The Bosnian Serb Massacre of Approximately 8,372 Bosniak Men and Boys at Srebrenica in July 1995

The Bosnian War had begun on 6 April 1992 with the declaration of independence by Bosnia and Herzegovina from the dissolving Yugoslavia. The war involved three principal factions: the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) majority government in Sarajevo, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska under President Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, and the Bosnian Croat forces. The war featured ethnic cleansing across the contested territories.

The eastern Bosnian Muslim town of Srebrenica had been encircled by Bosnian Serb forces from spring 1992. UN Security Council Resolution 819 of 16 April 1993 designated Srebrenica as a “safe area” — to be protected by UN forces. The protective force was a battalion of Dutch peacekeepers (“Dutchbat”) of approximately 400 lightly armed troops under Lieutenant Colonel Thom Karremans.

Approximately 40,000 Bosniaks — the original population plus refugees from the surrounding villages — were inside the enclave by 1995.

6-11 July 1995

The Bosnian Serb Army launched Operation Krivaja ‘95 against the enclave on 6 July 1995. The Dutchbat held its observation posts under Bosnian Serb pressure across 6-10 July. Air strikes by NATO had been authorized in principle but were delayed by procedural complications between UN and NATO command structures. The two NATO airstrikes that were conducted on 11 July 1995 were too late.

Mladic entered Srebrenica with Bosnian Serb troops on the afternoon of 11 July 1995. He filmed the entry on video — subsequent ICTY evidence. He met Karremans at the Bosnian Serb command post at Bratunac on the evening of 11 July 1995 and gave guarantees of the safety of the Bosniak civilians.

The separation

Approximately 25,000 Bosniaks — principally women, children, and elderly — assembled at the Dutchbat base at Potocari seeking protection. Approximately 10,000-15,000 Bosniak men and military-age boys formed an approximately 12 km armed column attempting to reach the Bosnian government lines at Tuzla approximately 100 km to the northwest.

At Potocari, Bosnian Serb troops separated men and boys aged approximately 12-77 from the women and children across 12-13 July 1995. The Dutchbat — outgunned and unsupported — did not intervene. Approximately 1,000 men were separated at Potocari. The women and children were transported by bus to Bosnian government-held territory.

The killings

The mass killings occurred across 12-22 July 1995 at approximately a dozen execution sites in the Srebrenica-Bratunac-Zvornik region. The Bosnian Serb Army Drina Corps — under General Radislav Krstic — conducted the operations. The principal sites:

— Kravica Warehouse — approximately 1,000 killed by grenades and small-arms fire on 13 July 1995 — Branjevo Military Farm — approximately 1,200 killed by firing squad on 16 July 1995 — Petkovci Dam — approximately 800 killed on 14-15 July 1995 — Cerska Valley — approximately 150 killed — Plus approximately a dozen further sites

The bodies were initially buried at primary mass graves. Across late August - November 1995 Bosnian Serb operations exhumed and reburied the bodies at approximately 30 secondary sites to conceal the killings. The dispersal complicated the subsequent forensic identification.

The armed Bosniak column attempting to reach Tuzla was attacked across 12-18 July 1995. Approximately 3,000-5,000 of the column survived; approximately 5,000-8,000 were killed or disappeared.

Identification and prosecution

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) — established in 1996 — began systematic DNA-based identification of recovered remains. By June 2024 the ICMP had identified 8,372 Srebrenica victims. The Memorial Centre at Potocari progressively holds the burials.

The ICTY prosecutions of Srebrenica:

— Radislav Krstic — Bosnian Serb Drina Corps commander — convicted of genocide complicity (2001), sentenced to 35 years — Radovan Karadzic — Bosnian Serb President — convicted of genocide (2016), sentenced to 40 years, increased to life on appeal — Ratko Mladic — Bosnian Serb Army commander — captured in Serbia on 26 May 2011 after 16 years on the run, convicted of genocide (2017), sentenced to life imprisonment

The International Court of Justice ruled in Bosnia v. Serbia (26 February 2007) that Serbia had failed to prevent and punish the Srebrenica genocide but that the genocide itself had not been committed by Serbia as a state.

The Dutch state was found liable by the Dutch Supreme Court in 2019 for the deaths of approximately 350 men deported from the Dutchbat compound at Potocari — the only ruled state responsibility for the genocide.

Srebrenica remains the worst single atrocity in Europe since the Second World War.