The July 1995 massacre and murder of 8000 Bosnian men and boys in the eastern Bosnian city of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Hercegovina continues to be a stain on humanity as more than seventy major mass graves have been located in Bosnia-Hercegovina containing civilians killed during the worst war crimes in Europe since the days of World War Two.

While there has been partial accountability for these terrible crimes of mass slaughter and ethnic intolerance that took place during the final months of the civil war and genocide in Bosnia-Hercegovina, efforts to more fully hold those responsible accountable have progressed slowly in the fifteen years since the tragedy.

Mass Funeral

Coffins of Srebrenica victims during a mass funeral in Potocari, Bosnia, on July 11, 2010 (Amel Emric/AP)

Former Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic is serving a twenty nine year prison term in Great Britain after being found guilty of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia (I.C.T.Y.) But Krstic is only one of several high ranking Serbian officials and military leaders who are blamed for responsibility for the ethnic cleansing and executions of thousands of Bosnian civilians in Srebrenica during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Radovan Karadic was the highest ranking civilian and military leader of the Bosnian Serbs in Bosnia-Hercegovina and is currently on trial in the International Criminal Tribunal For the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague, Netherlands, on charges including genocide and murder.

Former Serbian General Ratko Mladic, who is also charged with genocide and other crimes for his responsibility in Srebrenica, remains at large and is believed to be protected inside Serbia. Serbia itself was found guilty of failing to prevent the genocide that took place in Srebrenica and these prior convictions for co-conspirators of Radovan Karadic weigh heavily against Karadic in his current trial.

Current Bosnian Serb leaders continue to be problematic for the international community in dealing with the Srebrenica Massacre, as Prime Minister Milorad Dodik has stated that the Srebrenica killings are fabricated and never took place. Dodiks statements drew staunch criticism from British and American governments as being cruel and destructive to peace and reconciliation efforts in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Today in Srebrenica bad memories continue for both Serbian residents and Bosnian survivors alike who regard the eastern Bosnian city once known for being a place of youthful rejuvenation and health spas as the scene of a horrible episode of cruelty. These scars on Srebrenica are deep and are unlikely to heal for generations as both perpetrators and victims continue to live in a country fragmented by a violent civil war and genocide.