ENGLISH

Funeral and burial of remains of 136 victims in Potočari today

Comemoration in Srebrenica begins

Fena

11.7.2015

Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Potočari marked the beginning of the commemoration on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the genocide in July 1995 in Srebrenica area, the protected zone of the UN. 

The commemoration begins with address by Srebrenica Municipal Mayor Ćamil Duraković and then address of other dignitaries will follow. 

In the Potočari Memorial Center today surviving family members, friends, and many citizens and local and international officials will attend the collective funeral and burial of the remains of 136 victims of genocide in July 1995 took place in the area Srebrenica the UN Safe Zones.

The survivors of Srebrenica are searching for the remains of their loved ones for 20 years, and those who will be buried today were iddentified and their remains were found, as well as the remains of their sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, relatives and they will feel at least a little relief.

Among the 136 men whose remains will be buried today, 18 are minors, and the youngest among them were 16 when they were killed.

Sixteen-year old are Lutvo (Ibrahim) Malagić, Hamed (Zajim) Mehić, Almir (Bajro) Mujanović, Almaz (Alija) Hasanović, will be buried next to their earlier buried fathers, while Sifet (Ramiz) Mehanović, Salih (Ismet) Mehmedović i Džemal (Ibro) Hasanović will be buried along with their fathers at the collective funeral.

The mortal remains of Ismet Mehmedovic and his three sons, aged sixteen to nineteen years, will be buried in Potočari.

Also, the remains of the father of Atif Mehanović will be buried along with the remains of his son Ramiz and sixteen-year-old Sifet, in addition to previously buried remains of two sons Smail and Sabahudin.

Brothers Suljić (Camil) Halid and Avdija will be buried together in addition to previously buried three other brothers and father Ćamil. The family Suljić had the father and his five sons killed.

The oldest victim who will be buried today in Potočari is Jusuf (Juso) Smajlović. He was born in 1920, and will be buried along with his grandson Hedib in addition to previously buried three sons Amir Habib and Asim.

Džemal (Ibro) Hasanović had sixteen years old when he was killed, and will be buried together with his father Ibro.

Eternal peace today in Potočari will also be found by brothers Malkić (Bajro) Omer and Enver, and Sejdinović brothers (Safet) Selman and Sabit who will be buried next to their earlier buried father Sejdalija. Remains of the brothers Zukić (Huso) Alaga and Velaga will also be buried.

Spokeswoman for the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina Lejla Čengić said that the remains of the Srebrenica victims have been found in more than 150 different locations in the Drina valley, of which 76 are mass graves, mostly of secondary character.

"The remains of the victims were found earlier mainly in secondary mass graves. Of the 76 mass graves that have been found in this area, only seven graves is the primary character, all others are secondary, in some cases, tertiary mass graves. It is the relocation of the remains from the primary site to other remote and hidden locations, with a view to ensuring that victims of crime are never found," said Čengić.

"If not for DNA analysis certainly there never would be a way to determine the identity of victims found. However, the displacement of the remains resulted in assembling remains of incomplete bodies. During the relocation of graves bodies were dismembered and body parts were arranged in different locations, which in some cases are more kilometers away," said Čengić.

The victims come from various municipalities, and most victims were from Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica, Zvornik and Milići.
The Memorial Centre in Potočari so far has 6,241 victims and 230 were buried individually outside the Memorial Centre, in accordance with the wishes of the family.

"After the funeral in Potočari today 440 minors will be buried. Every fourteenth victim buried in Potočari is a child," said Čengić.

She also said that so far the DNA analysis identified about 7,100 killed, and they are still searching for about 1,200 victims of the Srebrenica genocide.