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Hatidža Bektić Mehmedović

1952 – 2018

About

Bosnian human rights activist. She was an advocate for human rights and a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre. She established the Mothers of Srebrenica for women who lost loved ones in the events of July 1995. After her husband and two sons perished in the massacre, where thousands of Muslim Bosniak males were slain, Mehmedović devoted herself to pursuing justice for the perpetrators. In 1995, Bosnian Serb forces conducted ethnic cleansing in eastern Bosnia, forcing Bosniaks out to incorporate their territories into Serbia. With over 40,000 seeking shelter in Srebrenica, the town, the last bastion beyond Bosnian Serb authority, succumbed to General Ratko Mladić's forces, leading to the separation of families and the slaughter of many males. Mehmedović last saw her family in the hills before their separation, never to reunite. Discovering their fate as victims of the genocide, she founded Mothers of Srebrenica in 2002 to advocate for justice and support survivors. In 2017, Mehmedović witnessed Ratko Mladić's life imprisonment verdict in The Hague, acknowledging it as a step towards justice but stressing that true justice remained elusive for the Srebrenica mothers. She underscored the ongoing quest for justice for all wartime victims and accountability for atrocities beyond Srebrenica. Mehmedović succumbed to breast cancer at 65 in a Sarajevo hospital on July 22, 2018. Her impactful leadership in a society that often neglected women was celebrated by former Srebrenica Mayor Ćamil Duraković. Hundreds attended her funeral in Srebrenica, where she was laid to rest in her birthplace, Bektići in Sućeska.