The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1948) states
that genocide is considered the murder of group members; serious injury to the physical or
mental integrity of group members; deliberately subjecting the group to living conditions that
should lead to its complete or partial destruction; measures aimed at preventing childbirth within
the group; the forcible transfer of children from one group to another who are committed with the
intention of completely or partially destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such.
The term genocide was first used by Rafael Lemkin, in the context of Holocaust crimes and
mass crimes against Jews, and became part of the universal acceptance of international law
through the definition and prohibition of genocide.
In 1993, in response to the massacres, ethnic cleansing and other serious violations of
international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia, the United Nations Security
Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Upon the conclusion of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the facts of the crime of the
Srebrenica genocide were established before this court, in judgments primarily focused on the
crimes committed in July 1995. The facts will be further established and confirmed through the
judgments of the International Court of Justice, then the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as
well as the judgments of other local courts, the findings of independent research committees,
and through the long-standing research, academic and journalistic work of international and
domestic actors over the last two and a half decades.
The Srebrenica genocide has its own chronology of events, which indicate the long-term
planning of the crime and the intent of the perpetrator to fulfill all the parameters by
unambiguously confirming the elements of the genocide. You can find out more about specific
genocide convictions and other verdicts related to the July 1995 Srebrenica crimes, as well as
about the testimonies and personal stories of the victims of the genocide, through this web
platform. The work of collecting personal stories and documenting all important segments of the
Srebrenica genocide research is not completed, and as part of our work, we will endeavor to
continually add relevant information and texts regarding this issue.
