The worst massacre in Europe since the Holocaust took place in a small town in eastern Bosnia called Srebrenica. There in July 1995, 8,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered by Serb forces.

The Conflict

The former Yugolavia was comprised of historically rival ethnic groups: Serbs (Orthodox Christians), Croats (Catholics), Bosnians (Muslims) and ethnic Albanians (Muslims). The death of Josip Tito, the leader who united several lands to create Yugoslavia, caused the country to spiral into chaos. A Serbian, Slobodan Milosevic, who later came into power would change the face of the nation.

Milosevic has become synonymous with ethnic cleansing. He was seen by some in his homeland as the hero of Serbia, but in much of the Balkans and the wider world, he is regarded with hatred because of his relentless desire to build a Greater Serbia.

That ambition led to war against the independence-seeking republics of Bosnia and Croatia, the creation of the term "ethnic cleansing" and a NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia.

In June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia both declared independence from Yugoslavia. The following month, the Yugoslavian army composed of Serbs controlled by Milosevic invaded Croatia saying they were protecting the Serbian minority. When the army took the city of Vukovar, they began the first mass executions of the war by killing hundreds of Croat men and burying them in mass graves.

The following April, Bosnia declared its independence. Milosevic waged an attack of Sarajevo, again using the justification of protecting the Serbian minority. The soldiers systematically rounded up Muslims and Croats and subjected them to mass shootings, forced repopulation, confinement in concentration camps and rape.

By the following May, six towns were declared safe havens and placed under the supervision of the United Nations. In July 1995, Serb forces entered the safe haven of Srebrenica and systematically murdered and around 8,000 Muslim men and boys, and deported, displaced and raped thousands of Muslim women and girls. Dutch peacekeeping forces have been severely criticized for failing to try to protect the victims.

By the end of the fighting, over 200,000 Muslim civilians were murdered, more than 20,000 were missing and believed to be dead, and 2 million had become refugees.

It wasn’t until 2001 that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a UN committee, finally arrested and charged Milošević with crimes against humanity and genocide for his role during the wars, among other charges. The initial investigation faltered for lack of hard evidence, prompting the Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Dindic to send him to The Hague to stand trial for charges of war crimes instead.

Milosevic conducted his own defense, but the trial ended without a verdict because he died during the proceedings, after nearly five years in the War Criminal Prison in The Hague.</

The ICTY

In May, 1993, the UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) to try those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. The tribunal sought to bring justice to the victims of the conflict and deter future leaders from committing similar atrocities. The ICTY has also began to take on cases from the Kosovo crisis of the late 1990s.  The court was the UN's first special tribunal.

Since the very first hearing in 1994, a total of 161 individuals have been indicted and people are still being tried for their involvement in the genocides. The indictees ranged from common soldiers and to generals and police commanders all the way to Prime Ministers. Slobodan Milosevic was the first sitting head of state indicted for war crimes.

What can you do?

You can help send a strong message to the world!

• April 6 marks the anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo and has become the day Bosnian commemorate the genocide. Spread the word!
• Organize a screening of the preview of The Last Survivor, a documentary due for release this year that tells the stories of four survivors who have taken up anti-genocide advocacy.
• Ask your local bookseller to display books about genocide and mass atrocities.
• Encourage your school to adopt anti-genocide curricular materials.