GENOCIDE IN THE HEART OF EUROPE: SREBRENICA
On July 11, 1995, Serbian army and paramilitary forces under the command of Gen. Ratko Mladic, took over the “safe zone” enclave of Srebrenica, Bosnia.
While the supposed protectors of the area, Dutch U.N. troops, stood by, over 8000 Muslim men and boys were separated from their families and systematically murdered over the next ten days.
As it came to be known later, Srebrenica Genocide became the largest atrocity on European soil since World War 2. As we approach 30 years since the massacres at Srebrenica, the dead are still being searched for, identified, and buried.
GENOCIDE IN THE HEART OF EUROPE: SREBRENICA
After the atrocities of July 11, 1995, there was a pressing need to establish facts of what happened, identify the victims and the perpetrators, and begin a process of bringing justice and closure to the victims and their families.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was
created as an ad hoc court by the United Nations (UN) Security Council in 1993, pursuant to Article VII of the UN Charter, in the midst of horrific war in the Balkans. It was first war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg, Tokyo and Allied Control Council No. 10 Tribunals.
The ICTY’s core mandate was to try those most responsible for the conflict’s most heinous acts: genocide; crimes against humanity; grave violations of the Geneva Conventions; and war crimes. The hope was that the ICTY would deliver on the legacy of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials after the Second World War.
An important achievement of the ICTY is that it has brought the investigation and prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide into the modern era. The establishment of the Tribunal has represented a major step forward in the international fight against impunity. The tribunal’s fact based conclusions about war crimes are extremely important for the public because they reduce the room for lies, denial, exaggeration and minimization of war crimes.
PREMISE
30 YEARS LATER - UNRAVELLING SREBRENICA’S STORY
This project will revisit the Srebrenica Genocide to reflect back on the last 30 years since the massacres in the context of the impact on survivors’ lives in the decades since.
Many of the stories of survivors and witnesses remain untold, beyond being referenced in the footnotes of trials of some of the perpetrators’ judgements at the ICCC at The Hague.
At the same time, there are still individuals allegedly responsible for war crimes at liberty throughout the former Yugoslavia, who have not been prosecuted yet. The failure to initiate criminal proceedings in cases where there is sufficient evidence is often due to political reasons. This results in an impunity gap, which must be resolved.
Our aim is to bring as many survivor and witness accounts to life, and have them become documented in video as part of a comprehensive future historic record, which will be archived for public access.
Unless these stories are recorded, there is a real risk that they will fall into obscurity, and their history forgotten.
SUBJECTS
SREBRENICA’S SURVIVORS AND WITNESSES
As the film retraces places visited by Tarik Samarah between 2001 and 2004, during his work to capture the aftermath of the massacres, we will hear his and survivors’ reflections on the events of 11/07/95 and everything that has happened since.
Srebrenica – a shadow of its former self – is home today to a very small population of the original population that has returned. We will explore their decision to come back and their hopes for the future.
Finally, given the tragic events surrounding Srebrenica, and the numerous well documented war crimes taking places around the world since, we will explore the meaning of the phrase “never again.” In doing so, we intend to engage in “legacy building” , that is, strengthening the legacy of the ICTY, and promoting historic knowledge about key facts.
THE DENIAL
PROPAGANDA AND FICTIONAL HISTORY
Despite the well-documented nature of Srebrenica Genocide, it is almost universally denied as a genocide or even as an atrocity, both in Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia, as well the by the Republic of Serbia, where, just a few kilometers from Srebrenica, schools often teach an alternate history of war criminals as heroes and genocide as a fight for liberation.
Even, after 30 years, some of the political leaders openly deny facts about crimes established in ICTY’s judgments, while local
government-run media often amplify these views, attempting to sow division and promote misperceptions about the Srebrenica genocide among the wider public. The damage such conduct does to the prospects of genuine reconciliation and restoration of a lasting peace in the Western Balkans is great and lasting.
However, not all are even attempting to deny it. Radical right wingers even celebrate the murders and promise to do it again. Even outside the region, terrorists Anders Breivik who murdered dozens in Norway, and Brenton Tarrant who murdered 51 Muslims in New Zealand mosque shootings, both praised Serb white nationalists and the massacres in Srebrenica, attempting to encourage worldwide genocide of Muslims.
11/07/2025
ATROCITIES STILL UNRESOLVED
As of August 2024, there are still over 800 missing victims from the Srebrenica Genocide, many possibly might never be found, making it difficult for their families to have some semblance of closure.
Thousands of Srebrenica Genocide survivors suffer from lifelong post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are scattered around the world as refugees, and have seen an almost a total dissolution of their community. Most only return to Srebrenica during the annual anniversary and commemoration every July 11th at the Srebrenica Memorial Center, at Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Today, Srebrenica falls under the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia. Its own mayor is a Genocide Denier, and murals depicting war criminal Gen. Ratko Mladic can be found all over Eastern Bosnia. Srebrenica Commission compiled a list of 810 individuals known or suspected to have participated in the Srebrenica Genocide, but to this day, many have yet to be legally prosecuted. Meanwhile, some of Republika Srpska parliamentarians openly mock the survivors, engage in hate speech, and constant denial that events of July 11, 1995 ever took place.
VIDEO RECORD
FILLING A GAP
To date, there is a shortage of thorough film documentaries and archives dedicated to this subject, notwithstanding the tremendous significance of Srebrenica genocide in the region, impeding effective knowledge transfer about the events of the past, and a fictionalized approach to the subject matter.
memory. Film, as a medium, has a special role to play in this
context, and we intend to go beyond transcriptions in ICTY
judgments to visual story-telling in conveying the witness’
testimonies and experiences.
peace-building.
