The massacre, in an enclave supposed to be under UN protection, was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.
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When Ratko Mladić’s life sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity was confirmed, marking the end of the road for the Bosnian Serb general 10 years after his capture, Munira Subašić, was in The Hague courtroom to watch.
In July 1995, Subašić was outside a UN compound, a disused battery factory near Srebrenica, appealing for protection from Dutch peacekeepers along with thousands of other terrified Bosnian Muslims.
That protection was not given. Abandoned by the UN leadership and overwhelmed by Mladić’s Bosnian Serb troops in what was supposed to be a safe haven, the Dutch gave up and allowed the short, stout, blustering general to take control.
Subašić watched as the Bosnian Serb forces brought cameras and filmed Mladić handing out sweets and bread, patting a boy on the head and assuring the crowd they were safe. When the cameras were turned off, the chaos started, as men and boys were separated from their wives and mothers.
Subašić’s 17-year-old son, Nermin, was pulled from her arms and put on a bus. Only some of his remains were ever found. Her husband, Hilmo, was also taken away. His remains were found in a mass grave, but lay unidentified in a morgue for eight years. She finally buried him in 2004.
Altogether, 8,000 men and boys from Srebrenica were slaughtered in mass executions. Mladić’s convictions for overseeing the sniping and shelling of civilians in Sarajevo, the ethnic cleansing of other towns and seizure of UN peacekeepers as hostages were also upheld on appeal on Tuesday.
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