THE moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has embarked on a four-day visit of Bosnia to see first-hand the after effects of the Srebrenica genocide.
The Right Reverand Lorna Hood is joined by Herald journalist David Pratt, Angus Robertson MP, Ann McKechin MP, Dr Waqar Azmi OBE and police officer Sgt David Hamilton, who have been invited by charity Remembering Srebrenica to take part in its Lessons from Srebrenica programme.
In July 1995, Serbian forces, commanded by General Mladic and his paramilitary units, brutally massacred more than 8000 Bosnian men and boys. Their bodies, many dismembered and mutilated, were piled in mass graves. Almost 20 years later, their remains are still being uncovered.
Mrs Hood said: "Srebrenica has been referred to as 'the greatest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War', Yet public knowledge of the atrocity is low.
"Often I receive blank questioning looks when I speak of the trip. How quickly we forget.
"This UK charitable initiative promotes Srebrenica Memorial Day, which seeks to not only learn from the genocide and victims' lives but also raise public awareness to reject hatred and build good community relations."
The Moderator added: "I know this trip will be one of those life-defining moments. Touching evil and witnessing such inhumanity based on religious and ethnic identity first-hand will be vexing and chastening.
"I hope it will also haunt me so that I will never again be able to keep silent when I am confronted with discrimination, racism and the promotion of hatred."
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