The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Abigail Marshall-Katung, was joined by community representatives to commemorate the tragedy of the Srebrenica genocide.
On 11th July 1995, the town of Srebrenica witnessed the horrifying ethnic cleansing, which took place by units of the Bosnian Serb Army, and witnessed the targeted killing of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
Muslim men and boys were buried in unmarked graves and today family members are still being discovered and reburied on July 11 every year, which is known as Srebrenica Memorial Day.
The remembrance day sees events take place in towns and cities all around Europe to remember the Srebrenica genocide and to reaffirm their commitment to inclusion, diversity and peace.
Leeds marked the 29th years since the massacre, with the Lord Mayor attending alongside Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council, to lay a wreath outside the antechamber entrance to Leeds Civic Hall on Thursday 11th July at 11.30am.
Gohar Almas Khan, who instigated the Remembering Srebrenica memorial day in Leeds said: “I’m honoured and privileged to have started the role of Leeds civic champion for the charity Remembering Srebrenica as an elected councillor since 2018.
“I have been involved with the organisation for over a decade whose patrons include HRH the Princesses Royal Anne, Lord Wallace, Baroness Warsi, Baroness Kennedy, Baroness D’Souza to name a few.
“I’ve headed delegations of dozens of dignitaries officials and people from all walks of life to Bosnia to witness the atrocities that took place in the heart of Europe in late 20th century.
“Thousands of young men in particular, were brutally murdered in the name of religion and ethnic cleansing that would scar the face of Europe for centuries.
“It’s vitally important that we are committed to educating our younger generation in particular about this genocide and the valuable and painful lessons that we must learn for our own communities about where hatred and division can lead to. It’s all about education and commemoration of such historic injustice and cruelty. Children are our future and our future and the prize of peace rests with them.”
Leeds Lord Mayor Cllr Abigail Marshall-Katung said in her speech: “We stand here in solidarity to remember the victims of genocide in the world and we can reflect important lessons combat in denial and challenging hate.
“Human beings cannot exist in isolation, we are all connected. What unites is our common humanity – when you do good, it’s this goodness that provides with the opportunity to focus on how coming together makes us stronger when it comes to addressing injustices in the world.
“It is our collective responsibility that whenever we see we see or smell hatred or discrimination that we call it out.”
