A ceremony is taking place in Bosnia to mark the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre – the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

More than 7,000 Muslim men and boys from the town were killed by advancing Bosnian Serb troops in July 1995.

The remains of more than 700 recently identified victims are being buried at a cemetery near Srebrenica. Every year, more and more bodies are found in mass graves.

Serbian President Boris Tadic is attending the ceremony, in what is seen as a significant gesture. The president of Croatia will is also attending. This is the first time leaders from these two coutries will pay respects to the victims alongside Bosnian Muslims.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads a Turkish delegation which is participating in the ceremony.

Marking the anniversary, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the massacre was “a crime that shamed Europe”, pledging to bring to justice the perpetrators.

Srebrenica had been declared a UN safe zone, to which thousands of Bosniaks had fled during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. But the Bosnian Serb army easily overran the lightly-armed Dutch force there in July 1995.

The massacre is the only episode of the conflict to have been deemed a genocide by the UN tribunal.

Thousands of people gathered at the Potocari cemetery, just outside Srebrenica, to mark the anniversary of the massacre.

New rows have been made for the burial of 775 victims, who will join nearly 4,000 already there. The funeral for these newer graves marks the culmination of a three-day march to commemorate people killed in the Srebenica massacre.

Serbs in the area admit that an atrocity took place, but many of them reject the established genocide narrative of July 1995, the BBC’s Mark Lowen in Srebrenica reports.

“The Serb people are portrayed in the media as committing genocide, but it isn’t so,” Mladen Grujicic, who works for a local association helping the families of Serb victims of the war, told the BBC.

“No Serbs contest that a crime happened in Srebrenica, but they’re insulted when the numbers are manipulated,” Mr Grujicic says, adding that Serb victims of the war have been forgotten.

Despite attempts to lay the past to rest, Srebrenica remains segregated 15 years after the tragic events.

Indeed, just a day before the Srebenica massacre commemoration ceremony, former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, received an award from the political party he founded 20 years ago.

A special ceremony was organised by the Serb Democratic Party. Picking up the award in her husband’s absence was his wife, Liljana Zelen.

Karadzic is facing genocide charges at the Hague relating to the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebenica.

The SDS Party was created by Karadzic in 1990. It is hoping to regain power when Bosnia holds parliamentary elections in October.

Sources:

“Victims buried as Bosnia marks Srebrenica anniversary” BBC News July 11, 2010

“Mass funeral for Srebenica victims on anniversary” Euro News July 11, 2010

“Bosnian Serb party lauds genocide suspect Karadzic” Associated Press July 10, 2010

“Turkish PM in Bosnia to mark Srebrenica massacre” World Bulletin July 11, 2010