Dr Ian Hanson
Last Friday, the 11th of July, saw the annual funeral service held at the Memorial Center in Potocari, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), where the remains of seven more victims of the Srebrenica events of 1995 were buried. Politicans and representatives from across the globe attended the burial commemorations, an annual reminder of the on-going impact of what happened 30 years ago.
Though a generation has past, summarising the events acts as a salutary reminder, that the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995 led to a series of tragedies clearly and consistently defined in the trial judgements of the International Criminal tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[1]
The destruction of the UN protected Srebrenica enclave, along with the neighbouring enclave of Žepa, enacted a Bosnian Serb strategic plan to ethically cleanse Bosnian Muslims from Eastern Bosnia, something which had begun in 1992. The Srebrenica enclave had slowly shrunk in size since 1993, with the populations of towns and villages of the wider landscape fleeing, to be reduced and concentrated into a smaller and smaller area. Besieged, with frequent shelling, and fighting, when a coordinated Bosnian Serb attack came on the 6th of July 1995, and UN peacekeepers failed to stop it, the perimeter collapsed. Fearing the consequences of surrendering to Bosnian Serb forces, most people in the enclave gathered at Potocari, with some 12,000 men and boys forming a column on the 12th of July to flee the enclave on foot, to try and make it to safe Bosnian Federation territory. The column was subsequently attacked, with approximately 1000 men killed by artillery strikes, attacks, ambushes, suicide, and summary executions, their bodies left lying across the landscape. Thousands were cut off and surrendered. There were numerous executions at the locations of capture, but the vast majority were transported, held and executed in large groups, with at least 5,336 identified individuals found to have been killed in the executions between 13th-17th of July by the conclusion of the Popovic et al trial in 2010.[2] They had been buried in mass graves.
During the 12th-13th of July, those left at Potocari were terrorised. Men who had remained with their families were separated and transported to the holding and execution sites. More than 25,000 women and children were bussed out of the enclave, expelled to Federation territory.
The remnants of the column reached federation lines on the 16th of July. However, during the attacks on the column, groups split up, with seven hundred men reaching the Žepa enclave by 28th July, whose population suffered the same forcible removal and murder operation. Men fled again, and hundreds crossed into Serbia. [3] Hundreds of men were still hiding in the woods in the wider Srebrenica area after the 17th of July, being hunted down, with captures, killings and ambushes through August and September 1995. Men in small groups were still trying to cross into the Federation through to November 1995 when the Dayton Peace Accord was signed, Bosnian Serb forces capturing men in mid-October.[4]
During September and October 1995, there was a concerted conspiracy by Bosnian Serb army perpetrators, with the assistance of civilian authorities, to impede investigations through the robbing of the large execution site mass graves, moving the bodies to dozens of secondary burial locations. This had a severe impact on the ability to identify the missing, countered by the development of mass DNA matching.[5]
The ICTY and the IRMCT tried 20 individuals for crimes committed in Srebrenica in July 1995 and found that the mass killings of Bosnian Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica constituted the crime of genocide.[6] The BiH State Court has tried 61 individuals, but has a considerable backlog of cases to be completed, with delays to indictments, and starting of trials. As of 11th July 2025, 6,659 bodies of Srebrenica victims have been buried at Potocari and other locations.[7]
The 30th Anniversary of Srebrenica has had widespread coverage, more so since the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2024 declaring the day as the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide. The events and commemorations remain a politically divisive issue, as the voting decisions in resolution reflect. [8]
At the Commemoration for Srebrenica Memorial Day service at St Paul’s cathedral in London on 17th June 2025, speeches by the Croat and Bosniak members of the Presidency of BiH stressed that “once again families know threats”, and the issues of denial and revisionism has been raised by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (RS) in 2024, by denying Srebrenica constitutes genocide. The assembly had voted to adopt a 2020 report, commissioned by the RS government, that reinterpreted established legal and forensic evidence of Srebrenica events, questioning the numbers of victims in the primary and secondary mass graves related to executions, implying many victims were combat casualties, and concluded that neither an individual crime of genocide nor genocide in general took place in Srebrenica’.[9][10]
The speeches and statements made on the 30th anniversary by political representatives, highlighted the risks of revisionism and denial to the stability, security and integrity of Bosnia Herzegovina and the wider Balkans. Revisionism often gets traction and attention because of remaining questions, arising from gaps in available information, to which specific answers have not been provided. In the case of Srebrenica, the 30-year on-going accumulation of evidence through trials and investigations has provided well established and proven legal findings and facts, together with increasing numbers of identifications. There has not, however, been complete data integration. The potential for integration and further analysis that refute revisionist claims has been demonstrated in the assessment of the Srebrenica execution and related mass grave burials at Kozluk and associated sites. When the evidence was reviewed associating primary and secondary graves related to the same events, and demonstrated remains are all consistent with having come from the primary graves.[11] Such analysis also provides further lines of investigative enquiry. The more detailed the determination of facts, the more evidence there is for prosecutions, the more missing can be identified, and the more families know, and children understand.
