The international community's High Representative Valentin Inzko extended his condolences on Tuesday to the Mothers of Srebrenica association, on the occasion of the death of the association’s chairwoman Hatidza Mehmedovic.

“We will keep Hatidza in our memory as a sincere fighter for the truth and justice. She was and will remain the inspiration to all those fighting for the truth and the good in this world,” added Inzko.

Mehmedovic, who became a symbol of the struggle to keep the memory of the victims of what the international courts ruled was a genocide committed against Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995, passed away on Sunday night in Sarajevo Hospital where she was being treated for a grave illness.

The international community’s envoy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, whose mission is to oversee the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia, said he was honoured to get to know Mehmedovic.

“She will remain carved in my heart as a symbol of the inexhaustible strength of a Bosnian woman, a Bosnian person that is, who regardless of pain and suffering does not quit. We will keep her in the memory as a person struck by a great tragedy, but despite that, she kept her pain for herself in a dignified manner. Hatidza healed the unimaginable pain that the Srebrenica genocide brought her, taking away her sons, husband, father and brothers, in a way worth the utmost respect and admiration,” Inzko said in his note.

“At the time when the truth and justice are being tempted because of those who deny and would like to retailor the truth about the Srebrenica genocide, we must be even more resolute in not forgetting the truth and, also, to build up the coexistence and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am convinced these were the goals that Hatidza fought for,” he added.

Numerous officials and distinguished figures expressed the condolences on the occasion of Mehmedovic’s death. The news of her death was also carried by many media outlets worldwide.