US President Barack Obama described the Srebrenica massacre as a "stain on our collective conscience" Sunday and urged governments to redouble their efforts to track down key suspect Ratko Mladic.
"On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, and on behalf of the United States, I join my voice with those who are gathered to mourn a great loss and to reflect on an unimaginable tragedy," Obama said. "I have said, and I believe, that the horror of Srebrenica was a stain on our collective conscience," he said in a statement issued in Washington but also read out a graveyard ceremony near Srebrenica.
"Justice must include a full accounting of the crimes that occurred, full identification and return of all those who were lost, and prosecution and punishment of those who carried out the genocide. This includes Ratko Mladic, who presided over the killings and remains at large."
Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military leader, is accused of masterminding the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead and the July 1995 massacre of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.