Roses in the Drina for the Killed and Missing: Days of Remembrance for the Genocide in Bratunac

BRATUNAC, (Patria) - Representatives of the Association of Camp Inmates of Bratunac and the Association of Camp Inmates of BiH, surviving victims, family members, and government officials today marked the 27th anniversary of the suffering of Bosniaks in that town as part of the program “Days of Remembrance for the Genocide in Bratunac”.

At the city stadium in the center of Bratunac, 6,000 people were detained, where men were separated from women and taken to camps. Men were taken to the gymnasium of the “Vuk Karadžić” Elementary School, and women to the so-called women’s camp in the police building, where they were subjected to the most monstrous abuses and killings. Detained women and girls were mass raped and killed. In the gymnasium alone, about 200 Bosniaks from Bratunac were killed.

Their bodies were thrown into the Drina River and into mass graves such as Redžići. Flowers were laid at the city stadium in Bratunac and in the gymnasium of the former “Vuk Karadžić” Elementary School, where the Bosniaks of Bratunac were detained.

The commemoration of the suffering of the Bosniaks of Bratunac ended with the throwing of roses into the Drina River from the bridge connecting Bratunac and Ljubovija, where a large number of Bosniaks were also killed.

Jasmin Mešković, president of the Association of Camp Inmates of BiH, told Patria that genocide was also committed in Bratunac, with victims killed and their bodies hidden in mass graves.

“At all sites of suffering and crime scenes, we point out that we must not forget. We must put pressure on institutions to prosecute those who committed crimes. Today we are in Bratunac, yesterday we were in Brčko, Vlasenica, Prijedor. We continuously see denial of crimes, denial of genocide,” said Mešković.

Tomorrow, a collective funeral prayer and burial will be held in Bratunac for three identified victims of the 1992 crimes.