31st anniversary of Srebrenica genocide marked as 10 victims laid to rest in Potocari

Following the official commemoration, the religious programme, the collective funeral prayer and the families' final farewells, silence once again descended over Potocari.

The religious part of the ceremony was led by head of Islamic Community in Bosnia Husein Kavazovic.

Thousands of mourners gradually left the Memorial Centre, leaving behind what is colloquially called the valley of white headstones, where 10 new graves now stand.

The victims, whose remains were identified years after the 1995 genocide through DNA analysis and forensic investigations, were buried alongside more than 6,700 genocide victims already laid to rest at the Potocari Memorial Cemetery.

The Srebrenica genocide, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces after the fall of the UN-protected enclave in July 1995, has been recognised as genocide by both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The annual commemoration brings together survivors, relatives of the victims, international officials and visitors from around the world to honour those killed in what remains the worst atrocity committed on European soil since the Second World War.