The Srebrenica genocide was a mass killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 1995. It was committed by Bosnian Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic, during the Bosnian War.

In 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia, sparking a three-year war that resulted in an estimated 100,000 deaths. In July 1995, Srebrenica had been declared a UN “safe area” and was under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeeping troops. However, Bosnian Serb forces launched an offensive against the town, which fell on July 11, 1995.

In the days that followed, Bosnian Serb forces carried out a systematic killing spree, targeting Bosniak men and boys in and around the town. Many of them were captured and taken to nearby fields and forests where they were executed and buried in mass graves. In addition to the killings, women were raped and thousands of Bosniak civilians were forcibly displaced.

The genocide was declared by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2001, as the worst atrocity committed on European soil since World War II. The Bosnian Serb leaders, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, were charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide for their roles in the Srebrenica massacre. In 2017, Mladic was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the genocide, among other crimes.

The following video gives a brief history to the Bosnian Conflict.

Key Stages in The War in Bosnia