West Northamptonshire remembers Srebrenica
Community, safety and emergencies05 July 2022
A ceremony of remembrance to honour the victims of the Srebrenica genocide will take place on Monday, 11 July, at 10.55am in the Northampton Guildhall’s courtyard on St Giles’ Square.
The public are invited to join the Vice-Chairman of West Northamptonshire Council and the Mayor of Northampton, along with representatives from Northamptonshire Inter Faith Forum, Northamptonshire Police and others, to hear speeches and observe a one-minute silence at 11am, in honour of the 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys who were massacred in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in July 1995.
The Srebrenica flag will also be raised at each of West Northamptonshire Council’s main offices in Daventry, Northampton and Towcester and candles of remembrance lit to mark the occasion.
Councillor André González De Savage, Chairman of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “This is an important day of international commemoration, so it is right that we come together to remember the victims of this atrocity and demonstrate that there is no place for hate in our society.”
The day of remembrance is part of the Srebrenica Memorial Week, which began on 4 July, with ‘Combatting Denial: Confronting Hatred’ as this year’s theme – highlighting the fact that denial of the Srebrenica genocide, as well as the crimes against humanity committed across Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 to 1995, remains prevalent.
More information about this year’s theme and the memorial week can be found on the Remembering Srebrenica website.
Cllr Dennis Meredith, the Mayor of Northampton, said: “The message for this year’s Remembering Srebrenica event is ‘Combatting Denial, Challenging Hatred’ and we must educate ourselves and others so that ignorance and hatred do not enable horrific events like Srebrenica to ever happen again.
“With the war in Ukraine very much on our minds, it is so incredibly important to come together to remember the atrocities of Srebrenica and understand our part in fighting hatred and intolerance.”
Northamptonshire Police is committed to challenging all forms of hatred, prejudice and intolerance within communities. Anyone who has experienced a hate crime or incident is encouraged to report it to the police by calling 101.