Survivors of the Srebrenica genocide joined top UN officials in marking 30 years since thousands of Bosnian Muslims were systematically killed in the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II.<\/p>\n
They affirmed the need to counter denial, support survivors and promote lasting peace at the event which took place at the UN General Assembly hall on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have survived a genocide,\u201d said Munira Subasic, whose youngest son \u2013 her favourite \u2013 and 21 other family members were murdered in the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the world and Europe was just watching in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now president of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa, Ms. Subasic spoke at a special commemoration, urging global leaders not to forget the past and to deliver justice for the victims and survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you kill a mother\u2019s child, you have killed a part of her,\u201d Ms. Subasic said.<\/p>\n
The 1995 genocide, perpetrated by the Bosnian Serb army, led to the killing of at least 8,372 men and boys, the displacement of thousands and destruction of entire communities in Srebrenica \u2013 which had been designed a \u201csafe area\u201d by the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n
A small and lightly armed unit of Dutch peacekeepers under the UN flag were unable to resist the large Bosnian Serb force, which overran the town of Srebrenica.<\/p>\n
The massacre has been formally recognized as genocide by both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).<\/p>\n
Last year, the General Assembly designated 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration for the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.<\/p>\n
Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray paid tribute to those who lost their lives and to the courage of their families.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we remember and honour the victims. We pay tribute to the strength, dignity and resilience of the survivors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Guterres, in his message, said the international community must continue to stand against hatred, division, and denial.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly by recognizing the suffering of all victims can we build mutual understanding, trust, and lasting peace,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe must ensure the voices of Srebrenica survivors continue to be heard \u2013 countering denial, distortion and revisionism.\u201d<\/p>\n
UN officials expressed concern over ongoing efforts to deny the genocide and glorify those convicted of war crimes. They warned that such narratives can fuel division and hinder reconciliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation remains our strongest defence against the erosion of memory,\u201d said Philemon Yang, President of the General
\nAssembly. \u201cWe must not only remember history, but learn from it so that tragedies like Srebrenica are never repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning from the past is especially important today \u2013 the Secretary-General noted that the same \u201cdangerous currents\u201d which led to the genocide in Srebrenica are present again in the world today.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Srebrenica, the world said \u2013 once again \u2013 \u2018Never Again.\u2019 Yet, hate speech is on the rise again, fuelling discrimination, extremism and violence,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
Mirela Osmanovic, a young professional at the Srebrenica Memorial Center, was born after the genocide but lives with its impact. Two of her brothers were killed. Some of their remains were found, but parts of their bodies are still missing. Their absence, she said, weighs on her family daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents forbade themselves any joy while their sons, my brothers, lay somewhere in the ground, incomplete, scattered across mass graves \u2013 as if every smile would be betrayal, as if happiness might mean forgetting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pain of this loss is always with her family even as the world promised that Srebrenica would never happen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were given words, resolutions, statements, solemn promises of \u2018never again,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd yet, 30 years later, we are still asking what does \u2018never again\u2019 mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Osmanovic speaks frequently with young people around the world who ask what happens when violence ends.
\n\u201cWhat happens when the headlines fade, when the graves are found and facts are clear? Does justice follow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her answer is that justice does not follow often enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice if it comes too late or only on paper cannot restore trust and peace without dignity is not peace at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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