Remembering Srebrenica Genocide
in Bosnia after 25 Years
Dr. Mozammel Haque
In
July 1995, over
8,000 Bosnian men and boys were massacred, in just five days.
Thousands of women went missing and were the victims of heinous war crimes. Till
this day, bodies continue to be excavated, giving families an opportunity to
finally pray Janaza on their loved ones and bury them honourably.
More
than three years before the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, Bosnian Serb nationalists
– with the logistical, moral and financial support of Serbia and the Yugoslav
Peoples’ Army (JNK) – destroyed 296 predominantly Bosniak villages in the
region around Srebrenica, forcibly uprooting some 70,000 Bosniaks from their
homes.
Europe’s
worst massacre since World War II occurred 25 years ago this july. From 11 July
to 19 July in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces murdered 7,000 to 8,000 Muslim men and
boys in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica, wrote Tom Mockoitis from DePaul University on July 8, 2020.
The
Srebrenica massacre occurred two years after the United Nations had designated
the city to be a “safe area” for civilians fleeing fighting. Some 20,000
refugees and 37,000 residents sheltered in the city, protected by fewer than
500 armed international peacekeepers. Serb forces carried out a carefully
planned act of genocide.
In
July 1995 Bosnian Serb troops stormed the UN safe area around Srebrenica and
before the eyes of Dutch UN troops. Bosnian Serb soldiers and police rounded up
men and boys ages 16 to 60 – nearly all of them innocent civilians shot, killed
and buried them in mass graves.
The
name Srebrenica stands recalls the worst war crime in Europe since the Second
World War. In July 1995 Bosnian Serb army units attacked the eastern Bosnian
town and murdered more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks, mainly boys and men.
Islamic Relief USA remembered from July 6-11 Srebrenica Genocide and said, “It is our duty to bring Srebrenica to mind. To speak up and mark its anniversary is an act of resistance against all those who continue to perpetrate, justify or cover up the atrocities of discrimination and racism.
Please
join us in devoting this upcoming week from July 6-July 11 to remembering
Srebrenica:
It
also requested to please “donate a Qurbani this week to our sisters and
brothers in need in Bosnia. Your gift will provide fresh, halal meat to
families who really need your compassion. It's one of the greatest acts of
kindness you can do, and one of the most important meals you will ever buy.”
I
wrote the following write-up in 2010 on Srebrenica Genocide
Srebrenica Genocide
Day
A Black Spot on Human Conscience
Dr. Mozammel Haque
The world simply looked away on 11 July, 1995, when the Bosnian Serb forces and
Serb paramilitary unit known as “the Scorpions” executed between 7,000 and
8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, even
though the UN had declared it a “safe area”. This was the largest mass murder
in Europe since World War II which will remain as a black spot in the human
conscience for eternity. Those war criminals that commanded and executed the
Genocide in Bosnia are still at large. The excuses are simply not credible.
Why the cry “never again” raised by so many in the years after 1945 has
increasingly become hollow with the passing decades? Why Holocaust? Why
Genocide? Where does evil begin? Why the most wanted remains at large? Why the
evil doers are not brought to justice? All these questions were raised by the Grand
Mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Ceric on the 15th anniversary of the genocide of
Muslims in Bosnia-Srebrenica. “What happened in Srebrenica requires justice as
well as memorialisation,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia Director
at Human Rights Watch. “Ratko Mladic’s liberty is an affront to both.”
In Bosnia, the three-day commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Srebrenica
started on 9th of July 9 and ended on 11th of July 2010 with a ceremony during
which the remains of 800 Srebrenica victims was buried. “Fifteen years after
the genocide, at least 10,000 people are still missing in Bosnia, including at
least 1,000 from the Srebrenica area,” Cartner said. “For the sake of their
relatives, and for the sake of justice, the Bosnian and Serbian authorities
need to do more to establish what happened to them.”
In 1993, Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) published a book entitled
“Genocide of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina” by Dr. Mozammel Haque, documenting
the events unfolded during 1992-1993. (BOSNIACA: A Bibliography of the
University of Michigan Holdings, Supplement II, Ann Arbor, 2001).
“On July 11, 1995, during the war in Bosnia,” Human Rights Watch reported, “the
United Nations and NATO allowed Bosnian Serb forces and Serb paramilitary unit
known as "the Scorpions" to seize the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica,
even though the UN had declared it a "safe area." The Serb forces
executed between 7,000 and 8,000 Bosnian men and boys in the week after the
fall of the town, the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II.”
At last the European Union has proclaimed 11th July as a day of Remembrance of
the Srebrenica Genocide and the European Parliament’s resolution of January
2009, marking the Srebrenica Genocide, called upon the Council and the Commission
to commemorate appropriately the anniversary of the Srebrenica – Potocari act
of genocide by supporting Parliament’s recognition of 11 July as the day of
commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide all over the European Union.
World leaders attended the event
The world leaders gathered together at a ceremony at the Srebrenica
Memorial Cemetery in Potocari to commemorate the massacre of nearly 8,000
Bosniak Muslims in Srebrenica, Bosnia by Bosnian Serbs. Andrew Gilmour, the
special representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Bosnia, represented
the UN at the event, and other UN Officials also attended.
