Chilling photographs expose the aftermath of the Srebrenica massacre

Endless rows of coffins, skeletal remains clothed in rags, and women in mourning, these are just some of the images that confront visitors to the Srebrenica – genocide 11/07/95 exhibition at the War Photo Limited gallery in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Through the photography of Tarik Samarah, the exhibition documents the aftermath of the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995 during the Bosnian war. Over the course of several days more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslims, mainly men and boys, were killed in an act of ethnic cleansing that has been described as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War.

Despite the presence of a 400-strong contingent of Dutch United Nations peacekeepers in Srebrenica and the area declared to be a ‘safe zone’ by the UN, the massacre was still able to take place. Ratko Mladic, the commander of the Bosnian Serb Army for the 1992-1995 war, faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity at his trial in The Hague, including the Srebrenica massacre.

Mladic is just one of the key figures thought to have been involved in the atrocities carried out during the war. Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic is also on trial for crimes against humanity, including Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo which led to the deaths of 10,000 people in the capital of Bosnia.

Samarah has captured the fallout from the genocide in a matter-of-fact manner and his use of monochrome creates a sense of quiet, poignant contemplation. The Srebrenica – genocide 11/07/95 exhibition is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Bosnian war. To accompany the exhibition, there is Bosnians which looks at the Bosnian people during the war from photographs taken by Paul Lowe.

'Srebrenica – genocide 11/07/95' (00 385 20 322 166) to 29 July 2012.

For more information about the exhibition visit www.warphotoltd.com