0:00:16 > 0:00:20We didn't believe that we would be killed because there are so many
0:00:20 > 0:00:24people and I couldn't believe they could kill all of us.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Srebenica, the setting for Europe's worst atrocity
0:00:28 > 0:00:30since the Second World War.
0:00:30 > 0:00:36GUNSHOTS.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42In July 1995, Bosnian Serb soldiers massacred thousands of unarmed
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Muslim men and boys here.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52A small number of survivors have since returned.
0:00:52 > 0:01:00I had nightmares and I didn't ever get rid of it.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05I return here and living here maybe is a therapy for me.
0:01:05 > 0:01:11But the genocide verdicts of the International Court
0:01:11 > 0:01:13are being questioned by the politicians
0:01:13 > 0:01:14and the town's new mayor.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Even here, in the very place where ethnic cleansing happened.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27The genocide didn't happen. That's official.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Nedzad Avdic now finds his incredible story of survival -
0:01:30 > 0:01:34his community's very identity - a matter of dispute.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Almost 20 years I was silent.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Later, I realised that we have the struggle for the truth
0:01:42 > 0:01:47like for our lives.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Nedzad Avdic returned to Srebenica ten years ago.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59He and his wife, Elvisa, are bringing up their three
0:01:59 > 0:02:03daughters here in Srpska, Repubblica Srpska, the Serb-run
0:02:03 > 0:02:08entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina, that was formally recognised
0:02:08 > 0:02:11after the war but which some Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks,
0:02:11 > 0:02:16believe entrenched ethnic cleansing.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Nedzad is one of it's believed only six men and boys who survived
0:02:22 > 0:02:24being rounded up, taken to mass execution sites and shot
0:02:25 > 0:02:27in July 1995.
0:02:27 > 0:02:308000 didn't.
0:02:30 > 0:02:36I had a need deeply inside me to come here, to show them that
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I survived.
0:02:39 > 0:02:50Maybe it is the best answer that all those who deny the genocide.
0:02:51 > 0:02:57It is all arranged.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59It is a revenge.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Nadzad's decision to live in Srebenica is cathartic
0:03:01 > 0:03:04and political, aimed at those who wanted Muslims erased from here.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05He says it's increasingly difficult.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Life here is not easy.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Today we fight for justice.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12It isn't finished.
0:03:12 > 0:03:20Without justice, there is no reconciliation.
0:03:20 > 0:03:27I worry because of this curse, rhetoric.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Everywhere you have propaganda.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Because of that, my wife, she just wants to leave Srebenica.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37There are different realities here in Repubblica Srpska.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Many Bosnian Serbs see men deemed war criminals as heroes.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45When the political second-in-command from the war days was released
0:03:45 > 0:03:51from prison, he was fated.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53One person's nationalism is another's rightful pride
0:03:53 > 0:03:55in their country.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57With international eyes focused elsewhere, Bosniaks fear
0:03:57 > 0:04:00the tide is turning.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03In a recent referendum, Bosnian Serbs voted overwhelmingly
0:04:03 > 0:04:05for their annual National Day, which the country's courts
0:04:05 > 0:04:08had ruled illegal.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Bosnian Serb politicians from President Dodig down don't
0:04:11 > 0:04:16accept International Court verdicts concerning Srebenica.
0:04:49 > 0:04:5322 years ago, Srebenica was a place of fear.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56With Bosnians Serbs, Croats and Muslims killing each
0:04:56 > 0:04:59other across the region, the UN had declared the town a safe
0:04:59 > 0:05:05haven back in 1993 and thousands of Bosniak civilians flocked there.
0:05:05 > 0:05:11In amongst them were a young Elvisa and, separately 17-year-old Nedzad.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Besieged by the Bosnian Serbs, they were abandoned by the UN
0:05:14 > 0:05:17in July 1995.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Agreeing to transport the refugees to safety,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Bosnian Serb forces captured the town.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Elvisa and her mother, with the other women and children,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27were bussed out.
0:05:27 > 0:05:34The Bosnian Serb plan to kill Muslim men and boys was under way.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45As you watch those pictures, do you remember the feeling?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Yes, everything.