Other guests included Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Slovenian
President Danilo Tuerk, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, Austrian
diplomat and Bosnia's administrator, Valentin Inzko, French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner and representatives of the European Union.
The US ambassador to Bosnia, Charles English, read a message from President
Barack Obama that urged “governments to redouble their efforts” and arrest
those responsible for the war crimes at Srebrenica.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Minister Without Portfolio and Co-Chairman of the
Conservative Party, represented the British Government at the ceremony in
Srebrenica to commemorate the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
11 July 1995: A Black spot on Human
Conscience
Human Rights Watch under the caption “The Legacy of Srebrenica” reported in
10 July, 2005: “The 1995 massacre in Srebrenica occurred because Bosnian Serb
leaders, intoxicated by hatred and an illusory sense of omnipotence, lashed out
savagely against the country’s Muslim population. But the international
community also bears responsibility for the worst crime in Europe since World
War Two. After promising protection to the inhabitants of Srebrenica, the
United Nations and NATO allowed the “safe area” to fall. That responsibility is
compounded by the continuing failure to bring to justice Radovan Karadzic and
Ratko Mladic, the two men indicted as the principal architects of the
Srebrenica genocide.
“The Dutch United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) battalion based in
Srebrenica failed to take the military action necessary to save the town.
Robust NATO air strikes that could have stopped the Serb onslaught were never
authorized, despite repeated requests from Dutch peacekeepers on the ground,”
the report added.
The report also continued, “The fall of the Srebrenica safe area was the
foreseeable consequence of U.N. and NATO policies on the use of force during
the Bosnian conflict. The U.N. Security Council had authorized air strikes by
NATO if U.N.-designated “safe areas” in Bosnia – Sarajevo, Bihac, Srebrenica,
Tuzla, Zepa, and Gorazde – were attacked. But throughout the war the U.N.
adopted a position of “neutrality” that in practice meant inaction, even when
Bosnian Serb forces attacked “safe areas” or the warring parties otherwise
violated ceasefire agreements. Key NATO countries—including the United States,
France and Britain—conveniently hid behind the U.N. position.
“Isolated air strikes in 1994 were too limited in scope and number to deter
further offensives. In May 1995, when NATO targeted Serb heavy weapons around
Sarajevo in response to continuing attacks against the capital, Serb forces
responded by taking hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers hostage. The Bosnian Serb
leadership announced that their threats to U.N. soldiers would end only if the
international community stopped air strikes. NATO never formally renounced the
use of air strikes, but by June 18, 1995, the U.N. hostages had been released.
“Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladic and under overall command of Bosnian
Serb President Radovan Karadzic began the attack on Srebrenica on July 6. The
U.N. command declined to call in NATO air strikes on the positions of the
advancing Serbs despite repeated requests by the Dutch battalion in Srebrenica.
The four hundred lightly armed Dutch soldiers in and around Srebrenica had
neither the authorization nor the capacity to repulse the Serb offensive. The
Netherlands later launched an investigation into the shattering failures of
that time: but the responsibility was much broader than that. The world simply
looked away. The limited NATO air strikes launched on July 11 came too late to
have any impact. The rest is tragically well known: the Serbs entered
Srebrenica, and in the following week killed between 7,000 and 8,000 Muslim men
and boys,” the Human Right Watch reported.
World leader’s statement
The US ambassador to Bosnia, Charles English, read a message from President
Barack Obama that urged “governments to redouble their efforts” and arrest
those responsible for the war crimes at Srebrenica. President Obama urged
governments to redouble their efforts to track down key suspect Ratko Mladic.
“On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, and on
behalf of the United States, I join my voice with those who are gathered to
mourn a great loss and to reflect on an unimaginable tragedy,” Obama said.
“I have said, and I believe, that the horror of Srebrenica was a stain on our
collective conscience,” he said in a statement issued in Washington but also
read out a graveyard ceremony near Srebrenica.
“Justice must include a full accounting of the crimes that occurred, full
identification and return of all those who were lost, and prosecution and
punishment of those who carried out the genocide. This includes Ratko Mladic,
who presided over the killings and remains at large.”
Obama called the Srebrenica genocide a “stain on our collective consciousness”
that occurred even after decades of pledges of “never again” after Nazi
atrocities during World War II.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron said, “We must never forget the act of
genocide that happened at Srebrenica. It was a crime that shamed Europe.”
“We owe it to the victims to learn the lesson of Srebrenica: that evil must be
confronted if humanity is to be protected. We owe it to the victims to ensure
that those indicted for this appalling crime are pursued relentlessly until
they are brought to justice,” Cameron said and added, “As we look to the
future, we pledge never to forget the past, and to do all in our power to
ensure that sure an atrocity can never be repeated.”
Prime Minister Cameron said the government “will not rest” in its efforts to
make sure that Ratko Mladic is brought to the International Criminal Tribunal
at The Hague, alongside other fugitives such as Goran Hadzic. The Prime
Minister also insisted that everything possible should be done to ensure that
“such an atrocity can never be repeated”.
