Ramo and Nermin Osmanović: A Father Who Called Out to His Son from Captivity

A Family from Dobrak

The Osmanović family lived in Dobrak near Skelani, in the municipality of Srebrenica, above the Drina. It consisted of the father Ramo, the mother Saliha and two sons, the older Nermin and the younger Edin.

The Death of the Youngest

At the beginning of July 1995, the younger son Edin, then seventeen years old, was killed in the artillery shelling of Srebrenica. Sources differ on the date: according to Radio Free Europe and the SENSE agency, it happened on 6 July 1995, and according to the genocid.ba portal, on 5 July 1995.

Separation after the Fall of the Enclave

After the fall of Srebrenica on 11 July 1995, the family was separated. Saliha went to Potočari with her father-in-law. There, on 12 July, she saw General Ratko Mladić addressing the refugees, and she was then deported. Ramo and eighteen-year-old Nermin set out with the column through the forests toward Tuzla.

A Call from Captivity

On this journey Ramo Osmanović was captured by Serb forces. On 13 and 14 July 1995, the Belgrade journalist Zoran Petrović Pirocanac filmed the prisoners, and the footage shows Ramo, surrounded by armed soldiers, calling on his son Nermin and other men hiding in the forest to come out and surrender. According to the SENSE agency, he did this on the orders of Serb soldiers; Radio Free Europe states that he was forced to do so. The footage was broadcast by the Belgrade television station Studio B. That call became a symbol of the Srebrenica "call to death".

Disappearance and Death

From 13 July 1995, the family had no trace of Ramo and Nermin. Both were killed. The exact place and date of their execution are not known. According to the genocid.ba portal, father and son were placed above a dug pit and killed by shots in the back.

Discovery and Burial

The remains of father and son were found years later, in two different graves. Ramo's remains were found in Zeleni Jadar near Srebrenica. For Nermin's remains, the sources give different locations: according to Radio Free Europe, they were found in the Snagovo mass grave near Zvornik, and according to the genocid.ba portal, in Nezuk. Both were identified in 2009, and on 11 July 2009 they were buried at the Potočari Memorial Centre, among 534 newly identified victims at that time.

The Mother's Testimony

After the war, Saliha Osmanović returned to Dobrak. In May 2013 she testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the proceedings against Ratko Mladić, commander of the Main Staff of the Vojska Republike Srpske, who was finally convicted of genocide in Srebrenica. In the same proceedings, a prosecution investigator also described the footage of the prisoners. Speaking about life after losing her husband and both sons, Saliha said: "As long as you live, you survive."