Srebrenica
Encyclopedia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, in the Bosnian Serb
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
entity of Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining
Salt mine
A salt mine is a mining operation involved in the extraction of rock salt or halite from evaporite deposits.-Occurrence:Areas known for their salt mines include Kilroot near Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland ; Khewra and Warcha in Pakistan; Tuzla in Bosnia; Wieliczka and Bochnia in Poland A salt mine...
and a nearby spa
Thermal bath
A thermal bath is a warm body of water. It is often referred to as a spa, which is traditionally used to mean a place where the water is believed to have special health-giving properties, though note that many spas offer cold water or mineral water treatments.A thermal bath may be part of a...
. During the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
, determined to have been a crime of genocide. On March 24, 2007, Srebrenica's municipal assembly adopted a resolution demanding independence from the Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
entity (though not from Bosnia's sovereignty); the Serb members of the assembly did not vote on the resolution.
Demographics
In 2005 there were about 4,000 BosniaksBosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
in the municipality, about a third of the population.
| Year of census | total | Muslims Muslims by nationality Muslims by nationality was a term used in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as an official designation of nationality of Slavic Muslims. They were one of the constitutive groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina... | Serbs Serbs The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in... | Croats Croats Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have... | Yugoslavs Yugoslavs Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora... | others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 36,666 | 27,572 (75.19%) | 8,315 (22.67%) | 38 (0.10%) | 380 (1.03%) | 361 (0.98%) |
| 1981 | 36,292 | 24,930 (68.69%) | 10,294 (28.36%) | 80 (0.22%) | 602 (1.65%) | 386 (1.06%) |
| 1971 | 33,357 | 20,968 (62.85%) | 11,918 (35.72%) | 109 (0.32%) | 121 (0.36%) | 241 (0.72%) |
| 1961 | 29,283 | 14,565 (49.74%) | 12,540 (42.82%) | 71 (0.24%) | 1,967 (6.71%) | |
| 1953 | 46,647 | 23,545 (50.47%) | 106 (0.45%) | 22,791 (48.86%) | ||
| 1948 | 39,954 | 20,195 (50.55%) | 52 (0.13%) | 19,671 (49.23%) | ||
| 1931 | 35,210 | 17,332 (49.2%) | 17,766 (50.5%) | 103 (0.29%) |
The borders of the municipality in the 1953 and 1961 census were different. In 1953, Muslims by nationality had been yet to emerge as an ethnicity leading Slavic Muslims to identify as Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
. As Yugoslav was itself not adopted in 1948, they were all classified as other.
The town of Srebrenica
| Year of census | total | Bosniaks Bosniaks The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia... | Serbs Serbs The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in... | Croats Croats Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have... | Yugoslavs Yugoslavs Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora... | others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 5,746 | 3,673 (63.92%) | 1,632 (28.40%) | 34 (0.59%) | 328 (5.70%) | 79 (1.37%) |
Economy
Before 1992, there was a metal factory in the town, and leadLead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, and gold mines
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
nearby. The town's name (Srebrenica) means "silver mine", the same meaning of its old Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name Argentaria.
Local communities
The municipality (општина or opština) is further subdivided into the following local communities (мјесне заједнице or mjesne zajednice):- BrežaniBrežaniBrežani is a village in the municipality of Blace, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 61 people.-References:...
- CrvicaCrvicaCrvica is a village in the municipality of Bajina Bašta, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 756 people....
- GostiljGostiljGostilj is a urban area in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.-References:...
- KostolomciKostolomciKostolomci is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- Krnići
- LukaLuka (Srebrenica)Luka is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- OrahovicaOrahovica (Srebrenica)Orahovica is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- OsaticaOsaticaOsatica is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.-References:...
- Podravanje
- PotočariPotocariPotočari is a village in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6 km north-west of the town of Srebrenica. In the 1991 census it had 4,338 inhabitants, of whom 93% were Bosniaks and 7% were others, mainly Serbs.-War period:...
- Radoševići
- Ratkovići
- SaseSASESASE can refer to:* Scientific Association of Surveying Engineering* Sarajevo Stock Exchange* Self-addressed stamped envelope* Self-Amplified Stimulated-Emission* Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment* Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics...
- SkelaniSkelaniSkelani is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.- Location :Altitude: 242 m...
- SkenderovićiSkenderovićiSkenderovići is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- Srebrenica
- SućeskaSućeskaSućeska is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.-References:...
- ToplicaToplica (Srebrenica)Toplica is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- Vijogor
History
The earliest reference to Srebrenica was in 1376, by which time it was already an important centre for trade in the western Balkans, based especially on the silver mines of the region. The existence of ore was already known at the time of the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and the settlement of Domavia was near a mine. By the time of the first reference to Srebrenica, a large number of merchants of the Republic of Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...
were established there, and they controlled the domestic silver trade and the export by sea, almost entirely via the port of Ragusa (Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
). During the 14th century, many German miners moved into the area.
