Dijana Muminovic poses with two photos from her exhibition called “From Bosnia to Bowling Green."

Dijana Muminovic came to the United States as a refugee in 1997, moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky after the end of the war in her native Bosnia and Herzegovina. She studied photojournalism at Western Kentucky University, and earned her bachelor’s degree in May 2009.

Dijana began her career as a photographer in Bowling Green, where she photographed recent immigrants and observed their struggles to adapt to a new culture. Her work was recognized and awarded by the Hearst National Competition in 2008. Despite the accolades, Dijana says that her proudest moment came in November 2009, when she photographed and interviewed Bosnian women who survived the genocide in Bosnia. The women and their stories had a powerful impact on Dijana, who continues her project of documenting survivors and family members of victims of the Bosnian genocide.

Bekto Hasik mourns his father, who was killed in the Srebrenica genocide when Bekto was four years old.

Dijana spoke and displayed her work at the 16th Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide on Capitol Hill. The event paid tribute to the 8,000 Muslims who were systematically murdered by Serbian forces on July 11, 1995 during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. Although 16 years have passed since the genocide in Srebrenica, the pain persists for the families of the victims.  Mass graves continue to be discovered throughout Bosnia, and the struggle to identify and bury those killed will stretch on for years to come. Dijana’s photographs show the raw emotions of the Bosnian people, who mourn the dead but persevere in their determination to find, identify, and give a dignified burial to all the innocent victims of the devastating war.

Mirza Davtovic has worked in the mortuary in the town of Visoko for ten years. Here, he labels coffins of genocide victims who have been identified.

Bekto Hasic, Mirza Davtoic, and Samir Samanija are just a few of the Bosnians whose stories Dijana brought back with her from Bosnia through her photography. The close-up of Bekto, whose father was killed in the Srebrenica genocide when Bekto was four years old, gives the viewer an intimate view of the acute pain that the families of victims experience. Mirza has worked for ten years in the mortuary in the town of Visoko. “This is the final stage, meaning we put the bones in coffins after they have been identified,” Dautovic explains. The vast amount of coffins shown in the photograph contain 774 bodies of Bosnian Muslim men who were killed. Samir Sabanija, an investigator from the Institute of Missing Persons, looks for four of his cousins in the town of Visegrad. About 800 Visegrad civilians were thrown in the river in 1992. The International Commission for the Missing Persons (ICMP) found 348 bones in September 22, 2010. In the spring of 1992 more than 3,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed during the violence in Visegrad, about 600 were women and 119 children.

Samir Sabanija, an investigator from the Institute of Missing Persons in Sarajevo, searches for genocide victims.

Through her work, Dijana Muminovic gives a voice to the voiceless. Her powerful photographs capture the scars of genocide and the courage of the Bosnian people, who carry on the search for thousands of victims still lost.  Dijana’s photography can be found on her website and more information about the Srebrenica genocide can be found here.

Bosnian women mourning victims of the Srebrenica massacre.

Today marks the 16^th anniversary of the tragic Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Muslims were systematically killed by Serbian forces during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Thousands of Bosnian Muslims have gathered to commemorate the anniversary and bury the remains of 613 victims who were identified after they were recently recovered from mass graves. This anniversary is a sobering reminder of the horrors of genocide, but also offers a look at the potential for international justice to hold those complicit in mass atrocities accountable.

The Srebrenica Massacre

The United Nations declared Srebrenica a “safe area” in 1993; it was to be a demilitarized zone protected by UN peacekeepers. Both sides in the conflict violated that agreement, and on July 11, 1995, Serbian forces besieged the town of Srebrenica. This attack is the only episode of the Bosnian war that international courts have definitively labeled genocide. Men and boys were murdered and their corpses were disposed of in mass graves. Women and girls were subjected to violent rape. Over 25,000 citizens, primarily women, were forcibly relocated from Srebrenica to Serbian-controlled territory.

International Justice

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established under the auspices of the United Nations in 1993 to pursue justice for war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Ratko Mladic

Ratko Mladic, the Serbian general responsible for the Srebrenica massacre and other war crimes, was arrested on May 26th and transferred to the ICTY in The Hague, where he will face trial for two counts of genocide, six counts of war crimes, and seven counts of crimes against humanity. Other Serbian leaders responsible for the genocide have also been indicted and tried by the ICTY, including Radovan Karadzic and Radislav Krstic, who was found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment.

