"We came into Sarajevo to land and one thing that was noticeable was how green the landscape was. The airport was very basic and you could tell it wasnt very busy. The airport had history during the war in that it had been where many of the negotiations had taken place durig the war.
We passed through security without a hitch and we boarded the coach. All of us were introduced to the delegation and the leader of delegation was the minister for communities and local government Stephen Williams, he is a Liberal Democrat from Bristol. The delegation was made up of community activists, civil servants, community workers and local government officials. The background was varied and I was the only from the North West.
We were taken to the hotel and then given 10 minutes to freshen up and be ready as we were going to meet the Director General of International Commission of Missing Persons (ICMP).
The ICMP are the people appointed by the Bosnian government, the international community and united nations, to identify bodies that have been discovered in mass graves across Bosnia, with loved ones who have reported them missing.
The DG then moved onto the advancement of DNA matches in the early 2000s, which led to a massive increase idenity from double figures every year to almost upwards of 1800 people for the years between 2002-2005. However, it become apparent early in their investigations that in many instances mass graves has subsequently been dug up and moved to secondary and teritary graves and this led to bodies being covered across a number of different sites as well bodies becoming co-mingled and thereby DNA becoming difficult to extract. This brought home the scale of the issue as to date only 6400 bodies from the Srebrenica have been identified in some instances that is just a single bone and there over 1000 bodies waiting to be identified and 1000 still missing from Srebrenica.
He then moved onto the overall conflict on Bosnia and there are over 30000 bodies still missing and in some instances the Serbia officers have refused to even entertain the idea of identifying potential graves. This really hit me hard and I wanted to understand why wouldnt someone just give the locations of the bodies to help the grieving recieve closure. He then carried on saying that every 11 July, bodies identified throughout the year are buried in the memorial at Potocari in Srebrenica, a place we would visit tomorrow.
This was brief introduction to what we could expect over the coming days and it really blew me away.
We then moved on to the Srebrenica Picture Gallery at the Central Museum and we were given a guided tour by the photographer Tariq Summers whose has dedicated his life now to educate the Genocide of Srebrenica via photographs. The attention to detail for every photograph he took was mind blowing with each one really hammering a message home. It is true a picture paints a thousand words.
We were then shown a BBC documentary where a mother and brother fight for justice was shown and rhe challenges they faced. The mother who lost her two sons also lost her husband and she described how the Serb soldier split them and she goes I gave my husband away without even a whimper and till this day. It gives me shivers as my husband whose hand was on my left shoulder moved away and We were seperated and I never saw him again and I regret not screaming but I did nothing.
This really brought a tear to my eye and I asked myself the question what would I do if that was my family and I really struggled to see how I could forgive and forget. Tariq then said it was his mission to continue to highlight the genocide through his picture and it would act as a form of reflection and reconcilation.
We then moved to the British Consulate for a reception hosted for us by the British High Commissioner. The British High Commission highlighted the role they have played in helping to raise awareness of the genocide in Srebrenica as well as the role in helping people rebuild their lives once they have returned to their homes.
We were then introduced to the Chief Prosector Serge Brammertz from The Hague who is curently looking into the Trials of the Srebrenica , and is the key person who currently is bringing the charges against the Serb President Radovan Karadzic and the Serb Paramillatary Geberal Ratko Mladic. He highlighted the delicate nature of the trial given both are considered heroes in Serbia and the need to be seen to be given a fair trial. He highlighted the role that ICMP had played in compiling the evidence of the victims, as well video evidence in some onstance recovered from the Bosnian Serb Army itself with the soldier themselves highlighting what they were about to do. He also mentioned the survivors from Srebrenica who walked the death march giving vital evidence.
We then got to speak to the Chief Prosecutor, survivors of Srebrenica and various other dignitaries. A young man who was part of the delegation at only 22 years old impressed by his simple manner during the delegation in which asked if it was ok to pray and the High Commissioner herself give space in her private quarters for us to pray. This gesture was touching and was emphasised by one of her workers confirming the direction.
We then made our way back to the hotel but not before walking past theSarajevo cemetery where many of the Sarajevo victims are buried. I made a silent prayer for all of them and then boarded the coach on the way back. As I making a silent prayer for the victims, from the hills around Sarajevo the muslim call began to be called, four or five different masjid began their calls and it was a majestic sound and it give me goosebumps
Back at the hotel, we were given a meal of Bosnian cusine and it was very different to any cuisine I've ever had before as it had no spices whatsoever. The meal was a great way to round the day off and also get familar with the delegates.
The debate on my side ended up being based around politics and the democratic system. It got heated on the debate of all women shortlists and it was interesting to see all the different arguments."
Cllr Aziz's personal blogspot can be found by following this link:
http://noordadaziz.blogspot.co.uk/
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