International Day of Reflection and Commemoration…

Srebrenica marks one of the darkest chapters in modern human history. The war that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia claimed more than 100,000 lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995, mostly of Bosnian Muslims, and displaced more than two million others. The list of atrocities committed during that time is overwhelming, but Srebrenica, without a doubt, became its darkest chapter. Previously declared as the UN "safe area," 8,372 women, men, and children were systematically executed in July 1995 in and around the town of Srebrenica, the largest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

On 11 July, the people of Srebrenica will gather yet again around silent tombstones in Potočari to mark the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide. This year, they will add 14 more to the 6751 already standing in the Memorial Centre Potočari. 14 families will finally have closure. Pain, however, will remain forever.

On this day, 11 July, International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, pursuant to the General Assembly Resolution 78/282, we will add our voice in remembering their names and commemorating all innocent lives lost. But we will also send a strong message of hope, the resilience of the human spirit, and the power of justice.

Organized by the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN and cosponsored by the Permanent Missions of Albania, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Slovenia, Sweden, Türkiye to the UN.