0:05:48 > 0:05:54It's painful to remember that.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58But it's part of life, past.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Our past.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Ahead of the killings, the leader of the Bosnian Serb
0:06:08 > 0:06:11forces, General Ratko Miladic, made great play of promising
0:06:11 > 0:06:14civilians safe passage.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18He's now facing genocide charges at his trial in the Hague.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41The killing of Srebenica's Bosnian Muslims has been judged genocide
0:06:41 > 0:06:45by the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48The UN definition is the intent to destroy a group of people based
0:06:48 > 0:06:52on nationality, race, ethnicity, or religion.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54It was systematic killing.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Organised killing.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And it was organised from a higher level to achieve all that.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04You need so many resources.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10So many trucks, so many buses, etc.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22The scars of war are still evident in Srebenica today.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25This was a predominantly Muslim town.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Many who survived those times chose not to come back to a place
0:07:29 > 0:07:32the international community had agreed would part
0:07:32 > 0:07:37of the Bosnian-Serb entity, Repubblica Srpska.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42There's a feeling of emptiness, of once thriving industries
0:07:42 > 0:07:44that never recovered.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Economically depressed, life here is hard.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Many eke out a living in a way that has changed little over centuries.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Last year, the town elected a new mayor,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57who's promised economic development.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01It's the first time a Serb has filled the role since the war.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03His views on the Srebenica massacre have caused alarm amongst
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Bosniaks who've returned.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10For me, it's not a problem to have a mayor who is a Serb.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12It's not a problem.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16We are looking for that Serb who promotes tolerance.
0:08:16 > 0:08:24He's a guy who denies our past and denies the genocide.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31The Balkans have always been a powder keg.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Now the agreements that brought about the end of the war are looking
0:08:34 > 0:08:36ever more fragile.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38There's increasing talk of Repubblica Srpska breaking away
0:08:38 > 0:08:41from the rest of Bosnia, which would leave the entity's
0:08:41 > 0:08:46Bosnian Muslims living in a potentially hostile country.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Repubblica Srpska's President Dodig unveiled a university dormitory
0:08:51 > 0:08:55in honour of the former president, Radovan Karadic just a few days
0:08:55 > 0:08:59before the Hague War Crimes Court found Karadic guilty of genocide.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02The new mayor of Srebenica is from the same political party
0:09:02 > 0:09:04as Mr Dodig.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Do you believe Radovan Karadic is a hero?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Do you accept the judgment of the International Court that
0:09:34 > 0:09:36genocide happened in Srebenica?
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Nedzad took us on the journey he did back in 1995.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Then, as a prisoner, crammed into a truck with dozens
0:10:24 > 0:10:29of others, their hands tied behind their backs.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34There is the place where mass execution took place.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38It was night and they were shooting and firing outside.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44I could see the lines - rows and rows of dead bodies.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47I knew it was the end really at that moment.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51They ordered us to lay down.
0:10:51 > 0:10:58I just thought, my mother would never know where I ended up,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03how I finished.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09Then they started to fire and I was dying.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13I just could hear moans.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18Moans of other people who were wounded.
0:11:18 > 0:11:27It was so painful, I was just praying to die.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33Then I noticed someone was moving in front of me.
0:11:33 > 0:11:43I saw and asked him, "Are you aware?"
0:11:43 > 0:11:45He said, yes...
0:11:45 > 0:11:48That's enough.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54I can show you something else.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Before the security could come.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57We'd asked a lot of Nedzad.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00The horror playing out in his head as he described escaping
0:12:00 > 0:12:03with the other survivors while soldiers went to collect more
0:12:03 > 0:12:05prisoners to kill.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06I was crawling.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11I was crawling over dead bodies.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12Broken hats, etc.
0:12:12 > 0:12:19It was...
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Nedzad was badly wounded and in terrible pain.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30The other man encouraged the teenager to keep crawling.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And stay broke, and they climbed through the forest, the full-scale
0:12:33 > 0:12:36and planning behind massacre became apparent.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41They were collecting the dead bodies and they put them on the trucks,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44or tractors, I don't remember now.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49And the tractors were going somewhere.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51I don't remember where.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Probably to mass graves.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56After the war, the international effort to find and identify
0:12:56 > 0:12:59the missing thousands began.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Amongst the dead, Nedzad's father and uncle.
0:13:03 > 0:13:10I know my uncle - that his remains were found in four mass graves.
0:13:10 > 0:13:17They wanted to hide it and excavated them and re-buried them again.
0:13:17 > 0:13:24Because of that, they have broken their bodies.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I wondered whether people living around the dam site now would know
0:13:27 > 0:13:29what happened there.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Many of them probably don't talk or tell anything about it.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Why not?
0:13:37 > 0:13:41They have fear for their lives.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44If they talked about what happened here.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Yeah, of course.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Fear of their lives from whom?
0:13:49 > 0:13:55From those who committed the crime and who supported the crime,
0:13:55 > 0:14:01and who approved the crime.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Do some of them still live round here, do you think?
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Yes, of course.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Each gravestone in the vast Potocari memorial to the genocide victims
0:14:14 > 0:14:18bears the same year of death - 1995.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The recovery of remains has been painstakingly slow.
0:14:22 > 0:14:29Every year on the July anniversary, more men are buried here.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Sometimes a bone fragment is all that's been identified.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35The International Court in the Hague has judged six senior Serb figures
0:14:35 > 0:14:40guilty of genocide in Srebenica.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43The former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is awaiting judgment.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46This woman testified against him and others.
