Hawkeye Reporter

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and several of his Senate colleagues have issued a joint statement to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide. The group includes Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). Shaheen and Risch serve as the Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively.

The senators' statement reads: “Today marks 30 years since Srebrenica was overrun and more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys lost their lives in the largest atrocity in Europe since the Second World War.

“These men and boys were killed not for what they had done, but for who they were. Bosniaks were rounded up in a humanitarian corridor—and methodically murdered. This act of genocide and the shocking manner in which victims were separated from their families and forced to dig their own graves galvanized an international effort to end the systematic targeting of civilians and broker an end to the war.

“Three decades on, some of the victims have still not been located and their families continue to be denied peace. Seven newly identified victims will be interred today in Srebrenica and will finally be at rest in a place where their families and communities can come to honor them.

“We are committed to continue marking this somber anniversary. True reconciliation and building peaceful, sustainable governing structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina begin with acknowledging historical truths.”

On Thursday, Senator Grassley also spoke on the Senate floor to recognize the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of 1995 Bosnian Genocide.