Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment, has died while receiving treatment at a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands. He was 83. The UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals confirmed the death, saying he died early in the day. Judge Graciela Gatti Santana ordered a full investigation into the circumstances of his death.

Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Mladic had been ill for a long time and suffered several strokes. A UN doctor had said earlier this month that he could die at any time or within weeks, while his renewed request for release was rejected. In 2017, a UN tribunal sentenced him to life for genocide and war crimes committed during the Bosnian war.

Mladic was convicted over the 1995 killing of at least 8,000 Muslims in the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica. The source describes the massacre as Europe’s worst genocide since World War II. Munira Subasic of Mothers of Srebrenica expressed sorrow but said many Bosnian Serbs still deny his crimes, while Human Rights Watch said his death renewed the need for justice, truth and reparations in the Western Balkans.

More than 1,000 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia remain missing even after 31 years, according to a report published Friday by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency. The massacre, carried out by Serb forces during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, is regarded as one of the darkest chapters in modern European history.

The genocide occurred when Serb troops led by convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic captured the UN-declared safe zone of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. After separating men and boys from women, the forces executed them over 11 days, killing at least 8,372 Bosnian males. To conceal the crimes, victims’ bodies were buried in mass graves across multiple sites.

Since the war’s end, Bosnian authorities have recovered remains from 77 mass graves and 150 locations, using DNA and forensic testing for identification. As of this year, 6,782 victims have been buried at the Srebrenica memorial cemetery, with 250 others laid to rest in their hometowns. Despite ongoing efforts, more than 1,000 victims remain unaccounted for.