‘Kozluk exemplifies the evidentiary detail that can be achieved through mass grave excavation, down to the specific determination of the nature of death and burial of an individual. In practice, limits of time and resources often result in more generalised description or overviews of body masses at the gravesite (as opposed to detailed individual autopsy in the mortuary). The importance of gathering information on the individual has a number of positive outcomes: it allows ‘knowing’ for families, provides examples of forensic detail and also reverses one of the purposes of mass burial by perpetrators: to destroy the individual’.[12]
That data integration can provide evidence for the fate of each individual fulfils obligations of ‘the right to know’ under international law for families and communities, and helps realize their core desire. “We deserve for the bones of our children to be found so we can bury them with dignity” stated Munira Subašić’, President of the Mothers of Srebrenica, at the St Paul’s service. “Although we survived the genocide, denial of it is rife-which causes immense pain”. Munira has received and buried only two small bones of her son, recovered from two mass graves 25 kilometres apart.[13]
There were a handful of survivors from the executions to provide witness evidence. Nedzad Avdic, surviving the killings at Petkovici Dam, stated in his testimony before ICTY that “as others were being killed, I was praying that I be killed, too, because I was in terrible pain.[…] So I just thought that my mother would never know where I was, as I was thinking that I’d like to die”.[14]
The national commemorations, organised by Remembering Srebrenica UK, ensure that the Bosnian genocide is never forgotten. In the nave of St Paul’s, a poster displayed the photographs of Srebrenica victims, illustrating this.
One of the victims was 54 when executed at Kozluk. Another was 17, his bones found in four separates locations within a secondary grave, a result of the Kozluk graves being robbed. That bodies were broken apart and remain incomplete is a common issue.
At the Wales National Srebrenica 30 Year Commemoration in Cardiff on the 2nd of July, Ernesa Ibišević-Hajharević, who was four in 1995, spoke of being taken out of the arms of her grandfather at the door of a bus at Potocari, when men were separated from families on the 13th of July. His remains were found in the primary grave of Pilica (Branjevo Farm), the largest Srebrenica mass grave, and also in related secondary graves on Cancari Road. “He was in bits in different graves”, Ernesa stated. “We still do not know what happened to my father”.
The commemoration at St Paul’s also acknowledged the same pattern of events had occurred in Northwest Bosnia in 1992. Elmina Kulašić, was seven and held in Trnopolje concentration camp, after she fled her home in Kozarac. Her grandparents “stayed behind, thinking that the perpetrators would not kill them. But they did, and we are still searching for their remains more than 30 years later”. Her father was found in the Tomašica mass grave, re-excavated in 2013, after initial excavation in 2004 and 2006. There were found to be nearly 100 DNA connections with body parts found in the related Jakarina Kosa secondary grave, which had been excavated in 2001. In 2015, the accumulated evidence was added to the ICTY prosecutors case against Radko Mladic, who was found guilty in 2017 of a joint criminal enterprise in relation to Prijedor and Tomašica, with the objective of permanently removing the Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian-Serb-claimed territory in Bosnia-Herzegovina through persecution, extermination, murder, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), and deportation, as well as being found guilty of genocide and other crimes concerning Srebrenica.[15]
In relation to Srebrenica, the 2010 Popovic et al judgement, noted ‘the evidence before it is not all encompassing, the Trial Chamber is satisfied that the number of identified individuals will rise.’[16] This has been the case. As of 23rd of June 2025, ICMP data indicates 7022 missing persons have been identified, 99% through DNA matching.[17] More await formal identification.
As each trial was judged at ICTY, new facts emerged and more identifications were made, continuing in the BiH trials, building not only on ICTY case-law, but an expanded witness base, and also in some cases, statements of remorse from perpetrators.[18] The detail of the narrative of events has become ever more refined as the investigations and trials have progressed. This has also highlighted, along with the commemoration testimony, that many remain missing, in whole, or in part. Ian Hanson noted:
“Approximately one thousand men and boys remain missing from Srebrenica events. While we remember, we must not forget the work is not finished.”
Kathryne Bomberger Director-General of ICMP stated on the 11th of July “more than a thousand families from Srebrenica and more than 10,000 families across the Western Balkans still do not know the fate of their loved one. The most meaningful way of expressing solidarity with families and supporting recovery is to maintain the search for truth and justice.”[19]
Đemila Talić Gabriel, member of the UN Women’s Council of Australia noted last Thursday at Potocari, “It is unfortunate that the denial and relativization of crimes still go unpunished, digging and deepening the wounds of the bereaved. That is why we must persevere in our commitment so that justice, truth and peace win”.[20]
MaGPIE is examining how data from evidence can be integrated to not only make investigations more effective, but also provide the most detailed narratives of the events that are able to refute revisionist arguments. Such analysis can also contribute to accounting for more of the missing, providing answers and hope to families like Ernesa’s:
“After 30 years I am still waiting for news of where my father is. So I have somewhere to go to, where I can visit him”.
