The United Nations (UN’s) International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica is observed every year across the globe on 11 July to honor the memory over 8,300 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys who were systematically murdered by the Bosnian Serb Army in and around Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1995.
- 11 July 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide committed in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War (1992–1995).
Note: The Srebrenica massacre stands as one of the darkest moments of the war following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and is widely recognized as the worst atrocity committed in Europe since the Second World War.
Background:
i.In May 2024, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution A/RES/78/282, establishing 11 July as the annual International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.
ii.The resolution, led by Germany and Rwanda and backed by more than 40 co-sponsoring nations.
iii.The first ever International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica was observed on 11 July 2024.
About Srebrenica Massacre:
i.Bosnian War Context (1992–1995): The breakup of the former Yugoslavia led to a brutal conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, resulting in over 100,000 deaths—the majority of them Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks)—and the displacement of more than 2 million people.
ii.UN-Declared Safe Area (1993): In 1993, the UN Security Council (UNSC) declared Srebrenica a “safe area”, placing it under the protection of UN peacekeepers and mandating that it be free from armed conflict.
iii.Fall of Srebrenica (July 1995): Despite the UN designation, Bosnian Serb forces, led by military chief of staff General Ratko Mladić, captured Srebrenica in July 1995.
iv.Mass Execution: In the days following the town’s fall, over 8,300 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically separated from their families and murdered by the Bosnian Serb Army.
v.Mass Deportations: Around 25,000 women, children, and elderly were forcibly expelled from the area during the massacre.
vi.Legal Recognition as Genocide: Both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that the killings in Srebrenica constituted genocide, holding several senior Bosnian Serb officials criminally responsible.
Note: Genocide is the intentional and systematic act of violence aimed at eliminating individuals solely because they belong to a specific ethnic, religious, national, or racial group.
2025 Event:
i.A memorial ceremony was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States of America (USA), to mark the occasion and honour the victims of the genocide.
ii.As part of the commemoration, a photo exhibition titled “From Words to Violence: Lives Behind the Fields of Death” was organized by the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN.
- The exhibition ran from 17 June to 18 July 2025 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
