The annual peace march began on Monday, July 8, in Bosnia and Herzegovina to mark the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.

For years, thousands of people from around the world have come each year to take part in the event, honoring the more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys killed by Serb forces near the city in 1995.

Since 2005, thousands of people have taken part in the "Mars Mira" (Peace March) following the same route used by Bosniaks when they were fleeing the Srebrenica genocide.

In July 1995, Srebrenica was surrounded by Serbian forces who were trying to take territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

The UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. However, Serbian troops led by General Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, occupied the UN area.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serbian forces overran the area, killing 2.000 men and boys in a single day on 11 July.

About 15.000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serbian troops killed another 6.000 people. The bodies of the victims of the genocide were found in 570 different parts of the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

On 8 June 2021, the judges of the UN court upheld in a second-instance trial a verdict sentencing Mladic to life in prison for genocide, persecution, crimes against humanity, extermination and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina . /AA