Also held accountable in the massacre was the Netherlands, which directed orders to the Dutch peacekeeping troops responsible for protecting the Srebrenica UN “safe area” in July 1995. The peacekeepers handed over three Bosnian men to the Serbian army and witnessed multiple incidents in which Bosnian Muslims were abused, raped, and killed by Serbian troops without intervening. In July 2011, the ICTY ruled that the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of the three men handed over by peacekeepers.

Lessons Learned from Srebrenica

The memory of the Srebrenica atrocities resounds in current conflict zones where civilians are in danger. The ethno-political dimensions of the Balkans conflict remind us of the current political marginalization and violent targeting of certain ethnic groups in Darfur. The use of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also reminiscent of the rapes that took place in Srebrenica.

But current international efforts for protecting civilians reflect some of the lessons learned in Srebrenica. In Srebrenica, NATO did not begin airstrikes until after the massacre when the worst atrocities against civilians had already taken place, despite prior requests for support. Now in Libya’s current political conflict we see NATO intervening proactively to protect civilians.

The recent ICTY ruling against the Dutch state sets an important precedent that peacekeeping troops who fail to protect civilians can and must be held accountable. UN peacekeepers in Sudan should heed this precedent as the genocide and violence against civilians there continue and they find themselves responsible for protecting civilian lives.

Aspects of current international conflicts are reminiscent of the genocide in Srebrenica, so the international community must use the lessons learned there to pursue international justice and protect civilians.

Genocide Prevention Month: From Bosnia to Benghazi
By Mark Hanis and Glenn Nye – 04/04/11 10:42 AM ET

History repeats itself. But not always. Not when those who are able step up to change the course.

The Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur all share major, tragic anniversaries this month, which is why April has been named Genocide Prevention Month by the world’s growing anti-genocide movement. As communities across the globe commemorate past atrocities, we can best honor those who lost their lives, their homes, and their families in these major atrocities by working hard to make ‘Never Again’ a reality.

Just one month after Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi began firing on his country’s civilians, the United States sent planes to help establish a U.N.-authorized no-fly zone. While many questions remain about short-term upheaval and long-term outcome, one thing is certain: Early action by the United States and international allies has saved lives – lots of them. The president made the right decision.

Sadly, this act of leadership follows many lessons learned over and over about what happens when we don’t act quickly enough. Almost 16 years ago, as post-Tito Yugoslavia disintegrated, Serb militia gunned down more than 7,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys, and then threw their bodies into mass graves.

This massacre in the mountain village of Srebrenica didn’t take the United States by surprise. For years beforehand, we watched as Slobodan Milosevic’s political power grab escalated from regional tension into a full-blown genocide. The result was more than 150,000 deaths in Bosnia, a state of only four million, before American-led intervention stopped the killing.

There are parallels with the current situation: our country seeking coalition partners and political cover from the U.N.; labyrinthine internal decision making within NATO; various players wanting to take credit or hide from responsibility, or both, depending on the day. And full awareness of the mortal danger for others if we failed to act.

You can read the full op-ed here.

The event began with a moving memorial ceremony honoring the victims of the genocides and mass atrocities commemorated in the month of April, Genocide Prevention Month.  Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, South Sudan and Darfur were all remembered through personal stories, prayers and the building of a memorial in front of the White House.

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian adds a copy of an Armenian passport to the memorial

Joseph Sebarenzi says a prayer before adding a rose to the memorial

Socheata, Houng and Nin Poeuv pray before adding a family photo to the memorial

Now, it is not the time to talk; it is not the time to stand by; it is the time to act.

Now it is the time to remember that the people of Darfur are fellow human beings; are God’s children.

Now is the time to remember that each of us owes the people of Darfur help in whatever ways possible.

[...]

I am here today to remind world leaders the ancient wisdom that to whom much is given, much is required; PLEASE use the power given to you to stop the genocide in Darfur!

I am here to day, to tell my fellow genocide survivors, to seek justice, and to never seek revenge;

I am here today to tell victims of violence, to overcome their sufferings, not with violence, but with peaceful means.

Photos of Dr. Jon Western and the Poeuv family by Pete Muller.  All other photos by Mark Lotwis of Save Darfur.