Governor of the State of Colorado, US, has declared July 11 as Srebrenica genocide Remembrance Day on Friday, marking the 25th anniversary of the genocide in this east Bosnian town against over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys.

 The declaration can be read in its entirety below:

“Whereas, July 11, 2020 commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide in which more than 8,372 innocent civilians were executed and more than 30,000 were expelled from their homes; and

Whereas, we recognize the importance of raising awareness of the suffering endured by the Bosnian people and honor those who were murdered as a result of ethnic cleansing and genocide; and

Whereas, we are grateful for the contributions of the more than 3,500 Bosnian community members in Colorado through government, business, education, science, and sports; and

Whereas, the Bosnian Educational and Cultural Center of Colorado is committed to preserving Bosnian history and continues to be an educational and cultural resource for the community; and

Whereas, the survivors, families, friends, and neighbors of those who were lost commemorate this occasion every year to remember those who are no longer with us and to remind the world of the importance of understanding, diversity, and inclusion within our own communities; and

Therefore, I, Jared Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado, do hereby proclaim July 11, 2020, SREBRENICA GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY in the State of Colorado.“

During the 1992-1995 Bosnian war for independence from the former Yugoslavia, the country lost over 100,000 people, over 8,000 of which were lost in July 1995 in Srebrenica, when Bosnian Serb forces, which received financial and logistical support both from Serbian authorities and individuals during the war, slaughtered over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in a UN-protected zone of Srebrenica.

The International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice later ruled that the massacre was an act of genocide.

International and regional courts have sentenced 45 people for what happened in Srebrenica to a total of more than 700 years behind bars.

Those who the ICTY sentenced to life imprisonment are Ljubisa Beara, Zdravko Tolimir, and Vujadin Popovic. But the most well known alleged masterminds of what happened in Srebrenica are former Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karadzic and ex Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, and both have been sentenced for it but have appealed.