The 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide which, was due to be held in St Paul’s Cathedral but could not go ahead due to COVID-19, will now be marked in the UK this Saturday at 7pm with the UK National Srebrenica Memorial Day Ceremony taking place entirely online, allowing people across the UK and around the world to virtually come together to commemorate this important anniversary.
The UK Government funded charity, Remembering Srebrenica which organises UK’sSrebrenica Memorial Day confirmed that speakers include HRH Prince Charles, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Angelina Jolie, the President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Šefik Džaferović, Sir Kier Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Husein ef. Kavazovic, the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, David Cameron, President Bill Clinton, Lord William Hague and Secretary Madeline Albright.
Angelina Jolie
The UK’s national ceremony on Saturday 11 July is the culmination of a week which has seen over 1,000 memorial activities that have taken place right across the country to honour over 8,000 Muslim men and boys who were killed in the space of just a few days in Srebrenica in July 1995. A variety of events and activities have been organised by local councils, community centres, police stations, places of worship and schools to name but a few to remember those who were brutally murdered in the genocide which the UN called “the worst atrocity on European soil since the second world war”.
The Prince of Wales, whose scheduled official visit to Srebrenica in March was postponed due to COVID-19 said: “The terrible events of July 1995, confirmed as genocide by international courts, are a dreadful stain on our collective conscience. By remembering the pain of the past, and learning its lessons, we can together resolve that it must never happen again. This is why the work of organisations like
the UK’s “Remembering Srebrenica” is so vitally important; and why 25 years after these terrible crimes were committed, we should stand in determined solidarity with those who have lost so much”.
The UK is the largest commemorator of the Srebrenica genocide in the world holding 1,000 local memorial activities annually and and educating 100,000 young pupils on the lessons from Srebrenica.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “There are those who would prefer to forget or deny the enormity of what took place. We must not allow that to happen. We owe it to the victims and to future generations to remember Srebrenica and ensure it never happens again”.
The Chairman of Remembering Srebrenica UK, Dr Waqar Azmi OBE said: “we are proud that our country commemorates Srebrenica Memorial Day with support at the highest levels from HRH Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson bringing
our nation together in acts of remembrance.” These acts of remembrance bring ordinary Britons together to remember the past
and encourage to help build stronger, more inclusive communities free from prejudice and intolerance and inspire the next generation to help ensure that hatred does not prevail.”
The UK National Srebrenica Memorial Day Ceremony will be broadcast at 7pm today (Saturday) on Remembering Srebrenica’s Facebook and Twitter channels
