Srebrenica, Gaza — what happened to 'never again'?

This month, I stood in silence by a graveside and watched as seven coffins were lowered into the soil.

But this was no normal funeral.

Those being laid to rest had been killed three decades earlier alongside more than 8,300 men and boys, over a period of several days in July 1995. This was Srebrenica and I was there with thousands of others, beneath a hot sun, looking out across a lush valley filled with white marble headstones that fanned out as far as the eye could see.   

The seven people being buried were only being laid to rest now because — like many of those brutally executed in the campaign of genocide against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica — their bodies had been moved multiple times, using heavy machinery, sometimes across hundreds of kilometres and across multiple mass burial sites.

All of this is a concerted effort to erase the evidence of these massacres and impede future investigations into these crimes. As a result, the remains of nearly a thousand people presumed killed during those days are still missing.    

Before coming to the graveside, the mourners and dignitaries had gathered in one of the cavernous halls of a former battery factory.

In 1995, it had been the temporary headquarters of a lightly armed Dutch contingent of a UN peacekeeping force assigned to safeguard more than 20,000 civilians seeking refuge from the approaching army of Republika Srpska.

In this same hall, children, women and men had sheltered, hoping for protection. But the international community failed to meet its most basic obligations under international humanitarian law, and they were fatally let down.  

The so-called UN safe area was overrun. Men and teenage boys were separated from their families and executed. Women and children were forcibly transferred from Srebrenica, and many women and girls were raped and killed.   

'Never again'?

In this same hall, besuited representatives of governments from around the world now gathered.

As promises of “never again” fell from the mouths of these state officials whose governments persist in transferring arms to Israel which has not relented in its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, I felt the hypocrisy hang heavy from the rafters.  

In her speech, Munira Subašić, one of the Mothers of Srebrenica, spoke of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and reminded the audience that grief knows no boundaries and that silence is never neutral.   

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, and neighbouring Serbia, denial and historical revisionism persist despite the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia finding that the crimes committed in Srebrenica were part of a well-planned and coordinated operation and amounted to genocide.

The masterminds behind the operation, Bosnian Serb leaders Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić, were found guilty of genocide by the same tribunal.

Yet justice, truth and reparations remain elusive for many survivors and victims’ families. Far too many perpetrators of this and other crimes have never been brought to justice.  

Whilst in Srebrenica, I was reminded of other mass graves in Chemmani, near Jaffna, Sri Lanka — and how, earlier this year, routine building excavations had unearthed 19 human skeletons.

Yet another mass grave resulting from the bloody assault on Tamil populations in the north of Sri Lanka likely during the civil war.

Some of the skeletons were of babies.

Another belonged to a child buried under the clay with their UNICEF-issued bag, a toy, a bangle, and a slipper. It was a haunting reminder that no one — no matter how young — was spared from violence and mass killings in a state that has avoided accountability for these crimes since 2009, despite multiple UN resolutions calling for it.

Tamil mothers of the disappeared continue to demand justice, truth and accountability as hope fades and time passes. 

In Potočari, the commemoration ceremony prompted tears of pain and rage, and a quiet grief. The wounds as fresh as they were 30 years ago.

For the Mothers of Srebrenica, justice does not lie in the empty words of world leaders that converge in Potočari once a year to shake hands and take photos in front of a sea of graves.

“Never again” means stopping genocide before it happens.

Justice means knowing where their loved ones are buried, finding out the truth about what happened to them, and seeing the perpetrators held to account in a recognised court of law.

It is about reparations, healing and seeing a world in which crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide are prevented and ended.  

If world leaders really mean “never again”, they must bring a swift end to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

They must ensure the perpetrators of international crimes, wherever they occur, are held to account, and they must demonstrate genuine commitment towards justice and human rights for all.

The white marble headstones in Potočari should remain on their conscience. 

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