0:03 Bosnia and Herzgavina is marking the
0:05 30th anniversary of the Srebanich
0:09 massacre when around 8,000 people mostly
0:11 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were
0:14 systematically murdered by Bosnian Serb
0:17 forces. It was Europe's worst atrocity
0:20 since the world second world war. Well,
0:22 our correspondent guide Aloney is at
0:26 Srebanich at the memorial. This is
0:29 Potachari Cemetery and this is opposite
0:32 the Shrebbrin memorial center where the
0:34 killing started really and these days
0:38 the shremit memorial center is a museum.
0:39 It's got a lot of exhibits connected
0:41 with the massacre, a lot of
0:43 documentation. And right at this moment,
0:45 there is a commemoration ceremony going
0:47 on in there with a lot of dignitaries.
0:49 But behind here, you can see all of the
0:51 gravestones of the people who've been
0:54 buried at Potchari Cemetery. And they're
0:57 among the 8,000 people who were murdered
1:00 during the Srean. It's a massacre. And
1:02 among these graves, there have been
1:05 seven graves freshly dug ready for
1:07 today's commemoration. And that's
1:09 because seven people have been
1:12 identified over the past year as victims
1:14 of the Sberonita massacre. And they will
1:17 be laid to rest today in a funeral
1:18 ceremony. And that's going to be the
1:21 heart of these commemorations that every
1:22 year we've got a few more people
1:26 identified and laid to rest in in Potari
1:27 Cemetery. And it means that their
1:31 families can find some sort of peace at
1:33 last. But as you can see, tens of
1:35 thousands of people are coming here to
1:36 pay their respects. It's not just
1:38 important for the family members of the
1:40 victims of the Srebanitz massacre, but
1:42 an awful lot of other people in Bosnia
1:44 and her governor as well want to
1:47 remember and the phrase is remember you
1:48 see that everywhere. People do want to remember
1:49 remember
1:52 >> Guy Deloneyi there. Well, let's speak to
1:55 Dr. Jasmine Muja Novich, senior fellow
1:57 at the New Lines Institute. That's a
1:59 think tank based in Washington DC
2:02 specializing in the Western Balkans. Uh,
2:05 welcome to BBC News. We saw there some
2:09 of the commemorations today. How is this
2:13 anniversary viewed across the spectrum?
2:15 >> Well, for Bosnia Herzuggavina, the 30th
2:18 anniversary of the Serban genocide
2:19 because of course it was a genocide, not
2:22 merely a massacre. Um is is a deeply
2:25 deeply important uh occasion. Um it
2:28 signifies of course the apex horror of a
2:29 broader genocide that was committed
2:31 against the Bosnjak people during the
2:33 aggression on Bosnia Herzuggavina by the
2:35 then regime in Belgrade under Sabbad
2:38 Milosvich between 1992 1995.
2:40 Unfortunately we are still dealing with
2:42 great a great deal of systematic denial
2:44 and negationism on the part of governing
2:47 authorities in the RS entity in
2:49 Bosnavina as well as the government of
2:52 Serbia. Uh but for most people in BIH uh
2:55 this is a moment of remembrance. This is
2:58 a moment of mourning but it is also a
3:00 moment of resilience.
3:03 >> You say there in some entities and some
3:06 areas people still refuse to accept that
3:08 this happened. Then
3:10 >> u that's right unfortunately in the
3:12 smaller entity in Bosni Herzuggavina
3:14 which is unfortunately where most of the
3:19 Serb uh populace lives today. um as well
3:23 as in Serbia uh we still have a very
3:25 hardline political commitment to um
3:28 negationism uh to revisionism and also
3:30 increasingly unfortunately to genocide
3:32 triumphalism. So what we've seen over
3:34 the last few years is not merely that
3:36 the facts of the genocide in Bosnia and
3:38 Serbanita are denied by authorities in
3:40 Belgrade and Bunyuka but in fact that
3:42 the perpetrators are celebrated and
3:45 glorified. And so 30 years on, what do
3:48 you think needs to change to try and
3:51 unite what remains a divided area over this?
3:53 this?
3:55 >> Well, uh there's a categorical
3:56 commitment on the part of the people of
4:00 Bosnerina to build a better future for
4:02 themselves. Uh this obviously requires
4:03 greater assistance on the part of in
4:05 particular the European Union but the
4:07 international community more broadly in
4:09 particular to bring Bosni Herzugguina's
4:11 constitutional regime in line with the
4:14 European Convention on Human Rights as
4:16 well as binding rulings by the European
4:19 Court of Human Rights. Um, we still have
4:21 one of the most hardline sectarian
4:23 regimes, a deeply illiberal regime in
4:24 Bosi Herzuggavina and it is very
4:26 difficult to imagine lasting peace and
4:29 reconciliation taking place under such circumstances.
4:30 circumstances.
4:33 >> Okay, thank you very much for sharing
4:36 your thoughts on that story. Jasmine
4:39 Mujanovic uh speaking to us from the New
4:41 Lines Institute in Washington DC. I
4:44 think we can take you to live images as
4:46 the remembrance
4:50 continues on. Those images there of
4:52 course marking
4:57 three decades on since the Serbanich massacre.
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