UN Bosnia mission praises security arrangements for Srebrenica memorial ceremony

The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) today commended the authorities of the Bosnian Federation and of the Republika Srpska (RS) for the successful security operation that allowed a religious ceremony commemorating the Srebrenica massacre to take place peacefully on Thursday.

"Thanks to the excellent security arrangements and the professional performance of about 1,500 police officers, the ceremony passed in solemnity and dignity in the presence of several thousand participants," the Mission said in a statement released in Sarajevo.

The Mission also credited the RS police force for diligently implementing the security plan for the event, and noted that security planning had taken place in cooperation with UNMIBH and the multinational stabilization force (SFOR).

"The professional conduct and efficient performance of local police guaranteed that yesterday's ceremony could pass in a peaceful and dignified atmosphere," the statement said.

The ceremony marked the anniversary of the fall of the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995. The Serb attack on Bosnian Muslims in the UN-designated "safe-area" of Srebrenica and the massacres of thousands of civilians that followed has been described as the worst in Europe since the Second World War.