Srebrenica Genocide Memorial
The gravestones at the Srebrenica Genocide memorial.
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| Details | |
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| Established | 20 September 2003 |
| Location | Donji Potočari, Srebrenica |
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Coordinates | 44°9′26.31″N 19°18′4.74″E / 44.1573083°N 19.3013167°ECoordinates: 44°9′26.31″N 19°18′4.74″E / 44.1573083°N 19.3013167°E |
| Type | Public |
| Website | |
The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide, is the memorial-cemetery complex in Srebrenica set up to honour the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The victims were mainly males, mostly Bosniaks and some Croats.
As of July 2012, 6,838 genocide victims have been identified through DNA analysis (conducted by the International Commission on Missing Persons) of human remains recovered from mass graves and 6,241 (July 2014) victims have been buried.
The massacre in Srebrenica began in Potocari, where some 25,000 Bosniak refugees had desperately gathered awaiting evacuation. After entering the city in 13 July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces, led by Ratko Mladic, moved into Potocari and separated many Bosniak men and teenage boys from the rest of the crowd before killing them; some women and girls were raped and killed as well. The Dutch UN peacekeepers stationed in Srebrenica (Dutchbat) were unable to stop the massacre, despite having their headquarters in the town. In all, about 1,200 innocent people were murdered at Potocari before the survivors were evacuated to Tuzla.
In October 2000 Wolfgang Petritsch, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, declared that the land in Potočari would be turned into a memorial and cemetery for the victims of the genocide. In May 2001, a foundation was established to oversee and finance construction of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial. Two months later, around the time of the sixth anniversary of the massacre, a foundation stone was laid for the memorial in front of a crowd of 15,000 people. The first memorial was held in July 2002 with about 20,000 attendees. The first 600 victims were buried in the new cemetery in March 2003.
The $5.8 million memorial-cemetery complex paid for with donations from private groups and governments. The United States provided $1 million toward the project. The memorial was opened by the former United States President, Bill Clinton, on 20 September 2003, when he told thousands of relatives of the Srebrenica massacre victims:
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