This year's collective funeral was preceded by the identification of four victims, while two individuals were buried under the designation NN, as their identification through DNA analysis has not been possible to date.
The remains of the unidentified victims were exhumed at the sites of Drum near Vlasenica and Tabine Njive near Kladanj. With the consent of the Islamic Community and the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a decision was made to bury them in Vlasenica, based on available information indicating that they are victims from the area of this municipality.
"After decades of searching, tears, and uncertainty, they have finally been laid to rest in the earth that remembers. This funeral is also another painful but clear call to institutions, as well as neighbors, to help uncover the truth, identify the remaining victims, and punish those responsible. The pain remains, but so does the quiet hope that the truth will never be buried along with them," said Nerin Dizdar, the federal minister of displaced persons and refugees.
Among those buried is Ahmet (Mujo) Musić, born in 1939 in Vlasenica, who went missing in 1995 after the fall of Srebrenica.
His remains were found as early as 1998 in the Kamenica mass grave near Zvornik, but the family could not give consent for identification for years due to the incompleteness of the found remains.
After previously burying his brother, Musić's son decided to finally lay his father to rest in a grave beside him.
Haso (Bajre) Imširović, born in 1946 in Vlasenica, also found his final peace. He went missing in 1995 in the Donja Kamenica area, and his remains were found in 2006 during an exhumation from the Kamenica – Čančari mass grave.
At today's funeral, Ibro (Šefke) Durmić, born in 1961, and Lutvo (Suljo) Kučić, born in 1954, both from Vlasenica, were also buried. Their remains were only found last year at the Jelovački potok site, a full 33 years after their disappearance in 1992.
According to data from the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1,350 war victims have been identified and buried in the Vlasenica area to date.
Among them are 830 victims killed during the genocide in 1995, while 537 people were killed during 1992.
Over the past years, exhumations have been carried out at around 200 locations, and mass graves have been discovered at 23 sites. The last mass graves in the Vlasenica area were discovered in 2017 at the Jelovačka česma and Tugovo sites.
Although many families have found at least partial peace today after years of searching, the search for the missing continues. The Institute for Missing Persons of BiH is still searching for 363 people from the Vlasenica area.