Tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims on June 11 gathered in Srebrenica for the anniversary of the 1995 Serb massacre in the town, and to bury 308 newly identified victims. In Belgrade, Serb president Boris Tadic called for the arrest of those accused of responsibility for the worst atrocity in Europe since the World War II: former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and his military henchman Ratko Mladic.
The commemoration took place a day after a court in the Netherlands ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear a case brought by relatives of the Srebrenica victims against the UN, which they accuse of failing to protect them. “The UN will never acknowledge their mistake, even though the crime happened on their watch, before the eyes of the world,” said Hafiza Klepic (36), who came from Denmark to bury the remains of her husband, after burying her brother last year. “But we will not give up, justice must be done,” she said.
As relatives prayed beside 308 coffins wrapped in green cloth, Bosnian Muslim political leaders urged the world not to give up the hunt for Gen Mladic, who is believed to be in Serbia, and Mr Karadzic, who is thought to be hiding in the remote, mountainous region where Bosnia and Montenegro meet. “The new Serbian authorities are entirely committed to arresting war crimes indictee Ratko Mladic,” vowed Serb president Tadic in Belgrade, adding: “By punishing the criminals, by respecting one another and by reconciliation, we create the conditions for integration into our common place in the European Union and for a better life for all nationalities and citizens in the region.”