What is the Srebrenica Genocide?

The Srebrenica Genocide was the mass murder of more than 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and associated units in July 1995, during the Bosnian War.

It has been ruled a genocide by both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

But to understand Srebrenica, you first have to understand the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia was a socialist federation made up of six republics, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia was (and still is) home to Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Bosnian Serbs, Croats, Jews, Roma, and many people from mixed families. Following the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, nationalist politics intensified throughout Yugoslavia. In Serbia, Slobodan Milošević rose to power while promoting Serbian nationalism and seeking greater Serbian political dominance.

When Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in 1991, Yugoslavia began to collapse. Bosnia and Herzegovina held an internationally recognized independence referendum in 1992. Most Bosnian Serb political leaders rejected the result.

The Bosnian War began shortly afterward.

Ethnic cleansing.

The Srebrenica Genocide did not happen in isolation. Years before July 1995, Bosniak civilians throughout eastern Bosnia were subjected to systematic ethnic cleansing.

Entire villages were attacked, people were murdered in their homes, mosques were destroyed, and thousands were imprisoned in camps. Women and girls were subjected to widespread sexual violence, and hundreds of thousands of Bosniaks across Bosnia were forcibly expelled from their homes.

Srebrenica became one of the few remaining Bosniak enclaves in eastern Bosnia because survivors from surrounding municipalities fled there. The town became catastrophically overcrowded, and food, medicine, and supplies, became scarce.

In 1993, the United Nations declared Srebrenica a "Safe Area." It was protected by Dutch peacekeepers (Dutchbat).

However, the peacekeepers were lightly armed, severely outnumbered, dependent on UN authorization for military support, and unable to stop a determined military assault.

July 1995.

On the 11th of July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces under General Ratko Mladić entered Srebrenica.

Footage exists of Mladić walking through the town saying:

"Here we are, on 11 July 1995, in Serbian Srebrenica... The time has come to take revenge on the Muslims."

Thousands of civilians fled to the UN base at Potočari. Others attempted to escape through the forests toward Tuzla.

Neither group would be safe.

Very quickly, Bosniak men and boys were systematically separated from women, children, and the elderly.

Women and children were loaded onto buses and deported.

Men and boys—as young as teenagers and as old as grandfathers—were taken away.

Over the following days they were executed in schools, warehouses, fields, and farms. Afterwards, bulldozers dug up the bodies and moved them into secondary and tertiary mass graves in an attempt to hide the crime.

Because of this deliberate concealment, many victims have been found with their remains scattered across multiple graves, making identification an agonizing process that continues even today.

One story I want everyone to know is that of Ramo Osmanović and his son Nermin.

There is footage recorded during the genocide in which Ramo, having been captured, is forced by Bosnian Serb soldiers to call into the forest for his son, saying it was safe with the Serbs. Whether he believed those words or knew he had no choice, we cannot know.

Nermin came out of hiding, and both father and son were murdered. Years later, their remains were identified in a mass grave.

Thousands of families have similar stories.

Mothers spent decades searching for bones scattered across different graves because those responsible tried to erase even the evidence of the murders. Thanks to one of the largest DNA identification projects in history, thousands of victims have finally been identified, but some families are still waiting.

In 2001, the ICTY issued its first conviction recognizing Srebrenica as genocide. Since then, numerous international judgments—including those against Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić—have reaffirmed that legal conclusion.

Genocide denial, however, continues.

If you call yourself anti-fascist, if you mourn the Holocaust, if you stand against Islamophobia, you must stand with Srebrenica. Otherwise, your activism is selective.

My post of last year.

If you're reading this and want to learn more, please do. Don't let this be the only thing you ever read about Srebrenica.

Learn the names of the victims.

Memorial Center. It contains oral histories from survivors, personal stories of victims, digital exhibitions, educational resources, information about every annual commemoration, and news on newly identified victims. If you only visit one site, make it this one.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This is legal evidence. You can find every judgment, witness testimonies, military documents, trial transcripts, video evidence, court exhibits, documentary films, and case law.

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) contains appeals, updated legal records, and trial archives.

International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) explains DNA identification, mass grave excavations, secondary and tertiary graves, and how perpetrators tried to hide evidence, alongside the dentification of victims. Their work revolutionized forensic identification after mass atrocities.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read.

I'm Bosnian. This isn't just another historical event to me—it's part of my country's history, part of the grief that so many families here still carry, and something that continues to shape our present. Every July 11th, more victims are laid to rest as their remains are identified. There are families who spent decades waiting to bury their sons, fathers, brothers, and husbands. Some are still waiting.

I know a Tumblr post can't teach you everything. It can't capture every life that was stolen, every survivor's story, or every act of courage and loss. My hope is simply that it encourages you to keep learning.

Nikada ne zaboravimo Srebrenicu.