New mass grave discovered near Srebrenica

ilustaracija

A new mass grave was discovered Tuesday in the Kazani settlement, near the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where the Missing Persons Institute discovered incomplete remains of at least two persons, the institute spokesperson Emza Fazlic said on Wednesday.

“Incomplete mortal remains of at least two persons were found at Kazani settlement in Srebrenica municipality. We suspect these are Bosniak victims killed in July 1995. the remains were found below the local cemetery, between the road and a river, where a construction material dumpsite is located.,” Fazlic said.

She added that the Institute investigated the location in 2004 but found nothing at the time.

In April 1993, the UN had declared the besieged enclave of the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica a safe area under UN protection.

However, in July 1995, the Dutch battalion failed to prevent the town's capture by the Bosnian Serb forces and the massacre that followed.

More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in the days following July 11, 1995, and so far the remains of more than 6,600 have been found and buried.

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.

“The waste where the remains were found was subsequently transported there. The remains were then transferred to the Tuzla Commemoration Center, where bone samples will be taken for DNA analysis to determine the identity of the victims. The State Court oversaw the entire exhumation process,” Fazlic said.

The exhumation is said to continue on Wednesday.