STRUCTURE
3 PROJECTS IN ONE
Our project has multiple components. Principally, it is divided in three parts:
1) creating a comprehensive collection of hundreds-to thousands of standalone witness interviews which can be added to the Srebrenica Memorial Center archive and made available to the public, 2) a TV/Web series, and 3) a documentary film.
1) The project aims to interview as many of the witnesses and survivors of Srebrenica Genocide, and make each interview made available for
archives and the general public, creating the largest, publicly
accessible video archive of Srebrenica Genocide witness and survivor accounts.
2) TV/Web Series that will incorporate interviews/statements, with
stock footage and other relevant documents and materials. The aim is to put together a multi part series covering the events of Srebrenica from beginning of the war until the current events and stories of witnesses and survivors 30 years after the Srebrenica Genocide.
3) A standalone, 2 hour documentary film version of the larger series aimed at international audiences and wider distribution.
THE ARCHIVE
PRESERVING WITNESS AND SURVIVOR ACCOUNTS
As part of the filming process, we will conduct extensive field visits to the Srebrenica and the nearby communities, as well as a variety of international locations where witnesses and survivors of Srebrenica Genocide reside today. Our aim is to capture survivor and witness accounts, as well as stories of their lives prior to and since the events of July 11, 1995, culminating in the largest video archive of Srebrenica Genocide yet.
The ICTY trials and judgments have told only parts of their story, which we intend to supplement with much wider ranging interviews then those conducted by ICTY. Our goal is to prepare and preserve selective and ‘user friendly’ audiovisual records that will make it possible to present a fuller picture of the events from the 1990s in that region, as well as the impact of those events on the lives of survivors and witnesses since.
In addition to wide ranging interviews with survivors and witnesses of Srebrenica Genocide, we will also aim to speak with members of international community who were involved with the event, experts, and if possible record the confessions of some of the perpetrators.
Since our audiovisual materials will represent the history and
heritage of the Srebrenica community, we will work closely with the Memorial Centre in Srebrenica, Potocari, and ensure that our video interviews, visual materials and digital transcripts are preserved there indefinitely and available for public access online.
The preservation of the Srebrenica memory is a key function of the Memorial Centre in Srebrenica. To this end, we will seek to support the archival legacy of the Memorial Centre.
We will also work with other state and institutional organs committed to promoting knowledge about the Srebrenica
Genocide and the rule of law. In doing so, our aim is to raise
awareness, improve transparency, and contribute effectively toward broader measures that guard against the development of revisionist and denialist arguments.
We intend to do that in close co-operation with local human rights and humanitarian law NGOs, independent and public service media, victims associations, universities, and other interested institutions and organizations. Our video transcripts and recorded interviews will form a historical record that can be vital to helping the citizens in the former Yugoslavia determine and reflect on what happened during the events of July 11, 1995.
THE ARCHIVE
NEED FOR RECONCILIATION
The future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other post-
Yugoslav nations, depends on how we choose to address this past.
It will be impossible to make progress until we can agree on basic historical facts. At this stage, there many competing historical narratives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many are incompatible with facts affirmed by the ICTY. This state of affairs is deeply concerning, and we need to consider what is necessary to create a uniform collective memory, especially since mythological constructions of history have, in the past, been used to promote the emergence of ideologies that justified genocide as a legitimate, rational and necessary device for nation building. This not only led to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia but to an
outbreak of violent action on an unprecedented scale.
To forestall the genesis of new myths and stereotypes, we must, first and foremost, respond to old ones and engage in historical reflection. This is important, for such myths could be utilized to instigate hatred and new confrontations. Our memory of the past will guide our future, and we must ensure that the past is retold in a meaningful way.
Reconciliation was one of the founding principles of the then
European Community after the Second World War. And this is part of the Stabilization and Association process between the EU and the Western Balkans.
Justice is indeed not just about bringing war criminals to justice. It is also about truth seeking and truth telling. There are thousands of undocumented witness stories and accounts that may never be documented because of lack of resources. Documenting these stories is not only a moral obligation towards victims and their families but a requirement for reconciliation.
In an era of “Fake News”, the European Union and the Western Balkans have a joint interest in creating a single, unified historical record of the past.
Establishing the accountability for war crimes contributes to the public awareness in favor of political and moral responsibility to condemn all crimes committed during the war, and prevent the continuing dehumanization of victims and minorities.
Although we have a great deal of evidence about the war crimes that were committed in Srebrenica and the region, the lack of a widely accepted narrative of the war is one of the major points of contention within the region. Our film aims to remedy this gap and contribute to the peace building and peace maintenance process in the region.
THE FUTURE
WILL THERE EVER BE ANY CLOSURE?
In 2024, UN passed a resolution to commemorate the 1995
Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia annually. However, with no serious attempts at a reconciliation movement, such as those in South Africa and Rwanda, or even a formal apology and steps to rectify as done by Germany’s Willy Brandt after WWII, still over 800 missing bodies, and many non-prosecuted perpetrators, as well as local politicians’ exploitative use of Srebrenica Genocide to serve their own interests, there doesn’t appear to be much of a chance for closure for those
who survived Srebrenica.
Although almost 30 years has passed since the events of July 11, 1995, the story of Srebrenica Genocide is still unfolding.
MAKING THE ARCHIVE
BUDGET & TIMELINE
We are seeking is $150,000 in funds to begin first stage of the project, which includes initial proof-of-concept interviews and archiving.
• Cost of production for first 500 interviews: $75,000.
• Archiving costs: $50,000.
• Equipment and equipment rentals: $25,000.
We aim to complete the interviews and archive them within 12 months of receipt of funds.
Upon completion of first stage of the project, second round of
production will aim to capture hundreds-to-thousands of further interviews, and further funds will be needed.
Third stage will commence upon completion of all interviews, and will include full TV/Web series and a standalone documentary film.