Baroness Warsi, who represented the UK government in Srebrenica, said: “It will
be a heart-wrenching event, but this will not simply be about commemorating the
dead. This will be a sign of our support, our sympathy, and our unstinting solidarity
with the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will also reaffirm a
fundamental point: such evil acts must never be allowed to happen again.”
Khutba by Grand Mufti of Bosnia
The 15th anniversary of Genocide in Bosnia is the occasion that poses more
hard questions than offers easy answers. Why the cry “never again”, raised by
so many in the years after 1945, has rung increasingly hollow with the passing
decades? Indeed, the evil of Holocaust remains a unique crime against humanity
but instances of genocide have continued to reoccur – from Bosnia to Chechnya
from Rwanda to Sri Lanka, from the Congo to Cambodia,” said the Grand Mufti of
Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Ceric, in his Khutba, on the occasion of 15th Anniversary
of Genocide in Bosnia – Srebrenica, on 11th of July, 2010.
Grand Mufti of Bosnia has prepared this European Khutba which was read out at
Mosques in London during the Friday Jummah Prayer (Friday 9th July 2010).
Bosnia’s Grand Mufti said in his Khutba, “the definitions of Evil do not
provide answers to the questions: Why Holocaust? Why Genocide? Why was an
infant girl of Bosnia raped? Why was an innocent boy of Srebrenica killed? Why
the Bosnian Muslims were betrayed by the United Nations protection Force on
11th of July 1995 in Srebrenica where thousand of men and boys who had sought
safety were massacred? Why Europe has allowed to be deceived by the evil of
Serbian army? Where does evil begin? What makes evil so fascinating?”
Muslim Council of Britain
On the occasion of the commemoration of the Genocide in Bosnia -
Srebrenica, The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), while encouraging Imams in
Mosques and Islamic Centres to read the above Khutba prepared by the Grand
Mufti of Bosnia, wants to ensure that Muslims, indeed humanity, never forget such
barbarity, said Farooq Murad, Secretary General of MCB.
On this occasion, MCB urged the Government to put pressure on the Balkan states
“to honour their commitments, and the requirements of the EU accession process.
The EU must continue to insist on the full support by Balkan states of the work
of the ICTY to apprehend wanted war criminals and to facilitate reconciliation
through the tracing of those still unaccounted for.”
The MCB press release also said, “The Khutbah and the Day of Remembrance of the
Srebrenica Genocide is a reminder to all Europeans; Muslims, Christians, Jews
and others, that Islam has deep European roots. It has an illustrious history
of coexistence with Christian and Jewish communities in the Balkans, the
Iberian peninsula, and in the present day, across Europe.”
The Day of Remembrance is a timely reminder to us all of where festering hate
and intolerance can lead. As Muslims in Europe offer prayers for the victims of
the atrocities committed in Srebrenica and lay to rest those whose bodies have
only just been recovered, let us also work together to ensure that these crimes
are never forgotten and never again return to our Continent – mentioned the MCB
press release.
Conclusion
There has been progress toward justice for the Srebrenica genocide in
recent years. The Bosnian Serb wartime President, Radovan Karadzic and General
Ratko Mladic were indicted for genocide in Srebrenica in 1995. Karadzic is on
trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, facing
charges that include genocide at Srebrenica.
Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military leader, is accused of masterminding the
44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead and the July 1995
massacre of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica is still at large.
His continuing freedom is a “profound moral failure for NATO and the
international community”.
“The EU’s softening resolve on Mladic’s arrest sends the wrong message to
Serbia,” Cartner said. “The EU has an obligation to use its leverage to help
deliver justice for the victims of Srebrenica.” The EU should not engage in any
further progress toward membership for Serbia, such as asking the European
Commission to study Serbia's application, until Serbia fully cooperates with
the tribunal, including on the arrest of the last two fugitives, Human Rights
Watch said.
I would like to conclude with the prayer of the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Dr.
Mustafa Ceric, which he did in the European Khutba:
European Khutba
The Grand Mufti of Bosnia in his European Khutba made the following
prayers:
“This prayer is our hope that our future shall be better than our past and our
children shall not have fear of genocide.
“O Man, whoever you are and wherever you might be, remember God created us all
in the same sway so that we all might say honest prayer:
Oh God
Do not let success deceive us
Nor failure takes us to despair!
Always remind us that failure is a temptation
That precedes success!
Oh God
Teach us that tolerance
Is the highest degree of power
And the desire for revenge
The first sign of weakness!
Oh God
If you deprive us of our property,
Give us hope!
If you grant us success,
Give us also the will to overcome defeat!
If you take from us the blessing of health,
Provide us with the blessing of faith!
Oh God
If we sin against people,
Give us the strength of apology!
And if people sin against us,
Give us the strength of forgiveness!
Oh God
If we forget ye
Do not forget us!
Oh God
May grief becomes hope!
May mother’s tears become prayers!
That Srebrenica never happens again!
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