• Srebrenica Genocide survivors speak in London
• Britain to be first nation in Europe to honour those massacred in Bosnia in 1995 by hosting Srebrenica Memorial Day at Lancaster House on 11 July
• First and only memorial of the genocide in Europe outside Former Yugoslavia
• Event organised by UK charitable initiative Remembering Srebrenica
• Special guest speakers Rt Hon William Hague MP, Baroness Warsi, Most Rev Vincent Nichols and survivor and author Hasan Nuhanović

Three survivors of the Srebrenica Genocide speak out in London for the first time against a genocide declared the worst crime in Europe since the Second World War. During 11-16 July 1995, the genocide, which Prime Minister David Cameron believes “shamed Europe and shamed the world,” culminated in the brutal murder of 8,372 Bosnian men and boys, and the inexplicable mass rape and torture of tens of thousands of women, with men sent to concentration camps by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, under the command of General Ratko Mladić. Boris Johnson claims the gruesome and inhuman crimes are part of the “darkest chapters of the 20th century.”

For the first time in history, survivors, politicians and government officials will gather in London at Lancaster House to commemorate the anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide organised by UK-based charitable initiative Remembering Srebrenica. The UK is the only country in Europe outside Ex-Yugoslavia to commemorate Srebrenica Memorial day, in accordance with a 2009 EU Resolution establishing 11 July as the official day of remembrance for the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.

The three Genocide survivors at the ceremony will be Hasan Hasanović, Saliha Osmanović and Hasan Nuhanović. Hasanović is one of the few survivors of the 63 mile ‘Death March’ from Srebrenica to Tuzla, which claimed the lives of his father and twin brother. Some 15,000 men set off, but thousands were massacred in the forests. Hasanović reflects “we were just ordinary men who were unprepared and unarmed, yet Bosnian Serb troops wanted us dead by virtue of our religion.” Osmanović witnessed the murder of her husband and son through a video filmed by Bosnian Serb troops on the Death March. Author Nuhanović’s family were denied UN protection, and handed over by the Dutch to the Bosnian Serb Army. Their remains were unearthed in mass graves. Nuhanović sued the Dutch government and won.

The event at will also feature a screening of a Srebrenica Memorial film, performances by Bosnian musicians, and addresses from Foreign Secretary William Hague, Senior Minister of State Baroness Warsi, The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and others.

Messages of Support

“We must never, ever forget what happened at Srebrenica – right here in Europe. The world failed Bosnia in its hour of need… So we must learn and act on the lessons of Srebrenica, on the need to act in the face of evil… Britain has always been clear: international justice has a long reach and a long memory.”
– UK Prime Minister, David Cameron

“The survivors and those who lost loved ones will never forget the damage that was done – and neither must we… Our country is stronger, because of its diversity, tolerance and openness… but we must strive to uphold the highest standards in the way we treat one another.”

– UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg

“This is a time when the entire international community must reaffirm its conviction that events such as this can never be allowed to happen again… I hope that through justice and reconciliation the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina can heal old wounds and look to a brighter future, one where all its political leaders cooperate in a spirit of compromise, where NATO and EU membership becomes a reality, and where its citizens can enjoy security and prosperity.”
– UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague

“They were killed in a cold blooded act of unimaginable terror that took them away from their families, their villages and their country. This gruesome and inhuman crime shocked the entire world… No trial can compensate the families of the victims. There will always be a mother of Srebrenica who lives in hope that her son is alive and will one day come back, or a child who dreams of the father who will never return… We must never forget. ”
– Mayor of London, Boris Johnson

“Srebrenica Memorial Day is a day to stop, to think, and to remember the victims of the Srebrenica genocide… What happened to them and their families carries a wider message for all of us: that hatred can take hold in any place, at any time – even at the end of the 20th Century, on European soil. With that fact in our minds and the mothers of Srebrenica in our hearts, we must stand together and pledge never, ever again.”
– Senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities and the Department for Communities and Local Government, Baroness Warsi

“The spectre of Srebrenica casts a long shadow. Wiping out families, destroying lives, shattering the future of a country. It was the worst act of genocide in Europe since the Second World War, happening so close to where many people were living peaceful and carefree lives. It reminds us of our collective responsibility to keep fighting the forces of hate and challenging the politics of division which is why we are funding an educational project to send local leaders to Srebrenica. This will not just be a vital opportunity to commemorate the innocents who perished in the massacre. It will be a chance to educate future generations about the effects of hatred so we can help make sure such horrors never happen again.”
– Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

“It is vitally important that we remember the massacre, acknowledge that the international community failed Bosnia and commit to confronting the evil that perpetrates genocide in the future…Despite the fact that the genocide in Srebrenica took place during my lifetime, public knowledge of this atrocity is low. Therefore we must begin by recognising that over 8,000 people were brutally murdered in Europe less than 20 years ago.”
– UK Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband

”…Srebrenica confronted us with our deep human failure to respect and protect the sanctity of life of those who are different from us. The killing of over 8,000 people and the failure of the international community to intervene remains a shameful tragedy…We honour their pain not only by ensuring those who afflict such atrocities will face justice, but by giving hope of a better future.”
– Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev Justin Welby

“History is made by our choices. And nothing that has happened in the past forces us to let it happen again. Hate is the projection of our fears onto others, and it destroys the hated along with those he hates. So as we mark the first Srebrenica Memorial Day, let us fight hatred together for the sake of our shared humanity. We cannot change the past, but by remembering it, together we can change the future.”
– Chief Rabbi, The Right Hon Lord Sacks

