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| You are here: 2002 / Workshops, Panels and Seminars / Seminar on Bosnia and Herzegovina / Presentation by Mr. Branko Todorovic | |||||||||
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Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme 
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Report from Seminar on Bosnia and Herzegovina Message by Dr. Jadranko Prlic Presentation by Dr. Jakob Finci Presentation by Mr. Srdjan Dizdarevic Presentation by Mr. Branko Todorovic Presentation by Ms. Memnuna Zvizdic Presentation by Mr. Christian Palme Presentation by Professor Beverly Allen Presentation by Mr. Branko Todorovic Todorovic, Branco Ways of Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ways of Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
If you ask me whether reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is possible, I have to say that it is, because I sincerely believe in it. I believe and I know that there are people on all the sides involved who are genuinely interested in co-existence and truth, disregarding how painful it may be for anyone of us. However, if you ask me how we shall achieve reconciliation, I must be honest and admit that it will be a difficult and painful process requiring a huge engagement by us who have never been the hostages of neither the nationalist nor any war politics. Unfortunately, many of the creators of such politics have not disappeared from the political scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina even seven years after the end of the war. The war in their heads is not over yet also because the ideologists of ethnic cleansing and perpetrators of mass violations of humanitarian law have not got to the Hague Tribunal. Many of them still hold high public political functions and they have been slowing down the implementation of the Peace Agreement. The consequence of this is that hundreds of thousands of citizens still cannot exercise their basic human and civil rights, and the return of the exiled and displaced persons is still running slowly despite the encouraging results last year. There is also a new problem that has rarely been discussed in public and that cannot even be noticed considering that it is concealed by statistical data about a larger or lesser number of returnees. The problem concerned is that of reintegration and re-socialisation of returnees in the environments from which they were exiled during the war. In order for somebody to be able to return, the person must feel accepted in his or her former environment and he or she must feel equal like the others living there. Unfortunately, the attempt to reach a political agreement these days regarding the Constitutional changes in B&H, which have provided for a more or less equal status for all the citizens, has revealed the cruel fact that ethnic divisions are still very strong, and that fear and mistrust still pervade the people. How can we, indeed, establish and encourage the process of reconciliation among the members of different religious and ethnic groups, after a war in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed, in which millions of people were forcibly displaced and thousands of religious and other objects were destroyed, in the wake of which the destiny of more than twenty thousand missing people still remains unknown. There are numerous examples of hate speech that numerous politicians and media have been cherishing so attentively. Despite significant reforms, school curricula have retained the attitude of mistrust towards whatever is different, enhancing isolation and intolerance. As somebody who has been living in the part of Bosnia and Herzegovina called Republika Srpska, I am deeply concerned about the fact that the majority of the participants in the brutal demonstrations of religious intolerance in Banja Luka and Trebinje last year, were the young. In the situation of a general lack of social perspective, a large number of the young find it easiest to identify themselves and homogenise in relation to their ethnic and religious affiliation. The representatives of all three religious communities in B&H have a high degree of responsibility in this regard. Independent and objective surveys have shown that almost 70% of the young in B&H cannot see any perspective for themselves in the country, and that they have been trying to find it in other countries. I understand their aspirations because not many people are willing to live in an ethnically divided country and one of the poorest in Europe. Despite such a tragic situation in the country, all three nationalist policies have been convincing their voters that they are the true winners, and that they are the greatest victims at the same time. The others are losers and criminals. There are few of those who are ready to proceed from themselves and from their own environment in the process of accepting guilt and responsibility. A small number of politicians and media have avoided being trapped by stories about collective victims and collective guilt. There are few of those who are ready to say that the greatest losers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are exactly its people. There have been no winners in the last war, everybody has lost. Unfortunately, the international community frequently places collectivities in the forefront. That is frustrating for the citizens on all the sides, for whom criminals and victims are concrete people who have their names and surnames. How can reconciliation be achieved if there is no readiness to confess to having committed a crime, if there is no readiness to face up to the painful truth, if the truth is concealed and justice is obstructed, and if there is no joint attitude in relation to the past and the future? How to get out of the vicious circle of mistrust, hatred and revenge in the region, where proverbs such as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” and “there is no blessing without revenge” still prevail as part of the old tradition. The reply is in the minds and the souls of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is necessary to change the mind and to build confidence among people. What can encourage us is the line of solidarity, sacrifice and mutual help among the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that has never been broken, not even in the most difficult times. There are numerous and touching examples from the war, when people, in spite of the fear and possible consequences, helped each other, sharing the good and the evil. Unfortunately, not much is being said about that today. War propaganda have designated all members of other ethnic and religious groups as enemies. Universal humanistic and civilisation values have been substituted with narrow-minded national interests or even worse, interests of nationalistic political elites. The elites have grown rich, providing enormous privileges for themselves, and therefore, one must not expect them to start working on reconciliation. Each reconciliation is potentially a possibility for them to be called to justice, and that is exactly what they would like to avoid. We, members of their people, as they like to refer to us, are nothing but statistical figures in the struggle for ethnically clean territories. We are referred to in terms of percentage points, never as human beings. I am convinced that the majority of us are tired of this. Because, all of us, disregarding which ethnic group we belong to, are taking pains and investing efforts in the same manner to survive another day, to get a job, to school our children and to take care of and help our parents. Working on the protection of human rights and travelling all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have come to realise that the majority of us really want to make their full contribution to establishing the truth and reconciliation. Sometimes, perhaps, we do not know how to do this. What is encouraging is that common people with their everyday contacts throughout the country have been doing the same, in the most simple way, by conveying warm words of human understanding. Of course, that is not always easy and it will never be. The road before us, who have been interceding in favour of reconciliation, is long and difficult and there are many challenges facing us. We are now at the beginning of the road. We shall need a strong international support on our way, and in view of this I look upon this International Forum, here in Stockholm, as a part of that support. Thank you. >> Back to top |
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Introduction Opening Session Plenary Sessions Workshops, Panels and Seminars
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| For information about this production and the Stockholm International Forum Conference Series please go to www.humanrights.gov.se or contact Information Rosenbad, SE-103 33 Stockholm, Sweden | |||||||||