As part of the commemoration of the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the mothers of Srebrenica and survivors are visiting the places of mass executions of thousands of men and boys. These are the execution grounds in Potocari, Kravica, Kasaba, Pilica, Branjevo, Petkovci and Orahovac.
The tour in Kravica, where over 1,300 Bosniaks were killed in the Agricultural Cooperative on this day, July 13, 1995, took place on Saturday.
The surviving victims of the genocide marched in front of the Carsijska mosque in Srebrenica towards the Basic Court building, where they laid flowers and prayed for the victims. Then they visited the building of the old police station in Srebrenica and then headed towards Potocari and Budak.
“The most brutal killings happened here, and the police station was supposed to be a place of safety and salvation for all people. Unfortunately, it became a place of mass killings and capture of Bosniaks. People were killed in their apartments, elderly married couples, by Serb forces, and their bodies were burned,” said Ahmo Mehmedovic, an associate of the Potocari Memorial Center, in front of the police station.
The arguably most emotional moment of the tour was in Kravica, at the former Agricultural Cooperative, where, according to the testimonies of the survivors at the Hague Tribunal, around 1,300 men and boys were killed.
The police of BiH’s Republika Srpska entity did not allow the families of the victims to lay flowers in front of the hall this year either. They laid flowers on the fence in front of the complex.
“This is a shame that this is happening to our people, that we cannot enter where our loved ones were shot and where the greatest crime was committed. I say let's take pliers and break this fence, then let them kill me”, said Nura Mustafic, whose three sons and husband were killed.
Vasvija Kadilovic Kadic's three brothers and father were also killed there.
“How do I feel? Every year I come here with my sister, and in 2013, when we passed by and when we cut the wire and when we entered with the late Hatidza (Mehmedovic), it was indescribable,” she said.
In May 1992, Sehida Abdurahmanovic and her family were visited by unannounced “guests” who took her husband away.
“On May 8 1992, sometime in the afternoon, I was approached by guys who called themselves “Arkanovci”. I lived down by the high school centre, it was an old building where the teachers lived. They came and said we all must go to the police station”, she said.
After Kravica, there was a tour of the execution sites in Orahovac, Petkovci, Kozluk, Branjevo and Pilica.
The president of the “Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa” Association, Munira Subasic, said that today in twelve locations they are visiting the places where Bosniaks were killed in a horrible way.
“It has been 29 years since the genocide and the perpetrators do not accept the real truth. They still do not tell the truth to the Serbs, and that is not good for the future. We must fight so that the genocide is not forgotten, and at the same time we must build a better future for all citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said Subasic.
Kakvo je tvoje mišljenje o ovome?
Budi prvi koji će ostaviti komentar!