Thousands of participants set off on Tuesday for the annual Peace March in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commemorating the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
Over the next three days, marchers will retrace the approximately 110-kilometer route taken by thousands of Bosniaks in the summer of 1995 as they fled the advancing Bosnian Serb forces. The march began in the village of Nezuk, near Tuzla, and will end at the Potočari Memorial Center on July 11, the 30th anniversary of the massacre.
On that day, the remains of seven newly identified victims discovered over the past year will be buried in a ceremony at the memorial site.
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town of Srebrenica, which had been designated a UN “safe area.” In the days that followed, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were systematically murdered. Their bodies were buried in mass graves hidden in the surrounding forests.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague officially recognized the atrocity as genocide.
Over the past three decades, more than 50 individuals have been convicted and sentenced to a combined total of approximately 780 years in prison for crimes related to the genocide. Among them are wartime Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadžić and General Ratko Mladić, both serving life sentences for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Since its establishment in 2005, the Peace March has grown each year, becoming one of the most powerful acts of remembrance in the region. Its mission is to preserve the memory of the victims and raise awareness of the atrocities committed in Srebrenica.
