prijava
SARAJEVO, April 28 (FENA) - Information boards, in Bosnian and English, about events and locations related to the genocide against Bosniaks of Srebrenica have been set up in the complex of the Potočari Memorial Center today.
At the location where the main entrance to the base of the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion once stood, the info board reads that, on July 13, 1995, Dutch soldiers escorted and handed over through this gate more than 6,000 refugees into the hands of the army and police of the so-called "Republika Srpska".
"As the refugees passed through the gates, the army and the police of the so-called "Republika Srpska", in the presence of soldiers of the Dutch battalion of UNPROFOR, separated several hundred men and boys from women and children. All men and boys who were expelled from the base were tortured and killed in the following days at several locations in the area of Bratunac and Zvornik," it is stated.
The information board with the inscription ‘A Hole in the Fence’ states ‘Members of the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion cut a hole in the fence at this place, through which about 2,000 refugees entered the base on the same day, after the main entrance was closed’
"Towards the end of the day, on July 11, members of the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion closed the hole in the fence with a welding machine. On the same day, several hundred refugees were brought to the base by the Dutch battalion retreating from Srebrenica to Potočari. More than 20,000 refugees were forced to remain outside the base, where they were tortured and abused in the following days by members of the Republika Srpska army and police. About 6,000 refugees who were allowed to enter the UN base, their relative safety lasted less than two days. On the third day, July 13, the Dutch UNPROFOR expelled all refugees from the base and handed them over to the army and police of 'Republika Srpska'" it is written on the board.
The board ‘Mass grave POT 07 SRN’ indicates the location of the mass grave, exhumed on August 2, 2012, by the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH.
The remains of five people were found, who were identified by DNA analysis and buried in the cemetery of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center.
"Given that the Dutch battalion never published official information on the causes of death of the victims, the exact circumstances of their death remain unknown to this day. However, it was determined that they were victims of the genocide in July 1995."
The 'Blue Hotel' is a sign for a location that was used as a garage by the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion in early February 1994, and a number of Dutch soldiers were housed in one part until the Dutch battalion left Potočari and arrived to the UN base 'Pleso' in Zagreb on July 22, 1995.
As the bilingual board reads, 'The Dutch Battalion Command UNPROFOR', the Dutch UN Battalion turned the former battery factory into its main base, also called the 'Charlie Company', which was operational from February 1994 until July 21, 1995.
Today, it serves as a museum part of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center and is a lasting reminder of the responsibility and failure of the UN and the international community to prevent the July 1995 genocide.
(FENA) S. R.
