The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, happened in July 1995, during the Bosnian War. Two years before, the United Nations declared the besieged enclave of Srebrenica in the north-eastern Bosnia a "safe area" under UN protection. However, in front of the Dutch UN peace keepers, thousands of Muslim men were separated from their women, while thousands of others decided to try to escape through the forests.
More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica were slaughtered by the Serb army under the command of General Ratko Mladić. In addition to the killings, more than 20,000 civilians were expelled from the area—a process known as ethnic cleansing. The massacre is perhaps the defining symbol of the Bosnian Serb ethnic cleansing campaign that took place during the war.
The mass murder was described as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War.
Summarizing this catastrophe, David Rohde - who as a journalist with the Christian Science Monitor won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Muslim population of eastern Bosnia - offered a blistering critique of the moral lapse on the part of the "safe area's" alleged guardians:
"The international community partially disarmed thousands of men, promised them they would be safeguarded and then delivered them to their sworn enemies. Srebrenica was not simply a case of the international community standing by as a far-off atrocity was committed. The actions of the international community encouraged, aided, and emboldened the executioners. ...
“The fall of Srebrenica did not have to happen. There is no need for thousands of skeletons to be strewn across eastern Bosnia. There is no need for thousands of Muslim children to be raised on stories of their fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers slaughtered by Serbs." (Rohde, Endgame, pp. 351, 353.) 
The Srebrenica massacre is commemorated by an annual ceremony at the Potocari memorial cemetery in Srebrenica on the 11 July since 2003, when the first victims were exhumed from mass graves. More than 7000 have been exhumed and identified by DNA analysis so far.
The remains of 408 newly identified victims will be buried during the commemoration to mark the massacre's 18th anniversary in July this year. The ceremony will be attended by Muslims from all over Bosnia and also from abroad. Some will take the opportunity to participate in the annual three-day hike to Srebrenica to retrace the route taken by the men who fled the UN-protected enclave when it fell to the Serb army. 
The Srebrenica memorial cemetery is visited by Muslims and non-Muslims throughout the year. It is a moving testament to the suffering and a grim reminder of a history of demonization and dehumanisation of the Muslims in Bosnia. An informative and heart-wrenching 27-minute documentary/memorial film outlining the circumstances of the fall of Srebrenica and individual stories of the massacre is regularly played to the visitors.
However, the real power is in the "rawness" of the site and how it has been maintained as a site of tragedy in the same condition as it was during the siege and fall. Visitors can arrange to speak with a survivor who would tell his story of how he survived, what was happening, etc.
Muslims especially are encouraged to make a point of visiting the site to keep alive the memory of those killed. Those interested in visiting Bosnia for an enlightening, educative and emotional experience can contact us on [email protected]
Abdulah Shabar
Zivot Foundation, Bosnia