August 13, 2009, Belgrade, Serbia: Activists from several Serbian organizations — including Advocacy Project partner Women in Black — rallied outside of President Boris Tadic’s house on August 11 to press the leader to officially recognize the Srebrenica genocide.

The organizations are calling on Tadic to proclaim July 11 Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day. The fourteenth anniversary of the 1995 genocide was marked this July 11, and demonsrators said they’d be back on the 11th of each month until they get an answer from the Serbian government.

“We are demanding support for the request of July 11 being a day to remember the Srebrenica genocide victims in Serbia as well and paying respect to them,” the organizations stated in a letter to Tadic.

The letter reminds the President that the European Parliament adopted a resolution on January 15, 2009 proclaiming July 11 a day of remembrance for Srebrenica, and stated that because Serbia wants to join the EU, that has also become the obligation of the Serbian government.

“We are expressing our firm conviction that respecting and recognizing the victims of the worst crime among crimes and the beginning of building shared remembrance in which all war crimes victims from the territory of the former Yugoslavia will be included is our common obligation,” the letter states.

The demand was sent to Tadic by the Humanitarian Law Center, Women in Black, the Helsinki Human Rights Committee in Serbia, the Center for Developing Legal Studies, the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, the Fund for Open Societies and the Center for Cultural Decontamination.

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were murdered at Srebrenica in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces seized the town.

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July 10, 2009, Washington, DC: The Bosnian American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAACBH) will commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide with an event on Capitol Hill today.

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed on July 11, 1995, when Bosnian Serbs seized the city of Srebrenica, which had been a UN-protected safe haven during the conflict.

Today’s event will feature a clip from the film, “A Cry from the Grave,” as well as remarks from BAACBH Executive Director Elmina Kulasic; Damir Dzanko, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Bosnian Embassy; Bridget Conley-Zilkic, Director of Research and Projects at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Committee on Conscience; Trisha Rines, from the Office of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson; and Nerina Cevra, International Advocacy Officer for Survivor Corps.

The event will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building. BAACBH is a partner of The Advocacy Project.

As part of the event, BAACBH will also display a memorial quilt made by the women of Bosnian Family (BOSFAM), an AP partner based in Tuzla, Bosnia. Many of BOSFAM’s weavers lost relatives in the massacre and were displaced from their homes after the war in the 1990s. Each of the quilt’s panels honors an individual victim.

July 6, 2009, Washington, DC:  The Advocacy Project (AP) will host an event commemorating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre on Tuesday, July 14.

The event will feature a memorial quilt made by the women of Bosnian Family (BOSFAM), an AP partner based in Tuzla, Bosnia. Many of BOSFAM’s weavers lost relatives in the massacre, and each of the quilt’s panels honors an individual victim.

There will also be a multimedia presentation that includes video and photos from 2009 Peace Fellows who attended the July 11 burial ceremony for recently-identified victims in Potocari, Bosnia.

Srebrenica, a Muslim enclave, was designated a UN safe haven during the war in the Balkans. But on July 11, 1995, a lightly-armed Dutch peacekeeping force capitulated to the Bosnian Serbs, who seized the town and murdered over 8,000 men and boys over the age of 15. The women and children were bused out of Srebrenica to Muslim-controlled territory.

To date, about 2,900 massacre victims have been re-buried, and hundreds more will be added to the total during this year’s ceremony.

The Washington event will be held  from 5:30 to 8 p.m. July 14 at AP’s offices, located at 1326 14th St. NW.

BOSFAM souvenir carpets and refreshments will be available for purchase. Proceeds from the event will benefit BOSFAM and AP’s fellowship program.

May 27, 2009, Mrsici, Bosnia: A new mass grave containing dozens of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre has been discovered in eastern Bosnia, bringing a fresh reminder as advocates prepare to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the massacre this summer.

The grave was discovered in Mrsici village, 60 kilometers northeast of Sarajevo, according to Bosnia’s Missing Persons Commission. Exhumation was expected to continue for several days.

Srebrenica, a Muslim enclave, was designated a UN safe haven during the Balkan conflict in the 1990s. But a lightly-armed Dutch peacekeeping force capitulated to the Bosnian Serbs, who seized the town and murdered over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys over the age of 15. The women and children were bused out of Srebrenica to Muslim-controlled territory.

To date, the remains of more than 6,000 of the genocide victims have been exhumed from about 70 mass graves around Srebrenica, with more than 5,600 people identified by DNA analysis. About 2,900 massacre victims have been re-buried. Thousands of bodies and body parts have been exhumed from mass graves but not yet identified.

Each summer, thousands flock to Potocari, the scene of the 1995 massacre, to bury the remains of newly-identified victims. Two Advocacy Project partners in the Balkans, Bosnian Family (BOSFAM) and Women in Black-Serbia, participate in the commemoration each year.

BOSFAM has also produced a memorial quilt honoring victims of the Srebrenica massacre. The quilt was launched in 2007 and now comprises 85 total panels, each dedicated to an individual victim.