SCOTS forensic expert Alison Anderson felt helpless watching the shocking images of a modern ethnic cleansing unfold in real time on television and was compelled to volunteer for the UN task force.
Read more: Scots' forensic expert evidence in Srebrenica war crimes verdict
When she arrived in the former Yugoslavia it brought her into direct contact with the scenes that had appalled the watching world.
Now, her work has helped bring to justice one of those responsible for the genocide of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serbs.
The 52-year-old mortuary services manager for NHS Lothian said: "I was a fairly young technician in the grand scheme of things and hadn't witnessed anything like that so it was quite overwhelming.
"I went out on different occasions just really because that was the amount of work that had to be done.
"I wanted to see the job through, but my first trip out was very harrowing."
Blindfolded victims bussed to killing fields by Butcher of Bosnia - UN forensic team
She said: "It was one of these things where I’d seen it all unfold on the telly and felt completely helpless and it was just a couple of hours away on a flight.
"So I think when I got the opportunity to go out I jumped at it."
Ms Anderson added: "Basically we were there dealing with the bodies and working alongside the pathologists gathering the forensic evidence.
"The main thing that struck me was the blindfolds and ligatures.
"It became quite clear quite quickly that we weren’t dealing with men who had been killed in combat.
"Also the clothing; we were searching for any belongings that could be used for identification.
"We were looking for anything that would aid identification as well as forensic evidence for the international court."
Read more: Butcher of Bosnia guilty of genocide
As Ratko Mladic was finally sentenced to life in prison for the Srebrenica genocide, she said: "I think it is justified and it reflects certainly the evidence we were gathering.
"There’s a huge amount of pride in the team that went out there and gathered enough evidence that would stand up in the criminal court.
"But also whether it gives any peace or closure, for example, to the people of Srebrenica, I don’t know.
"I don’t know if they’ll ever find peace, because there is obviously so many genocide deniers out there still."
She said after The Hague decision: "It was quite emotional but I’m pleased that was the verdict."
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