Anniversary of Srebrenica genocide coming up in a week: On 5 July 2005, Bosnian Serb police found two bombs at the memorial site, just days ahead of a ceremony to mark the massacres 10th anniversary, when 580 identified victims were to be buried during the ceremony, and more than 50,000 people, including international politicians and diplomats, were expected to attend. The bombs would have caused widespread loss of life and injury had they exploded, and were probably aimed at plunging the region into further bloodshed.[9][10] On 11 July 2007, 30,000 gathered to the 12th anniversary. Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, also attended.[11] On 12 July 2007, a day after the 12th anniversary of the massacre and the burial of a further 465 victims, a group of men dressed in Chetnik uniforms marched the streets of Srebrenica. They all wore badges of military units which committed the massacre in July 1995.[12][13] On 11 July 2009, marking the 14th anniversary, some 40,000 Bosniak mourners, a number of western diplomats and civic associations from across the region attended the burial ceremony on Saturday for 534 newly identified victims. Among the victims were 44 teenagers. No Bosnian Serb high-level officials were present at the ceremony. Ethnically related incidents such as graffiti containing threats on a mosque and the vandalism of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national flag torn from the Bratunac town-hall building occurred.[14][15] Members of the Ravna Gora Chetnik movement desecrated the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina, marched in the streets wearing T-shirts with the face of Ratko Mladić and sang Chetnik songs.[16][17][18] A group of men and women associated with Obraz chanted insults directed towards the victims and in support of the Chetnik movement, calling for eradication of Islam.[19] A full report of the incident was submitted to the local District Prosecutors Office but no one has been prosecuted.[20] Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a law banning fascist organizations and similar groups and the police there considered it freedom of association.[21]
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 01:54:40 +0000
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