In the middle of the 1420s, the army of King Tvrtko II of Bosnia
Tvrtko II of Bosnia
Stephen Tvrtko II reigned as King of Bosnia from 1404 to 1409 and again from 1421 to his death. His reigns took place during a very turbulent part of Bosnian history.-Family connections:...
fought to gain control of the town, which was conquered by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1440. The Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monastery was converted into a mosque, but the large number of Catholics, Ragusa and Saxon, caused the transformation of the town to Islam to be slower than in most of the other towns in the area.
With the town in the Ottoman Empire and less influenced by the Republic of Ragusa, the economic importance of Srebrenica went into decline, as did the proportion of Catholics in the population.
In early January 1941, the Chetniks entered Srebrenica and killed around a thousand Muslim civilians in the town and in nearby villages.
War, genocide and demographic transformation
The town of Srebrenica came to international prominence as a result of events during the War in BosniaBosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
(1992–1995). The strategic objectives proclaimed by the secessionist Bosnian Serb Presidency included the creation of a border separating the Serb people from Bosnia's other ethnic communities and the abolition of the border along the River Drina separating Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs' Republika Srpska. The Bosnian Muslim/Bosniak majority population of the Drina Valley posed a major obstacle to the achievement of these objectives. In the early days of the campaign of forcible transfer (ethnic cleansing) that followed the outbreak of war in April 1992 the town of Srebrenica was occupied by Serb/Serbian forces. It was subsequently retaken by Bosniak resistance groups. Refugees expelled from towns and villages across the central Drina valley sought shelter in Srebrenica, swelling the town's population.
The town and its surrounding area was surrounded and besieged by Serb forces. On 16 April 1993, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
declared the Bosnian Muslim/Bosniak enclave
Enclave and exclave
In political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory.An exclave, on the other hand, is a territory legally or politically attached to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous.These are two...
a UN safe area, to be "free from any armed attack or any other hostile act", and guarded by a small unit operating under the mandate of United Nations Protection Force
United Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force ', was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. It existed between the beginning of UN involvement in February 1992, and its restructuring into other forces in March 1995...
(UNPROFOR).
Srebrenica and the other UN safe areas of Žepa
Žepa
Žepa is a town in the east of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the municipality of Rogatica. Žepa is located northeast of Rogatica itself, southwest of Srebrenica and northwest of Višegrad...
and Goražde
Goražde
Goražde , is a city and municipality in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Drina river. It is located between Foča, Sokolac and Višegrad, and is administratively part of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the center of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton.-Location:Goražde is situated on the...
were isolated pockets of Bosnian government-held territory in Eastern Bosnia. In July 1995 despite the town's UN-protected status it was attacked and captured by the Army of Republika Srpska
Army of Republika Srpska
The Army of Republika Srpska ; Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian Vojska Republike Srpske ) also referred to as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of today's Republika Srpska which was then the "Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina", a self-proclaimed state within the internationally recognized...
. Following the town's capture, all the men "of fighting age" who fell into Bosnian Serb hands were massacred in a systematically organised series of summary executions. The women of the town and men below 16 years of age and above 55 were transferred by bus to Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...
.
The Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
is considered the worst massacre in post-World War II European history to this day.
In 2001 the Srebrenica massacre was determined by judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
to have been a crime of genocide (confirmed on appeal in 2004). This finding was upheld in 2007 by the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
. The decision of the ICTY was followed by an admission to and an apology for the massacre by the Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
government.
Under the 1995 Dayton Agreement which ended the Bosnian war Srebrenica was included in the territory assigned to Bosnian Serb control as the Republika Srpska entity of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although guaranteed under the provisions of the Dayton Agreement the return of survivors was repeatedly obstructed. In 2007 verbal and physical attacks on returning refugees continued to be reported in the region around Srebrenica.
Fate of Bosnian Muslim villages
In 1992, Bosniak villages around Srebrenica were under constant attacks by Serb forces. The Bosnian Institute in the UK has published a list of 296 villages destroyed by Serb forces around Srebrenica three years before the genocide and in the first three months of war (April - June 1992):According to the Naser Oric trial judgement:
See also
- Srebrenica massacreSrebrenica massacreThe Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
- Bosnian GenocideBosnian GenocideThe term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
- History of Bosnia and HerzegovinaHistory of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Pre-Slavic Period :Bosnia has been inhabited at least since Neolithic times. In the late Bronze Age, the Neolithic population was replaced by more warlike Indo-European tribes known as the Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the 4th and 3rd century BCE displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former...
- Srebrenica Genocide MemorialSrebrenica Genocide MemorialThe Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide, is the memorial-cemetery complex in Srebrenica set up to honour the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide....
- Srebrenica Massacre of Children 1993
External links
- Opština Srebrenica - Srebrenica Municipality
- Official site of a Bosnian NGO Citizens Associations "Women of Srebrenica"
- The Advocacy Project partners with Bosnian Family (BOSFAM)
- Balkan Travel: Srebrenica
- Fiction stories about Srebrenica women: "Integration Under the Midnight Sun" by Adnan Mahmutovic http://www.theroseandthornezine.com/Summer07/Integration.html