Bosnia: 520 more Srebrenica victims buried as those accused of massacre stand trial

Enlarge

Bosnian muslim women cry and pray among 520 caskets stocked in an abandoned factory hangar, in preparation for a mass burrial ceremony at the Srebrenica Memorial Cemetary, in Potocari on July 10, 2012. Tens of thousands of people are expected in Potocari on July 11 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the moment the UN-protected enclave fell to Bosnian Serb troops. The remains of 520 people will be buried alongside the 5,137 victims of the massacre already buried in the vast cemetery which faces the former UN army base. Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in just a few days after the eastern town under UN protection was captured by Bosnian Serb forces 17 years ago. (Elvis Barukcic/AFP/Getty Images)

Almost 20 years later, Bosnia is still finding and burying those massacred in the town of Srebrenica -- and still seeking justice for the crimes.

Thirty thousand people descended on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica today to bury 520 more victims of the 1995 massacre there, while those accused of the genocide -- the worst wartime atrocity committed since World War II -- continue to stand trial in The Hague, reported BBC News.

More from GlobalPost: Serbia sentences 14 for war crimes in 1991

Today's event marks 17 years since Serb forces systematically killed 8,000 of the town's Muslim men and boys during the region's brutal 1992-1995 war, a brutal assault the United Nations has recognized as genocide, said the Associated Press. 

Bosnian Serb leader Radko Mladic, apprehended last year in Serbia after years on the run, is now on trial on 11 counts of war crimes, including genocide. Also being tried at the UN war crimes court is political leader Radovan Karadzic. Both deny the accusations, reported The Telegraph. 

Today's memorial laid to rest the most recently-identified victims as part of ongoing forensic work.

The effort calls for extensive DNA work because those responsible for the crimes dug many graves up and scattered the remains elsewhere in an effort to hide the evidence.  

At Srebrenica's Potocari memorial center today, 27-year-old Izabela Hasanovic sobbed over one of the coffins as it descended into the ground, according to AP. 

“My father, my father is here,” AP quoted her as saying. “I cannot believe that my father is in this coffin. I cannot accept it!”

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120711/bosnia-520-more-srebrenica-victims-buried-those-accused-massacre