From Balkan Insight via justwatch-l.
NGOs mount bold initiative to form first regional truth commission
on war crimes, in spite of governments' indifference and scepticism
of experts
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A blog on Bosnia, the Balkans, and other random thoughts.
Blogroll
- A Fist Full of Euros
- Americans For Bosnia
- Balkan Analysis
- Balkan Anarchist
- Balkan Baby
- Balkan Break
- Balkan Witness
- Balkanology
- Belgrade 2.0
- Beyond Sarajevo
- Bieber Blog
- Cista Namjera
- Croatian Nauseous News
- East Ethnia Blog
- Finding Karadzic
- Genocide in Bosnia Blog
- Halfway down the Danube
- Illyrian Gazette
- Jasmina Tesanovic
- Neretva River
- New Eurasia
- Olli in Munich
- Our Man in Tirana
- Random Bosnian Thoughts
- Reluctant Dragon
- Sarajevo Blog
- Sarajevo Photoblog
- Srebrenica Genocide Blog
- Stepping Stone Blog
- The Glory of Carniola
- Tuzla Photoblog
- Yakima Gulag Literary Gazett Blog
Press Links
- B92
- BH Dani
- BIRN
- Bosnia Report
- Dnevni avaz
- Fena News Agency
- H-Alter
- IWPR
- National Public Radio
- Nezavisne novine
- Oslobodjenje
- Puls Demokratije
- Radio & Television of Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Radio Slobodna Evropa
- Sarajevo-x
- Sense News Agency
- Slobodna Bosna
- Slobodna Dalmacija
- Start
- Tirana Times
- Transitions Online
- Vreme
- Zamisli Srbiju
Posts
8 comments:
Serbian government and their main researcher, Srebrenica genocide denier Milivoje Ivanisevic, are not interested in truth. They are interested in inflating the number of Serb casualties to justify and deny Srebrenica genocide. Not to mention Sarajevo where over 10,000 civilians died, including 1,500 children of all nationalities thanks to the barbaric Serb military siege of the city.
Dan, I agree with you that Ivanisevic seems much more interested in politicizing death tolls and reports for his own political reasons rather than presenting objective research.
Fortunately, this truth commission, (as far as I can tell from this article) does not involve Ivanisevic in any capacity.
The three organizations involved are: Documenta in Zagreb,
the Research and Documentation Center [RDC] in Sarajevo, and the
Humanitarian Law Center [HLC] in Belgrade. All three are respected independent institutions and have a history of working with each other in the past.
Although, as the article shows, they certainly face an uphill battle trying to organize, research and present the findings of a truth commission.
I read the article on truth commissions in BalkanInsight two weeks ago and was delighted to hear about the initiative.
However, truth commissions haven't seemed to get the attention they'd deserve in the Balkans, and not many people, even academics, seem to really believe in them.
Significantly, only one other person posted a comment on the article. Strange, when it's at the level of grass-root truth telling, and the establishment of one version of the truth for Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia that needs to be worked on, in order to establish the foundations of true reconciliation and a peaceful future.
Or is it just me who thinks that the establishment of one version of the truth to be used in history and text books, media and general public discourse is the precondition for present and future generations to being able to communicate with each other safely and on common ground without always falling back into the abyss of unresolved, painful and heartbreakingly opposite claims to what really happened in the villages of A,B,C,D in 1991,2,3,4,5 and 6?
This is not an invitation for the cynics to call me naive. I am fully aware of the grandiosity of the aims of the project and the almost impossibility of finding and recording all the information in the detail required. But even a serious attempt at it, even if it should take 10 or 15 years, would do the Balkans a world of good if the results of the project were to be recognised by a wide array of political parties and governments as an acceptable version of the truth for all three countries in question.
Isarajka, I agree with you that the attempt to establish a regional truth commission is worthwhile as long as it is rigorous enough in the way it operates to command respect (and the three participating institutions in this case should be able to ensure that, as far as it's possible).
All the same, it's important to value it for what it might realistically achieve, not for what it might be in the best of worlds. Just look at the steep slope HLC is still climbing in Serbia after so many years.
Dan, Shaina and I and other frequenters of Shaina's blog have plenty of experience of the unwillingness of some of the people we've engaged with to pay the slightest attention to objectively established truth. The day Dan's friend Mrs Sacred Byzantine Art acknowledges the truth of anything that doesn't confirm the eternal righteousness and victimhood of (her perception of) the Serb nation I shall believe the heavens have fallen in.
Where the real merit of the proposal lies as I see it is in the increased confidence that a wider public acknowledgment of a common truth can bring to the work of the people involved.
All respect to Documenta, RDC and HLC.
At the UK Foreign Office's YouTube channel there's an interview (Jan 2008) with the Ambassador to Bosnia, Matthew Rycroft (just recently returned to London). One of the subjects he touches on - rather more sensitively than Jack Straw a couple of years ago - is reconciliation, the contribution of the Commission on Missing Persons to reconciliation and the importance of delivering Karadzic, Mladic etc. to The Hague.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=5vDUeaF-5Uo
Paul Rusesabagina talks about truth and reconciliation in Rwanda:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=_OfbYxKeefM
Hello my name is Merle Dean Shamblin and I would like to be your new friend. I sure could use somebody to chat with. I am a 47 year old long haul truck driver who currently lives in Duncan Oklahoma. Dec 8th 1960 I was born in Fairview Oklahoma. Moved to Caddo and Washita counties where I attended school at Colony Hydro and Weatherford. My parents Malvin and Wanda Shamblin were cotton and peanut farmers. Dad died in 99 from lung cancer. Graduated from SWOSU with a business degree. My two sisters are LaDonna Hubert and Malva Burrahm. Dennis is my brother. I have been a truck driver for 14 years and have driven 2 million paid miles. I have received many safe driving awards over the years. I am single and have never been married. I have a wide range of interests and am pretty much an open book. Currently I drive a 2006 Freightliner for a major carrier. I dont go to Canada very often. I dont have a dedicated route so I run the entire lower 48. I enjoy reading cinema music sports travel etc
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post!
It's the little changes that will make the biggest changes. Thanks for sharing!
Visit my web site cash payday loans
Post a Comment