Srebrenica genocide 13th anniversary July 11.2008

Tens of thousands of people commemorated Friday the 13th anniversary of Europe's worst massacre since World War II, and buried 308 more victims of the infamous Srebrenica massacre. A Bosnian Muslim weeps among coffins at a ceremony to mark the 13th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica. Sobbing women walked among the rows of green coffins looking for husbands, sons, fathers and brothers, wanting to touch them one more time. The coffins were picked up by other family members and friends, and carried to pits where the dead were laid to rest. Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in Srebrenica over several days in 1995 when Serb forces overran the town. Like the nearly 3,000 victims already buried at the Srebrenica-Potocari memorial center, the 308 victims buried Friday were found in mass graves, identified and returned to their families. Zina Huremovic, 49, was pregnant the last time she saw her husband, Izet, before she escaped the besieged town in 1993. She searched for Izet ever since, even leaving a drop of her son's blood at the DNA lab. Last year she was notified that Izet's body had been excavated and identified. "I was waiting for all these years -- looked at his picture and hoped he would come back," her son, Ermin, now 15, said as his mother sobbed in his arms. "Today I am burying my hope with him," the boy said. "That's why I will never forget or forgive." Every year, more victims' bodies are found in mass graves around Srebrenicia. DNA tests and other forensic methods have led to the identification and burial at the memorial center, which consists of a huge cemetery, a small museum and a row of marble blocks on which the names of the victims -- those unearthed and those not -- are engraved. Beyond the sea of 3,300 graves lies a huge field awaiting another 5,000 bodies yet to be found. During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, the United Nations declared Srebrenicia -- which had been besieged by Serb forces throughout the war -- a U.N.-protected safe area for civilians. A number Bosnians flocked there for protection. But in July 1995, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran the enclave. The outnumbered U.N. troops never fired a shot. They watched as Mladic's troops rounded up the entire population of Srebrenica and took the men away for execution. The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, has ruled that the Srebrenica massacre was genocide. It has been described by former Secretary General Kofi Annan as the darkest page in U.N. history. Mladic and the former Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, both indicted for genocide. Ratko Mladic still in hiding. Mladic is believed to be in Serbia; Karadzic's is arrested in Serbia befoe cuople days. In 1995, about 15,000 men tried to escape the slaughter by fleeing over the mountains toward the safe town of Tuzla. They were hunted along their 65-mile walk; those caught were killed. Among them was the youngest victim buried Friday. Kasim Omerovic was 15 when he persuaded his mother to let him join his older brother, Camil, on the walk to Tuzla. "Camil was 21. He told me that it may be best for him to try to flee through the woods. Kasim begged me to let him go along, saying he feels safer with his older brother," their mother, 49-year old Fata Omerovic said. "They found Kasim in a mass grave," she said. "They have not yet found Camil." Many Muslim Bosnians blame the Dutch U.N. peacekeepers for not protecting the civilians in Srebrenica. The Dutch argue they were outgunned and outnumbered. This year, 12 former Dutch soldiers who served in Srebrenica joined a memorial march -- made by survivors and volunteers every July -- along the mountain track the 15,000 men took in 1995. "I do not consider myself personally responsible for what happened," said Rob Zomer, 35, one of the former soldiers. "I did what I could." advertisement His colleague Johan de Jonge, 40, said July 1995 has changed his life: he has become aggressive, and suffers nightmares and insomnia. The head of Bosnia's Islamic Community, Mustafa Ceric called on the European Union to declare July 11 a European day of mourning -- a day on which European nations will pledge every year that neither another Holocaust nor another Srebrenica will ever happen again.(CNN REPORT) ___________________________________ srebrenica genocide genocid serbia karadzic mladic bosna hercegovina bosnia herzegovina hersek türkiye islam podrinje zlocin agresija masovna ubistva radovan karadzic ratko mladic republika srpska srbija srbi serbia muslimani hrvati monte negro croatia macedonia slovenia europe cerska konjevic polje bratunac pobudje glogova sandici zvornik prijedor tuzla zenica srajevo bihac gorazde banja luka rat juli 11 1995 saudi arabia jordan iraq iran italy germany spania france greece USA britain kuwait jordan aman oman qatar austria sweden البوسنة bulgaria romania kosovo albania russia new delhi pakistan egypt sudan libya peru south america algeria marocco israel والهرسك

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YouTube | July 29, 2008

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