In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys were systematically killed by Bosnian Serb forces in and around Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in what international courts later recognised as genocide.

This explainer examines how it happened, why the UN failed to protect Srebrenica, and why the genocide still matters today.

How did the Bosnian War lead to the genocide?

Srebrenica cannot be understood without looking at the violent break-up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, formed at the end of World War II and governed for decades by President Josip Tito.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Yugoslavia experienced economic and political crises alongside the rise of nationalist political movements. Political leaders, including Slobodan Milošević in Serbia and Franjo Tuđman in Croatia, mobilised nationalist sentiment and historical grievances as the federation began to disintegrate.

 

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Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992 after a referendum that was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs. A three-way war followed, between Bosnian government, Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat forces.

Bosnian Serb leaders sought to establish a contiguous Serb-controlled territory within Bosnia and Herzegovina, forcibly removing non-Serb populations through persecution, detention, killing, sexual violence and displacement.

Srebrenica was strategically important because it lay in eastern Bosnia, close to the Serbian border and surrounded by Bosnian Serb-controlled territory. By 1993, tens of thousands of displaced Bosniaks had sought refuge there.

Bosniak forces also attacked surrounding Serb-held areas, killing Serb civilians. These attacks formed part of the wider wartime context, but did not justify the subsequent systematic killing of Srebrenica’s Bosniak population.

The genocide emerged within a broader Bosnian Serb campaign to establish ethnically homogeneous territory through forced displacement and violence.

How did the UN fail to protect Srebrenica?

In April 1993, the United Nations Security Council declared Srebrenica a “safe area” that should be “free from any armed attack or any other hostile act” through Resolution 819. But the UN lacked the military capacity to guarantee its protection.

A lightly armed Dutch peacekeeping battalion, Dutchbat, was stationed there as part of the UN Protection Force. Its troops operated under significant restrictions and were heavily outnumbered.

By 1995, tens of thousands of displaced people were living in dire conditions, with shortages of food, medicine and basic necessities.

When Bosnian Serb forces advanced in July, UN peacekeepers could not stop them. Requests for NATO air support were delayed and the limited air strikes that followed failed to halt the offensive. The failure became one of the gravest episodes in the history of UN peacekeeping.

What happened in July 1995?

The assault on Srebrenica did not emerge without warning. In March 1995, Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadžić issued Directive 7, instructing Bosnian Serb forces to create an “unbearable situation of total insecurity with no hope of further survival or life” for Srebrenica’s inhabitants.

Bosnian Serb forces under General Ratko Mladić launched Operation Krivaja 95, capturing Srebrenica on 11 July.

Thousands fled towards the UN base at the village of Potočari, while a large column of predominantly Bosniak men tried to reach Bosnian government-controlled territory through the forests.

Over the following days, Bosnian Serb forces separated men and boys from their families. Thousands were detained, transported to execution sites and systematically killed. Others were captured while attempting to escape through the forests.

Victims were buried in mass graves. Many graves were later reopened and bodies moved to secondary sites to conceal evidence, meaning remains from individual victims have sometimes been found in several locations.

Why is Srbrenica legally recognised as genocide?

Genocide has a specific meaning under international law. It requires not only acts such as killing members of a protected group, but an intent to destroy that national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part. International courts concluded that this threshold was met at Srebrenica.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that Bosnian Serb forces deliberately sought to destroy the Bosniak community of Srebrenica. The systematic killing of men and boys and forced removal of the remaining population were central to its findings.

The ICTY convicted senior Bosnian Serb political and military figures for genocide and related crimes. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) also ruled in 2007 that genocide occured at Srebrenica.

The classification rests not simply on the number killed, but on evidence of specific intent to destroy a substantial part of a protected group.

How has the international community responded?

Accountability has involved international and domestic prosecutions, forensic investigations and memorialisation.

Why does Srebrenica still matter today?

How Srebrenica is remembered and taught remains politically contested.

Despite extensive evidence and multiple international court judgments, genocide denial persists. Competing narratives about the Bosnian War continue to shape politics and education across the region.

Convicted war criminals have also been publicly glorified – witness the “hero’s funeral” that Ratko Mladić, the “Butcher of Bosnia”, was given in Serbia this week. Mladić died in prison while serving a life sentence for the genocide at Srebrenica.

This shows that judicially establishing facts does not automatically create a shared historical memory. Srebrenica also continues to shape debates about international responsibility.

The failure of a UN-designated “safe area” raised lasting questions about what international protection means when institutions lack the capacity or political will to enforce it.

Remembering Srebrenica therefore means examining how mass violence becomes possible, why institutions fail to prevent it, and how denial and political manipulation can persist long after the killing ends.