BBC war correspondent says Peace Centre is “beacon of light”

VIDEO: BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen described Warrington’s pioneering Peace Centre as a “very big beacon of light” during a visit to deliver the annual peace lecture.

The war correspondent who has had numerous brushes with death and seen friends killed while covering atrocities around the world, says he is “incredibly impressed” by the work of Colin and Wendy Parry.

“I was impressed by them when I met them after their son was killed and I am impressed by them now. I am impressed how they speak about reconciliation not hatred.”
There was a very poignant moment at the end of the peace lecture when a female member of the audience from Croatia stood up and thanked Bowen for his evidence at the Radovan Karadzic war crimes trial.

Bowen was one of those who gave evidence against the former Bosnian Serb leader who has been convicted of genocide and war crimes in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, and sentenced to 40 years in jail.

UN judges in The Hague found him guilty of 10 of 11 charges, including genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Karadzic, 70, is the most senior political figure to face judgement over the violent collapse of Yugoslavia.

During his lecture Bowen talked about how he often came into people lives “at the worst moments and worst day of their lives” after losing loved ones in conflict.

When he embarked on his first mission to cover a war he had never even seen a dead body. “I’ve now seen so many I feel like an undertaker,” he said.

He described how when he first started he loved the adrenaline. “It was like being in my own war movie. I was drinking from a cup of adrenaline and felt nothing could happen to me.”

But as time went on he witnessed more and more atrocities and friends being killed. “I soon realised that if you come into peoples lives at their worst moment you shouldn’t do it for kicks – you should be doing it for a reason.

“Someone needs to shine a light into the dark corners of the world and bear witness to events. I was really pleased to be able to testify at the former Yugoslavia war crimes trial. I saw them happening and a lot of the stories I reported on became part of the evidence.”

Bowen went on to describe how journalists now faced a lot more dangers than when he embarked on his career due to the nature of news now being 24/7. Journalists along with aid workers had now also become targets.

He also touched upon how covering wars had impacted on his own mental health.

While fearing atrocities in the Middle East and around the world will worsen he said there were some beacons of light and a “very big beacon of light” had been created at Warrington Peace Centre.