Twentieth collective funeral for Bratunac martyrs held in Veljaci

(Patria) - The twentieth collective funeral prayer for Bosniak civilians killed in 1992 was held today at the Veljaci Memorial Center in Bratunac.

Along with the remains of Kajtaz (Šećo) Salkić, found after 33 years of searching, the remains of two unidentified victims found in mass graves in Suha and Voljevica were also buried.

The funeral prayer was led by the Mufti of Tuzla, Vahid-ef. Fazlović.

The remains of Kajtaz Salkić, born in 1955 in Hranča, were exhumed in 2025 at the Glogova site. Salkić was 37 years old when he disappeared in the Bratunac area in December 1992.

By order of the Prosecutor's Office, the remains found at two different locations were interred as unidentified persons in two graves. These are bones found in mass graves in Suha and Voljevica.

As stated during the commemoration, the scale of the crime and the damage to the bodies prevented classic identification methods.

Mufti Fazlović said that the gathering in Veljaci represents a lasting obligation to the victims and their families.

- Praise be to God for perseverance, that is the strength of Bosniaks, primarily the strength of the people who live here. More than 30 years have passed since the most heinous crimes and genocide were committed, and here, in this place, in the Veljaci martyrs' cemetery, we are gathering for the 20th time to perform a collective martyrs' funeral - said Fazlović.

He added that the gathering in Veljaci represents a debt to the murdered Bosniaks.

- We are here because of our debt to the martyrs, the noble Bosniak men and women who testified with their lives to the value of life, the value of freedom, the value of the homeland. In this lies a lasting lesson - stated Fazlović.

Speaking about the unidentified victims, he emphasized that their identity will be determined when the conditions are met.

- Unfortunately, today we have coffins before us containing body parts, remains of martyrs whose names we do not know. They were burned first. But their mark will remain forever, and we will, when the time comes, determine that identity as well, God willing - Fazlović conveyed.

RS National Assembly member Ramiz Salkić says that the victims' families are still seeking justice and the punishment of those responsible for war crimes.

- The message is always the same – we are here to seek justice, to seek the punishment of war criminals, those who committed crimes, to seek that the truth is not denied, that the truth is not forgotten, that there is no process of revisionism, that there is no process of glorifying war criminals - said Salkić.

He added that the victims' families will not give up on preserving the memory of the murdered.

- The key message is that we have not and will not forget, and that we will do everything to ensure that such crimes never happen again to Bosniaks in this area in the future - said Salkić.

Member of the Organizational Committee for the commemoration of the anniversary of the suffering of Bosniaks, Šuhra Sinanović, emphasized that families are still waiting for the discovery of a large number of victims.

- We are not satisfied with the work of the prosecutor's office, because only so far, after 34 years, we have half of our buried. However, as today, only one person for whom it took 33 years to be found, Kajtaz Salkić was found last year, and buried today - said Sinanović.

Speaking about the burial of unidentified victims, she said that these are individuals whose identities have not yet been established.

- What is even sadder is that two victims are being buried, two people who were burned in a house in 1992 and still do not have their identity, but they have received their known burial place, which is Veljaci, Bratunac - said Sinanović.

The Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still searching for 449 victims from the Bratunac area. So far, a total of 1,767 victims have been identified, while exhumations have been carried out at 418 locations, of which 32 were mass graves.