July 11 Marks Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Bosnia and Windsor

“Twenty-three years have passed since the Srebrenica Genocide took the lives of more than 7000 victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. This horrific event is commemorated annually on July 11 because on that day in 1995 Bosnian Serb forces, commanded by convicted war criminal General Ratko Mladic, executed more than 7000 Muslim-Bosniak men, boys and elderly who had sought safety in the region after the fall of Srebrenica. Furthermore, another 25,000 people were forcibly deported in an UN-assisted ethnic cleansing that was later referred to by the European Parliament’s resolution as the “biggest war crime in Europe since the end of WWII”.

This year`s Srebrenica commemoration begins today, July 6, 2018, and ends on July 11, 2018.

On 19 October 2010, my motion in the Canadian House of Commons passed and read, “That in the opinion of the House, the day of July 11 should be recognized as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in memorial of the Srebrenica Massacre of July 1995, in which more than 7000 Bosniak men and boys were executed, declared an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice, and 25,000 others were forcibly removed from their homes by Bosnian Serb forces.”

After having travelled to Srebrenica and meeting with the mothers of Srebrenica, local leaders, and many others in the community, I remain committed to ensuring the sacrifices of those lost in this genocide will not be forgotten. To the people of Srebrenica, and the thousands living in Canada today, we honour your sacrifices, remember your victims, and will continue working to ensure that such an event never again takes place.”

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The Canadian Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg, Ontario has organized a memorial event on July 11th in partnership with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Association of Manitoba.