The 30th anniversary of what is known as Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two was marked on Friday in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In July 1995, armed Bosnian Serbs seized the eastern town of Srebrenica and murdered more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were taking shelter there. The massacre occurred amid a fierce ethnic conflict during the break-up of Yugoslavia.
The commander of the armed forces has been sentenced to life in prison by a United Nations tribunal. The tribunal was the first war crimes court created by the world body and paved the way for the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
A ceremony commemorating the massacre also took place on the same day near where the tribunal used to be located in the Dutch city of The Hague. A newly erected monument was unveiled in the ceremony.
A man taking part in the ceremony said it is important to keep pressure on those who broke the peace, in view of what is happening in the world today.
Speaking about the war tribunal, Professor Kubo Keiichi at Waseda University says the political and military leaders of the Bosnian Serbs were defiant in the beginning, but were eventually forced to take responsibility due to the firm stand taken by the international community.
He said it is crucial to keep saying “no” to war crimes. He argued that the international community should learn lessons from these developments and never give up its efforts to hold accountable those responsible for war crimes committed in such places as Ukraine and Palestine.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and others over suspected war crimes.