Srebrenica: A wound in European history – 10 years on

The massacres in Srebrenica constitute the first genocide in Europe to be recognised by an international legal mechanism since World War II. On 21 April, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee hosted a seminar on Srebrenica at the Norwegian Human Rights House. (26-APR-05)

The massacres in Srebrenica created a lasting wound in the history of the Balkans, of Europe and the World at large.

The failure of international peacekeepers to protect eventually brought down a Dutch government. Some of the main perpetrators have been tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Domestic courts will deal with other cases.

Still there are many issues of guilt, reparation and reconciliation that have to be confronted. The upcoming seminar aimed at taking stock of these issues and point to ways in which consequences of the massacres may be dealt with.

The contributors:

Ana Uzelac is the Programme Director for the War Crimes Tribunal Reporting Project of the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), which has been providing unique and continuous reporting and analysis of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia since 1995. The project aims to improve local understanding of the process and to strengthen regional support for war crimes proceedings. This is achieved through the provision of information of the war crimes process and local journalism training and outreach.

Srdjan Dizdarevic is the long term President and a founding member of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina., and the President of the Board of the Human Rights House of Sarajevo. He is also the Vice-President of the International Helsinki Federation. Helsinki Committees work for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Munira Subasic is the leader of the non- governmental organisation “Movement of Mothers from the Enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa”. It has more than 10.000 women as members. The primary goal of the mothers’ movement is the clarification of the fate of their relatives. The Movement presently prepares a case before Dutch courts against the Netherlands, to seek reparations for the failure of Dutch peacekeepers to prevent the massacres.

Muhamed Mujkic is a filmmaker from Bosnia and Hercegovina. He was co-director of the film “March to Death” from which we will show excerpts at the seminar. The film was shown in full on Sunday 24 April at a 10 years commemoration event hosted by Nett BK.

Amor Masovic is the President for the Commission on Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this work he received the Sakharov Freedom Award from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee in 2002. He was co-director of the film “March to Death” from which excerpts was shown at the seminar.