from standing for Nigel Farage's party have been told to reapply under new rules prioritising "freedom of expression"
Josiah Mortimer
Recognition and Denial
The international recognition of the "Srebrenica Genocide" appears to contrast with the denial of Israel's current genocide in Gaza. Yet Srebrenica was also comprehensively denied at the time and continues to be denied by Serbia.
Basic knowledge of the killings, the intention of Serbian leaders to execute so many people, and the extent of Western complicity, all had to be painstakingly exposed over many years. Karadžić and Mladić were on the run for a decade and a half before being caught in 2008 and 2011.
It was not only the international trials and the excavation of the victims' bodies (which the perpetrators had tried to hide) which has largely overcome the denial. The determined campaigning of women survivors has also played a crucial role; although women from Srebrenica were raped and murdered in 1995, most were bussed out while their menfolk, columns of whom tried to flee the Serbian forces, were hunted down and slaughtered - some in methodical executions after being forced to dig their own graves. The Mothers of Srebrenica have been fighting for justice ever since.
Equally, the Serbian nationalists were not the only ones responsible for the Srebrenica killings. In 1993, when Serbians were already threatening to overrun the town, in which thousands of Bosnian refugees were sheltering, the UN had proclaimed a "safe area" around it.
In 1995, a Dutch battalion, commanded by a multinational UN force based in the Bosnian cap
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