Alma Zadic, the Austrian high-ranking official, paid respects to the Srebrenica genocide victims on July 11, the genocide anniversary and the commemoration day, stressing that this war crime is a “chilling reminder of what can happen when hate take over.” Pročitaj više

“Exactly 28 years ago, on July 11, 1995, 8,372 men and boys were brutally and systematically murdered there solely because of their religion, their name or their ethnicity,” said Austria's justice minister.

Zadic, who is of Bosnian origin, said on this occasion that the biggest war crime in Europe since World War II is a “chilling reminder of what can happen when hate take over in our society.”

“What can happen if our society is divided. What can happen when whole groups are dehumanized because of religion or ethnicity.”

She said that keeping the memory is to ensure that such crimes are never repeated.

“We remember so that we stand up when hate and agitation threaten our peaceful coexistence.”

The remains of another 30 victims have been buried on Tuesday at the Potocari Memorial Centre, with the youngest victim aged 15 at the time of the death and other two juvenile victims aged 16 and 17.

Over 8,000 persons were killed in the genocide, mainly men and boys. To date, the remains of 6,652 have been buried at the Potocari memorial. The remains of 237 have been buried elsewhere according to their families’ wishes.

For the Srebrenica genocide, the Hague war crimes tribunal sentenced to life former Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.