In the area of Central Podrinje, 81 mass graves with the remains of persons killed in the genocide committed in the summer of 1995 in the area of Srebrenica were found and exhumed. These are primary and secondary graves, pits and burnt bodies in houses. Most of the victims of genocide were found and exhumed in 38 mass graves in the area of Zvornik municipality.
These are mostly remains found on the surface of the earth.
Preparations are underway for the collective funeral and burial of another 29 victims of the genocide committed in 1995 in the area of Srebrenica. This is still not a final number.
Mujo Hadžiomerović, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Missing of BiH, said that at the moment there are still 55 identified incomplete remains in the morgues where the families did not decide to bury them in Potočari due to the incompleteness of the bodies.
“We are already in talks with the associations to try to reach the families who will try to convince them that at this moment it is necessary to take a place for that identity in Potočari. In these cases, the families avoid burying these remains. Many of these families are abroad,” he said.
Speaking about the missing in the area of Srebrenica, he said that in 1992, 281 people were reported missing, based on reports from family members.
“In 1993, 110 people were reported missing, in 1994, 30, and in 1995, 3,960 were reported missing. So far, 7,757 identities have been verified for Srebrenica, so far 6,960 have been identified and funerals have been performed. There are currently 7,970 unidentified. I know that you are interested in the number that stands in Potočari – 8,372, you cannot reach that number by addition or difference. So, after the genocide in Srebrenica, 12,469 cases were exhumed. The process of analysis, identification, DNA proof is still ongoing, so when we finish we will probably reach the number that stands in Potočari. The process is still not over. We are still looking for 797 missing people from the Srebrenica area,” Hadžiomerović explained.
During the genocide, a large number of minors and women were killed, most of whom tried to reach the free territory – Tuzla or Kladnje – through the forest.
“Our database states that 563 minors were killed in the genocide in Srebrenica. 60 women are missing,” said Hadžiomerović.
As he said, the primary graves where 1,000 people were found were Pilica (Zvornik), Brana Petrovci (Zvornik), Kozluk (Zvornik), Grbavci (Zvornik) and Glogova (Bratunac).
“The largest secondary grave is Kamenica 10 (Zvornik) where 1,153 cases were exhumed. The farthest mass grave of Srebrenica was found in Kalinovik, 200 kilometers from Srebrenica. There are also those six guys who were found in Godinjski Bar near Trnovo,” said Hadžiomerović.
Lately, he emphasized, they have been encountering inaccurate and insufficient information to carry out further exhumations.
“We turned to 12 morgues in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to see what we have and we are practically conducting an audit. We are also trying to shut down some morgues, such as the morgue in Goražde and Modriča, because we are allocating certain funds for keeping the remains. So, we have about 1,600 unidentified persons where we have DNA, but there is no match with blood DNA,” Hadžiomerović stressed.
In the absence of information about potential graves, they turned to new methods of searching for the missing.
“It is about the training of specially trained dogs. The Norwegian organization in Sarajevo is conducting training and we are going to the field with them. In addition to the dogs, in order to complete our work, we will also purchase scanners that can find remains of calcium, i.e. bones, ten meters underground. And in court processes that take place before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, witnesses appear who give us information, and we try to use them as well,” Hadžiomerović said.
He reminded that during the war in the 1990s, 34,000 people were reported missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Out of 34,000 reports, the disappearance of 29,704 people has been verified. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, another 7,500 people are listed as missing. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 80 percent of the missing have been found so far, which has never happened anywhere in the world, that so many people are found after the conflict “We are trying to transfer our experiences to other areas such as Ukraine, Libya and Azerbaijan,” added Hadžiomerović.
