Three days after the Janaza at the Srebrenica Memorial Center, a new cycle of collective exhumations began. The graves of the previously buried genocide victims are being reopened so that newly recovered remains can be added. Every newly identified bone brings hope to families, while reminding them at the same time that the search for their loved ones is not completed even three decades later.
The Institute for the Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina initiated the 17th collective re-exhumation process. A total of 48 graves will be reopened, and it is one of the most difficult processes, as, for the families, every re-exhumation means re-encountering their traumas lasting for over three decades.
Over a Thousand Opened Graves
The researcher of the Institute for the Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sadik Selimović, said that the scale of collective re-exhumation witnesses the scale of the committed crime.
“Through 16 collective re-exhumation processes so far, we have opened 1,220 graves. Seventy graves were opened twice, and two graves were even opened three times. This reflects the scale of the crime and the magnitude of the crime committed against the victims of the genocide,” Selimović said.
Reopening Families’ Wounds
Among the families who are today experiencing the same pain all over again is Mirzeta Ibrahimović. At the Potočari Memorial Cemetery, she has so far buried seven members of her family – her father, two uncles, grandfather, and three cousins.
“My father is being re-exhumed today. July 11th is heart-wrenching, but today is especially difficult. When I see all these white nišans (traditional Muslim gravestones), it is normal to be deeply moved. It is important to all of us to find as many bones as possible. It will take a long time until all the mortal remains are found. People want to bury their loved ones, even if it is just one bone, just to know where they can come, recite Fatiha, and to have a place they can honor the memory of their son, husband, or father,” Ibrahimović said.
The Search Is Not Over Yet
For the families of the victims of genocide, the burial process does not end with Janaza. Any newly recovered mortal remains bring them back to Potočari and remind them that the most difficult chapter of their lives is not yet over.