As the St Paul’s service ended, and the dignitaries moved to their limousines, and to network, Munira and Elmina were left alone under the high dome of the cathedral, having provided their testimonies once again, so the world will not forget. If lessons from Srebrenica are to be ‘learned and acted upon’, then the first step is to undertake further work to find the remaining missing across Bosnia: while we remember yesterday, we must act today.
[1] See ‘Facts About Srebrenica’, 2005, ICTY summary of judgements, https://www.icty.org/x/file/Outreach/view_from_hague/jit_srebrenica_en.pdf ,‘Trial Judgement Summary for Ratko Mladić’, 2017, ICTY, https://www.icty.org/x/cases/mladic/tjug/en/171122-summary-en.pdf and ‘Appeal Judgement Summary for Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić’, 2021, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMT). https://www.irmct.org/sites/default/files/case_documents/210608-judgement-summary-mladic-13-56.pdf
[2] See Judgement Summary for Popović et al, 2010, ICTY, https://www.icty.org/x/cases/popovic/tjug/en/100610summary.pdf
[3] See ‘Judgement Summary for Zdravko Tolimir’, 2012, ICTY, https://www.icty.org/x/cases/tolimir/tjug/en/121212_summary.pdf
[4] See Prosecutor v Momcilo Perisic, Submisson of Expert reports by Richard Butler, With Annexes 1 through 7, 2009, ICTY. Including ‘Srebrenica Military narrative (revised), Operation “Krivaja ‘95”, 2002. p118. https://ucr.irmct.org/LegalRef/CMSDocStore/Public/English/Reports/NotIndexable/IT-04-81/MSC6931R0000255592.pdf
[5] See Volume 1 of the Public Redacted Version of the Judgement of the Prosecutor v Radovan Karadzic, 2016, ICTY, p2298-2303. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/karadzic/tjug/en/160324_judgement.pdf
[6] See ‘Srebrenica Genocide’, The Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities, IRMT. https://www.irmct.org/en/mip/features/srebrenica
[7] ‘Srebrenica Figures as of 23 June 2025’, ICMP Infographic factsheet, https://icmp.int/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/srebrenica-english-2025.pdf
[8] See ‘General Assembly Adopts Resolution on Srebrenica Genocide, Designating International Day of Reflection, Commemoration’ https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12601.doc.htm
[9] Senad Pećanin, et al, ‘Srebrenica Genocide Denial Report 2022, Srebrenica memorial Center, 2002. https://srebrenicamemorial.org/assets/photos/editor/_mcs_izvjestaj_ENG_2022_FINAL_DI.pdf
[10] See ‘Concluding Report, ‘The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Suffering of all People in the Srebrenica Region Between 1992 and 1995, 2020. https://incomfis-srebrenica.org/
[11] See Ian Hanson, 2023, ‘Anatomy of a Grave: The Kozluk excavations as an exemplar of a successful mass grave investigation. In Melanie Klinkner and Ellie Smith (eds) Mass Graves, Truth and Justice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Investigation of Mass Graves. Cheltenham. Edward Elgar Publishing. 50-79. https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781800882386/book-part-9781800882386-10.xml
[12] Ibid, p68.
[13] See ‘Munira Subašić’, 2016, in Survivor Stories, Women’s Testimonies, Remembering Srebrenica. https://srebrenica.org.uk/survivor-stories/munira-subasic
[14] See Prosecutor v. Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic, Judgement, 2005, ICTY, para 648.
[15] Discussed in Caroline Fournet, ‘Face to face with horror’: the Tomašica mass grave and the trial
of Ratko Mladic´2020, Human Remains and Violence, Volume 6, No. 2 (2020), 23–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.7227/HRV.6.2.3
[16] See Judgement Summary for Popović et al, 2010, ICTY, p4. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/popovic/tjug/en/100610summary.pdf
[17] ‘Srebrenica Figures as of 23 June 2025’, ICMP Infographic factsheet, supra. https://icmp.int/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/srebrenica-english-2025.pdf
[18] See ‘Who Has Been Convicted of Crimes in Srebrenica?’ Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj, 8th July 2025, Detektor, BIRN BiH, https://detektor.ba/2025/07/08/who-has-been-convicted-of-crimes-in-srebrenica/?lang=en
[19] ‘Srebrenica: Solidarity through Truth and Justice’, ICMP press release, 11th July 2025. https://icmp.int/news/srebrenica-solidarity-through-truth-and-justice/
[20] ‘Đemila Talic Gabriel warns “It is unfortunate that the denial and relativization of crimes still go unpunished”, Slobodna Bosna new story, 11th July 2025. https://www.slobodna-bosna.ba/vijest/423662/djemila_talic_gabriel_upozorava_zalosno_je_da_poricanje_i_relativizacija_zlochina_jos_uvijek_ostaju_nekaznjeni.html
