A sad procession with 14 coffins containing the remains of the victims of the genocide committed in the summer of 1995 in the area of Srebrenica arrived in Potočari.
Numerous relatives and friends arrived in front of the former Battery Factory in the complex of the Memorial Center Srebrenica – Potočari to say goodbye to the murdered family members.
In silence, as in previous years, they formed two lines from the van with the remains of the Srebrenica victims to the entrance of the former factory in order to carry the coffins in their hands.
The coffins with the remains of the victims, who were killed in July 1995, will be taken out tomorrow, July 10, in the Musalla of the cemetery of the Srebrenica Memorial Center – Potočari. They will be buried on July 11 at a collective funeral in the cemetery of the Memorial Center.
The vehicles left this morning from Visoko, where the identification of remains found in mass graves from the last war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 – 1995 is being carried out. On the way to Potočari, a stop was organized in Sarajevo in front of the building of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Memorial of the killed children of Sarajevo, in Markale, and in front of the Town Hall.
Among the 14 victims who will be buried at the collective funeral this year, there are also two brothers and a minor.
The youngest victim to be buried this year is seventeen-year-old Beriz (Omera) Mujić, born in 1978 in Zvornik.
The oldest victim to be buried is Hamed (Ibrahima) Salić, born in 1927. He was 68 years old when he disappeared in the summer of 1995 in the area of Žepa. This year, the Efendić brothers – Hasib and Ćamil – will be buried together.
Victims of genocide
This year, on July 11, in the cemetery of the Memorial Center Srebrenica – Potočari, the following will be buried: Hasib (Uzejir) Efendić, born in 1931, Ćamil (Uzejir) Efendić, born in 1928, Mehmed (Daut) Krdžić, born in 1961, Sabrija (Asim) Omić, born in 1966, Mušan (Ramo) Šiljković, born in 1956, Sakib (Ragib) Harbaš, born in 1975, Beriz (Omer) Mujić, born in 1978, Ahmet (Ismet) Jašarević, born in 1971, Nevres (Mehmed) Salihović, born in 1970, Ibrahim (Muharem) Salkić, in 1935, Midhat (Adem) Bašić, born in 1973, Hajdin (Kadrija) Mustafić, born in 1959, Latif (Arif ) Mandžić, born in 1964 and Hamed (Ibrahim) Salić, born in 1927.
In the Commemorative Center in Tuzla, there are the remains of 11 more genocide victims who have been identified using the DNA method so far, but the families have not yet given their consent for burial, mainly due to the incompleteness of the bodies.
This year, after the collective funeral in Potočari, on July 15 to be exact, the re-exhumation process will begin and the remains of 78 victims will be re-exhumed this year. Their remains that were later found and identified will be added to them. Reexhumations will last until July 22.
The Potočari Memorial Center was officially opened on September 20, 2003, by the former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton. So far, 6,751 victims of genocide have been buried in the Srebrenica – Potočari Memorial Center, while 250 victims were buried in local cemeteries by the decision of the surviving family members.
Genocide victims came from different municipalities, most of them from the areas of Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica, Zvornik and Milić.
Genocide victims were found in 150 different locations, of which 77 were mass graves. The youngest victim so far buried in Potočari was a newborn girl, Fatima Muhić, and the oldest was a nun, Šaha Izmirlić, born in 1901.
More than a thousand victims of the genocide are still being searched for, Anadolu Agency writes.
Photo: AA
