An in-depth article on Mirsad Tokaca, of the RDC about the "Bosnia's Book of the Dead" project.
Direct Link to Article: http://www.rferl.org/Content/Bosnian_Researcher_Counts_The_Dead_And_Faces_Threats_For_His_Objectivity/1350799.html
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8 comments:
Interesting article. People are critical of Tokaca and their arguments aren't unreasonable, but what he has done is at least to establish a baseline figure (although having said that Edin Ramulic's comment about accuracy is a bit worrying).
It seems that he is receiving the similar kind of criticism as Natasa Kandic is in Serbia - about not being "patriotic" enough.
Sorry, last comment was mine, I forgot to put in my name.
Viktor, I think it goes beyond "not being patriotic enough". It's legitimate for the people who feel that deaths are not counted when they should be to criticise Tokaca. That can be considered equivalent to being told that your loss is without meaning. The other significant argument is that while Tokaca has, we trust, established a figure that is difficult to challenge as a minimum, that doesn't mean that it has to be considered the conclusive measure of the crimes committed.
Yes, of course, I was referring more to the 'death threats to him, his family and his coworkers' part.
I completely agree with you there. That sort of viciousness just goes to substantiate Wilde's remark about patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Ever since I first learned about the RDC project a few years ago, I've been occassionally following its progress. Partly because I've seen on various forums/blogs/etc. the "war" over the numbers. And of course, the importance of trying to find the most accurate account of what happened; not to validate any one side; but for the sake of a basic truth.
From everything I read, the RDC database does seem thorough, and has recieved aid and accolates from other researchers. Because of that, there should be an even more scrupulous account to make sure that database is as accurate as possible (i.e. alive people listed as deceased / deaths not being counted).
I don't think that anyone can expect any database system to be 100% accurate; but hopefully a thorough review and improvements to the methodology would help get rid of any obvious errors.
And of course, it is terrible that Tocaka is recieving any kind of threats related to his work. I know at this point that kind of nationalist-thug behavior shouldn't surprise me. Especially since the work of a Mirsad Tokaca and especially Nastasha Kandic are essential if a normal post-war society is created.
Bosniaks are the biggest enemies to themselves. People like Edir Ramulic should think what they say before they say it. Disgusting. And nobody said there are too many victims, it's just that a bloody journalist wants to minimize over 200,000 dead in Bosnia. I am sick of this shit. There is constant denial and minimization of victims coming both from Serbs and Bosniaks.
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