Srebrenica today commemorates a monstrous crime on the playground: 74 killed, over 100 Bosniaks wounded

22 years ago, on April 12, 1993, 74 Bosniaks from Srebrenica and Podrinje were killed and over 100 wounded by shell fire on the playground near the elementary and secondary school in Srebrenica, writes the Patria News Agency.

One of the saddest days in Srebrenica in 1993 was April 12, when children, young men, women, and the elderly were killed on the playgrounds during rare moments of play and joy... Many lost limbs, went blind, and became ill.

Survivors recall that the scene of that massacre was terrifying, human flesh hung on the playground fence for days, and blood flowed through the streets of Srebrenica.

The scene was horrific. Dismembered bodies were scattered everywhere. Two vehicles arrived, an ambulance and a bread transport truck driven by Ramo, nicknamed "Hljebara" (Baker). We were putting severely wounded people into the vehicles. We put one person's intestines back into his stomach, then put him in the vehicle and took him to the hospital. The dismembered bodies of the killed were collected by their relatives from the playground. The hospital was full of wounded. Many were lying in the corridors." (The Deadly Summer of Srebrenica '95, - Statement 38, A.B. from Potočari).

Avdo Huseinović, in his film "Tuzla is Far Away," presents an interesting detail about responsibility for this crime. The film shows the regular combat report of the duty operational officer of the Bratunac Brigade, Captain Krsto Cvjetinović, sent to the command of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. The report states that on that day, they operated with their available artillery weapons on Žuti Most, Potočari, and Srebrenica. Huseinović emphasizes that after his film, he expects an indictment against the commander of the Drina Corps of the VRS, General Milenko Živanović, for the attack on Srebrenica in July '95, and adds that Živković should also be held responsible for the massacre on the playground in Srebrenica on April 12, '93.

Great responsibility for this crime also lies with the commander-in-chief of UNPROFOR forces, French General Philippe Morillon, who, during his visit to Konjević Polje and Cerska on March 6, '93, lied to the world public by stating, "I did not smell death.".

After the return of Bosniaks to Srebrenica, the anniversary of the massacre was marked for the first time in 2007. Before the playground was asphalted, a year later, at the insistence of families and representatives of municipal leadership and associations, investigators from the BiH Prosecutor's Office recorded the site and documented the traces of the shell impacts.

Today in Srebrenica, nothing reminds of this massacre. Few know about Dino Selimović and Mirnes Mešić, boys whose blood soaked the place where some new children are taking their first steps.