“[The genocide] was a brutal reminder of the power of how conflicting identities, hatred and fears can blind us to our common humanity, and of our responsibility to protect those in danger of genocide. The world failed then, and – sadly – the world has failed since.”
– Archbishop of Westminster, The Most Rev Vincent Nichols

“On the anniversary of the massacre, it is imperative that the public are made aware of the events that took place in Srebrenica, and of the 8,000+ Bosnian Muslims who lost their lives. “We must never forget” is a powerful message, but the step before that must be reminding ourselves of what happened.”
– MP for Tooting, Shadow Justice Secretary & Lord Chancellor,
and Shadow Minister for London, Sadiq Khan

“It made me question how this could happen on our doorstep when the world had pledged ‘never again’ after World War II… We owe it to the victims to learn the lesson of Srebrenica: that the evil of hatred, racism and bigotry must be confronted if we are to create a better and safer society for all”
– Chairman of Remembering Srebrenica, Waqar Azmi OBE

“The acknowledgement of truth of the tragic events from the end of the 20th century is a pre-condition to all reconciliation processes and the progress of the Southeast Europe region. Only brave and sincere leaders can lead the process of exposing the truth… Nobody wants to see conflict again.”
– Member of the Presidency, Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegović

 For interview opportunities with the Srebrenica Genocide survivors,
or for high resolution images,
please contact [email protected] or call +44 0203 582 7324

Notes to Editors

About the Srebrenica Genocide
In April 1993, the United Nations declared the besieged enclave of Srebrenica in the Drina Valley of north-eastern Bosnia a “safe area” under UN protection. Despite the presence of 400 Dutch peacekeepers, the Dutchbat, representing the United Nations Protection Force, the town of Srebrenica was attacked by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in July 1995. From 11 to 16 July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically and brutally massacred by Bosnian Serb forces commanded by General Mladić and Serbian paramilitaries. It was the greatest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia both ruled that the mass execution constituted genocide. Some perpetrators of the genocide have been trialled both through the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

About Remembering Srebrenica
In 2009, the European Parliament declared 11 July the official day of remembrance for the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide. Remembering Srebrenica is a charitable initiative which organises the United Kingdom’s Srebrenica Memorial Day each year, runs ‘Lessons from Srebrenica’ visits to Bosnia to learn first-hand about the genocide, and leads year round public awareness campaigns and activities to teach the consequences of hatred. For more information, visit www.srebrenica.org.uk

About the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
The DCLG is providing Remembering Srebrenica with £170,000 of funding to send 50 local leaders on educational visits to Srebrenica and to produce an accompanying website. The DCLG supports local government by giving them the power to act for their community – without interference from central government. This extends to helping communities and neighbourhoods to solve their own problems so neighbourhoods are strong, attractive and thriving. The DCLG also seeks to work with local enterprise partnerships and enterprise zones to help the private sector grow. The department makes the planning system work more efficiently and effectively. It also supports local fire and rescue authorities so that they’re able to respond to emergencies and reduce the number and impact of fires. For more information, visit www.gov.uk

About Dr Waqar Azmi OBE
Dr Waqar Azmi OBE is Chairman of Remembering Srebrenica. In 2001, Dr Azmi founded the British Federation of Racial Equality Councils, a UK body of racial equality councils and partnerships representing over 100 councils across England, Scotland and Wales. He also founded the think tank Race Equality West Midlands and the Herefordshire Equality Partnership. In 2004, he was appointed UK Government’s Chief Talent & Diversity Adviser at the Cabinet Office. He served as EU Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue in the European Parliament from 2008 to 2009.

About Hasan Nuhanović
Hasan Nuhanović is a Bosniak survivor of the Srebrenica genocide. As a UN interpreter Nuhanović worked with the Dutchbat III contingent of the United Nations Protection Force which was assigned the task of protecting the United Nations “safe area” of Srebrenica in the latter part of the Bosnian war (1992–1995). When Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb Army forces under General Ratko Mladić in July 1995, Nuhanović’s family were among 5000-6000 civilian refugees who found shelter on the UN base in Potočari. Despite his pleas on their behalf, his family was not allowed to remain under UN protection and was handed over to their deaths at the hands of the Bosnian Serb Army. Since the end of the Bosnian war, Hasan Nuhanović has given evidence at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. He took an active part in establishing the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial at Potočari where the remains of many of the identified victims have been interred. He works closely with other survivors and relatives’ organisations including the Mothers of Srebrenica in Sarajevo and the Women of Srebrenica in Tuzla. In 2005, he published Under the UN Flag, a chronology of the events at Srebrenica.

About The Rt Hon William Hague
William Hague is First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, and Member of Parliament for Richmond. In 2009, William Hague took part in the Maja Project in Srebrenica. It is estimated that during the Bosnian War (1992-1995), 50,000 women were raped, the vast majority were Muslim women raped by Bosnian Serb soldiers. On 29th May 2012, to address the issue of rape as a weapon of war in Bosnia and elsewhere, William Hague launched the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, with the aim of replacing what he called “a culture of impunity” with one of “deterrence”, whilst shifting the balance of shame away from survivors to the perpetrators.

About The Rt Hon Baroness Warsi
Baroness Warsi was appointed Senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities at the Department for Communities and Local Government in September 2012. In 2009, Baroness Warsi began taking MPs from across Europe to Bosnia to witness the reality of the genocide. In the same year, she set up Project Maja, an initiative from the Conservative Party reflecting their commitment to social responsibility. In Srebrenica, the project included finishing off a newly built house for a war widow and refurbishing an IT suite at the local secondary school, complete with ten brand new computers. Baroness Warsi also worked with the inspirational charity “Fund for Refugees” both in Srebrenica and Sarajevo.