Mladic's death fails to close Srebrenica wounds

The death of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of at least 8,000 Muslims, has revived painful memories among survivors and families of victims, who say his death cannot erase the crimes or bring back those who were killed.

Mladic, who was convicted of genocide for orchestrating the 1995 massacre of at least 8,000 Muslims in a United Nations-designated "safe area" of Bosnia, died on Thursday, according to his lawyer.

Emir Suljagic, head of the Srebrenica Memorial, said Mladic's death changed little and could not restore the lives lost during the massacre or alter the judicial judgment against him.

"Ratko Mladic is dead and there is not much to say. Nor does that fact change much. It doesn't bring back the dead. It doesn't clear mass graves," Suljagic said. "It does not change judgment. It does not turn the criminal into a historical figure," he added.

Suljagic said the most difficult task remained ensuring that the truth, responsibility and memory surrounding the crimes did not disappear with Mladic's death. "Mladic's death is another moment in which we must decide what we will remember and more importantly, what we will not allow to be erased," he said.

Kada Hotic, 82, whose 29-year-old son and 56-year-old husband were killed by Serb forces in 1995, said she was grateful to the tribunal for sentencing Mladic to life imprisonment. "Justice was served on the day he was sentenced to life," she said. "He died in disgrace, because he killed so many people," Hotic added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, through his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, expressed solidarity with the victims, survivors and families who suffered the crimes for which Mladic was convicted. He stressed that the facts established by the judicial proceedings formed part of the historical record.