UPDATE: 8,372 VICTIMS OF SREBRENICA GENOCIDE

PHOTO: Srebrenica Genocide Memorial was opened by the United States President, Bill Clinton, on September 20, 2003, when he told thousands of relatives of the Srebrenica genocide victims: "Bad people who lusted for power killed these good people simply because of who they were. They sought power through genocide. But Srebrenica was the beginning of the end of genocide in Europe.... We remember this terrible crime because we dare not forget, because we must pay tribute to the innocent lives, many of them children, snuffed out in what must be called genocidal madness."

On June 5, 2005 Bosnia's Federal Commission for Missing Persons issued a preliminary list of the names, parents' names, dates of birth, and unique citizen's registration numbers of 8,106 Bosniaks who had been reliably established from multiple independent sources to had gone missing and/or been killed in and around Srebrenica in the summer of 1995. At that time, the Commission noted that the names of an additional 500 victims (which would bring total to 8,606 victims) were being considered for an addition to the list.

Approximately 5,800 victims of Srebrenica Genocide have been identified through DNA analysis, but they can be reburied only after 70 percent of the bodily remains have been identified (Reuters). Bosnian Serbs first buried the bodies near the execution sites but then dug out many of them with bulldozers and reburied remains in secondary mass graves in an attempt to hide the crime (ICMP).

Here is an update that we recently received from the Federal Commission for Missing Persons confirming that the current number of Srebrenica Genocide victims stands at 8,372. The identification process of remaining victims continues and is subject to revision and further updates:

To Whom It May Concern,

We would inform you that after having updated and checked the information contained in the Preliminary List of Missing and Killed, we have been able to confirm that 8,372 missing victims lost their lives during the Srebrenica genocide. We would also advise you that this is a preliminary list only, and consequntly is subject to further revision and updating.

The fact that we have still not been able to determine the final number of genocide victims in the Srebrenica area is an indication of of the scale of this project and the terrible nature of this crime, during which in the space of a few days entire families disappeared, leaving no-one behind to report them as missing.

Respectfully,

Samir Sabanija
Member of the Federal Commission for Missing Persons

Here is a copy of original E-mail message in Bosnian language:

Postovani

Obavještavamo Vas da smo obradom i provjerom podataka na Preliminarnom Spisku nestalih došli do broja od 8372 nestalih žrtava genocida na području Regije Srebrenica. Ujedno Vas obavještavamo da je to još uvijek PRELIMINARNI SPISAK sto znači da se na istom jos uvijek vrše izmjene i dopune.

Možda i ova činjenica da ni do danas nismo došli do konačnog broja nestalih u genocidu koji se dogodio u Regiji Srebrenica govori o njegovoj težini i monstruoznosti, gdje su u toku nekoliko dana nestajale kompletne porodice, tako niko nije niti imao mogućnost da prijavi njihov nestanak.

S poštovanjem

Samir Šabanija
Član Federalne komisje za nestale osobe

External Links:
Federal Commission for Missing Persons (contact information)