0:14:46 > 0:14:52In a row of four graves at Potocari lie her husband,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56her eldest son, her father-in-law and her brother-in-law.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03A few miles from Srebenica, as the primary school day begins,
0:16:03 > 0:16:10education has become politicised.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Here in Nova Kasaba, these Muslim children are now
0:16:12 > 0:16:17being educated separately from their Serb peers.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22Their parents pulled them out of mainstream school and set
0:16:22 > 0:16:24up their own in an Islamic centre.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27They claim they were fought to do so because, in subjects
0:16:27 > 0:16:28from geography, to history, to literature, even
0:16:28 > 0:16:31to what their language is called, their children's Bosniak heritage
0:16:31 > 0:16:33was being excluded.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Do you believe that this is a deliberate decision
0:16:52 > 0:16:55by the politicians - the officials - running the education system
0:16:56 > 0:16:57in Repubblica Srpska to make you feel unwelcome?
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Nedzad's daughters are still too young for these issues to apply.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16But with Bosniak politicians ramping up the rhetoric
0:17:16 > 0:17:19against their rivals' education policies, he and Elvisa worry
0:17:19 > 0:17:22what their children will be taught in future if they stay in Repubblica
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Srpska.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Srebenica's Municipal Assembly now has more Serb councillors than
0:17:28 > 0:17:38Bosniaks.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42The Mayor's party is ruling in coalition with Serbs and Muslims.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44In the opposition, a Serb, who's been in politics
0:17:44 > 0:17:45since the war days.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48He's the local president of Radovan Karadic's former party
0:17:48 > 0:17:49and also the town's secondary school director.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Bosniaks have said to us, if people would recognise and call
0:17:52 > 0:17:57it a genocide, then reconciliation could happen.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Because that's not happening, it's impossible.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Do you think it was a genocide and what do you think
0:18:02 > 0:18:04about that viewpoint?
0:18:36 > 0:18:38WHISTLE BLOWS.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Blaming international meddling for the possible break-up
0:18:40 > 0:18:45of Bosnia-Herzegovina is tried and tested political discourse here.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48President Dodig regularly threatens a referendum on secession.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52His mayor in Srebenica isn't averse either.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Would you like to see Repubblica Srpska cede from
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Bosnia-Herzegovina?
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Before the war, Serbs made up just over half the population
0:19:26 > 0:19:29of this area.
0:19:29 > 0:19:37Now Repubblica Srpska is 80% Serb.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39After the war, efforts were made to encourage Bosniaks
0:19:39 > 0:19:42back to Srebenica.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44This family lives in a block specially built for returnees
0:19:44 > 0:19:45with international finance.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48But Nedzad and Elvisa told me they already know Muslims who've
0:19:48 > 0:19:51recently packed up and left again because of the political situation.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Elvisa would like to follow them.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Nadzad's surviving family never understood his need to go back
0:20:14 > 0:20:20and live in Srebenica.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I remember the words of my mother as well.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24You want to go to Srebenica?
0:20:24 > 0:20:25HE LAUGHS.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28You can go wherever you want but don't go there.
0:20:28 > 0:20:38Please.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40If you leave, who will be the winner?
0:20:40 > 0:20:42In that case, I think...
0:20:42 > 0:20:44In that case, the genocide would fade off.
0:20:44 > 0:20:53Those who committed such horror, they would win.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Nedzad believes the scale of the crimes cannot be compared.
0:20:55 > 0:21:05But Serbs also lost their lives in the war and there are memorials
0:21:05 > 0:21:08to the 3000 Serb soldiers and civilians killed across this
0:21:08 > 0:21:09area over three years.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Most people we spoke to - whether Serb or Bosniak -
0:21:12 > 0:21:16were keen to try to forget the past and look to the future.
0:21:16 > 0:21:30But, for 22 years, Nedzad has lived with a burden.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33The memory of the 8000 souls who didn't have his luck.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37The burden of being a survivor of genocide.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40If we had a normal country, I can say that hatred,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42that nationalistic conversation, can take us to the war
0:21:42 > 0:21:43and the killing.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Very often, I ask myself where we are going now
0:21:46 > 0:21:56because I fear very bad things in Europe.
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Nedzad's man concern is closer to home.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Those who had their hands bloody, if they come one day and ask
0:22:01 > 0:22:04for forgiveness, I think it wouldn't be a problem for us...
0:22:04 > 0:22:20To extend our hands.
0:22:20 > 0:22:31Do you think they ever will?
0:22:31 > 0:22:33True reconciliation looks perhaps almost as far off as ever,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36particularly with genocide being denied in the very place
0:22:36 > 0:22:39where it's judged to have happened.
0:22:39 > 0:22:52In the end, only the living can have a say on whether a country
0:22:52 > 0:22:57built on bloodshed will truly wash away the emnities of war.
0:23:16 > 0:23:16Hello.