Today, Bratunac observes the anniversary of the hardships faced by the Serbian population during the 1990s conflicts in Srebrenica, Bratunac, the Middle Drina region, and the Birač municipalities.

As per the decision from the Government of Republika Srpska (RS), a Day of Mourning has been declared across this entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to honor the victims of crimes committed against Serbs in central Podrinje and Birač from 1992 to 1995.

Official data from the RS indicates that 3,267 individuals lost their lives in the Podrinje region during this timeframe.

During the rally and memorial service in Bratunac, located in eastern BiH, it was confirmed that delegations from both RS and Serbia would be in attendance.

Events in the Middle Drina

In eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically in the villages of Zalazje, Sase, Biljača, and Zagoni within Bratunac municipality, 69 soldiers and civilians of Serbian descent were killed on July 12, 1992, with an additional 22 Serbs reported missing.

Some remains were discovered in a mass grave on June 10, 2010, while ten individuals still remain unaccounted for.

No individuals have faced justice for the killings of Serbs in Podrinje in Bosnian or Hague courts.

In November 2018, the Court of BiH acquitted Naser Orić, the former commander of the BiH Army in Srebrenica, and his associate Sabahudin Muhić of charges related to the killing of three Serb prisoners in Zalazje, Lolići, and Kunjerac (Srebrenica municipality) in 1992.

Previously, in 2008, Orić had been exonerated by a final ruling from the Hague Tribunal regarding accusations of crimes against Serbs in Srebrenica during 1992 and 1993.

The Appellate Chamber overruled an earlier decision from the summer of 2006, which had found Orić guilty of failing to prevent crimes against Serbs, resulting in a two-year prison sentence.

The Council determined that the initial judges made errors in concluding his guilt without clearly identifying the actual perpetrators or establishing whether they fell under Orić’s command, or if he was even aware of the crimes.

The Day of Mourning in RS was instituted a day after the Federation of BiH’s Government proclaimed July 11th as a Day of Mourning in memory of the 30th anniversary of the genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica.

Leaders from both Serbia and Republika Srpska dispute the classification of the events in Srebrenica as genocide, where over 8,000 men and boys were killed and more than 25,000 women, children, and the elderly were displaced by members of the Republika Srpska Army in July 1995.

News