Bosnia-Hercegovina

Thousands remember Srebrenica massacre, Dutch blocks bid to sue UN

Article published on the 2008-07-11 Latest update 2008-07-11 13:49 TU

A mourner in Srebrenica
(Photo: Reuters)

About 30,000 Bosnian Muslims gathered in the town of Srebrenica on Friday to commemorate the 1995 massacre there and bury 308 newly-identified bodies. Earlier a court in the Netherlands ruled that it could not hear a case against the UN for failing to stop the slaughter, which is believed to have claimed the lives of about 8,000 men and boys.

About 220 buses brought thousands of participants, who were joined by people arriving in other vehicles, while about 2,000 arrived after conducting what they called a "March for Peace" from the village of Nezuk.

The march followed the route taken by many Muslims who fled the Bosnian-Serb militias who carried out the massacre.

The funeral ceremony for 308 Muslims, who had been exhumed from mass graves and identified by DNA analysis, was held at a memorial site just outside the town.

So far some 2,900 victims have been buried, while about 70 mass graves have been identified.

Serbia's President Boris Tadic declared that his pro-EU government is "entirely committed" to arresting those held responsible. They include Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and mililtary commander Ratko Mladic.

A Dutch court earlier ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear an action against the UN brought by 6,000 survivors and ten inidivivually-named widows for failing to stop the massacre.

Last week a UN court cleared the former commander of Muslim forces in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, of war crimes.