The Duchess of Edinburgh travelled to Bosnia where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred by Bosnian Serbs in July 1995 during the brutal wars in former Yugoslavia
The King delivered an emotional message to the mothers of those who lost sons in the Srebrenica massacre telling them their courage is a “lesson to us all”.
His words were delivered personally by the Duchess of Edinburgh who travelled to Bosnia to attend a memorial as thousands descended on the town where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were brutally massacred by Bosnian Serbs in July 1995 during the Bosnian War on its 30th anniversary And speaking to the Mirror Sophie told her of pride at being able to deliver the message on the King’s behalf as she heard the harrowing stories of women – one of whom had lost 23 relatives in the genocide.
The Duchess started the day at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, which is housed in an old battery factory, where thousands sought refuge in the lead up to the fall of Srebrenica during the war, which saw Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims engage in a brutal conflict during the break-up of Yugoslavia.
Once inside she paused to reflect on the belongings including shoes, jackets and shirts of some of those killed by Bosnian Serb forces that are displayed in a UK- funded exhibition. Sophie delivered a message from the King in which he said he was “greatly saddened” not to be there in person, adding that he is “most touched and grateful to be able to share these words as we pay our respects”.
In his message, Charles said: “I have spoken before about the terrible events of thirty years ago, confirmed as genocide by international courts. Many of the individuals responsible are now rightly facing justice, but this does not absolve the rest of us of our duties: both to acknowledge the international community’s failure to prevent the horror, and to do all we can to ensure it never happens again.
“I humbly salute the Mothers of Srebrenica, and all who do so much, despite their continuing anguish, to preserve the memory of those who died. It has meant a very great deal to me, in past years, to have met survivors, mothers and family members of the missing, for whom I have such admiration. Their extraordinary courage, compassion and dignity are a lesson to us all, and it is my hope that we may all take inspiration from their incredible resilience under such unbearable circumstances.”
After the ceremony, Sophie visited the Srebrenica Memorial Cemetery where the remains of some 7,000 people killed during the massarce are buried before meeting a group of women whose sons were murdered in genocide. There she hugged the women and was moved as she listened to their stories, including from one women who spoke of her pain of losing 23 family members in the Genocide – with three still missing.
They spoke of their struggles for justice and with Sophie pledging to them she would use her platform to do all she can to highlight their plight. Speaking to the Mirror afterwards, she revealed how shocking it had been to hear first-hand the pain still be suffered more than three decades on and said she hopes people never forget so massacres such as these never happen again.
She said: “For myself, meeting with the Mothers of Srebrenica, they are very much the peace builders here. So they’ve managed to live with their grief but alongside all of that they’ve been sending a very clear message that they need resolution, reconciliation and need to bury their loved ones. And they’ve helped so many thousands of families find that peace and reconciliation. For many of them we are talking about families who have lost from one to to 30, 40 or 50 members of their family. It’s shocking to think it happened.
“To see those images (in the factory exhibition) I remember watching the footage on television, of the men and boys behind the wire in the factory thinking they were somewhere safe, never really understanding what had happened. Knowing about it and not understanding I would hope that people take note of this commemoration and perhaps do a bit more research because I think only by educating ourselves about the sadness that has happened to others that we become stronger in trying to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
She also spoke of her pride at being able to deliver the King’s message adding: “Whenever I’m asked to deliver a message on behalf of the King it’s a huge honour and I think his words always carry a lot of weight. He has a personal affiliation for this part of the world, he feels very deeply and passionately about what happened, but also about peace and reconciliation. So it was a real pleasure and honour to deliver those words.
“And I know sometimes in the United Kingdom we get very focused on what we do in our own country but I’m lucky enough to be able travel abroad and I see what we do from off our shores and I think we rightly be able to proud of what we do because it does make a difference. And it can be small acts that can make the biggest differences.”