Witness recalls checkpoint separations and killings in Stragrandes, urges justice and memorialization

A witness recounted fleeing Stragrandes during the 1990s after a checkpoint on the main road where “they, separate, men and boys,” and said many of those separated were later killed. The witness said they escaped between 1992 and 1995 and returned in 2003 to try to live in Stragrandes again, explaining the primary reason for returning was to be close to family graves: “the cemetery…we have to stay closer to our dearest to have a place to visit them.”

A presenter who followed the witness said justice is essential to reconciliation, arguing that communities need an established record of facts: “Justice is a precondition for reconciliation,” the presenter said, adding that knowing “what happened” is necessary for any real process of reconciliation. The presenter said a place like the Srebrenica Memorial is key to preserving memory and making that record accessible to communities and younger generations who may not have full information about past events.

The testimony combined personal experience of displacement and return with a public appeal for factual documentation and memorialization. The witness framed the return to Stragrandes as both a private act of remembrance and a public call for accountability; the presenter framed memorialization and a clear factual record as foundational to social healing. The event did not record any formal motions or official responses to the calls for justice and memorialization.

The account given by the witness identifies a pattern of wartime separation and subsequent killing of men and boys at a checkpoint, the time frame of escape (1992–1995), and a return in 2003 motivated by family burial sites. The presenter emphasized that maintaining accessible records and memorial sites helps future generations understand what happened and can serve as an example of how society processes past atrocities.