Srebrenica - Ten Years Later: Reactions and Coverage
On July 11, over 30,000 people gathered at the Potocari Memorial Centre, for the Commemoration Ceremony on the 10th Anniversary of the Genocide. The majority of them were family members that came there to mourn their dead, as well as to burry the remains of 610 identified victims, exhumed from mass graves across Eastern Bosnia.
Ten years and a month ago, the Dutch battalion of the UNPROFOR (UN Protection Force), charged with the protection of the Srebrenica UN Safe Area, surrendered to the forces of the Army of Republic of Srpska, led by General Ratko Mladic. Mladic humiliated the Dutch soldiers, distributed some chocolate bars to the starving children and promised the women that they are completely safe. On the same day, the women and children were loaded into busses and trucks and transported to the territory held by Sarajevo Government. The horrors started the next day, July 12. Other busses, or maybe these were the busses that transported the women and children a day before, were loaded with prisoners of war and the male civilian population of Srebrenica, taking them on one last ride. Over the period of five days, in a variety of killing fields in Eastern Bosnia (some of the Srebrenica men and children, as we saw in a recently released tape were taken as far as Treskavica Mountain, south of Sarajevo, to be killed there) they were all executed and buried in mass graves. At least 8,000 men suffered in those five days. Ten years later, Mladic is a hunted animal, with a limited number of options (recently, high-ranking Serbian government member again announced his imminent arrest and extradition to the Hague), a sentence at the ICTY confirmed that it was, indeed, the crime of genocide that took place there, many of the mass graves still remain uncovered, and thousands of remains await to be identified and properly buried. The women of Srebrenica still seek justice and information What is not known, however, is why the crime at Srebrenica was necessary? What strange military logic demanded the cold-blooded execution of thousands of men and teenagers? What motivated Ratko Mladic to order a crime so hideous that he is one of the few people in the world (significantly, the other is Radovan Karadzic) to whom the principle of "presumption of innocence" does not apply anymore? For those seeking answers, there is a great body of books dedicated to the War in Bosnia 1992-1995, and to Srebrenica. Let’s mention just Chuck Sudetic’s Blood & Vengeance, an excellent report on the events in and around Srebrenica during the three years of the war, focused on a single family’s trials during that time. In terms of coverage, especially editorials and comments, the Srebrenica Anniversary had tough competition, what with the terrorist attacks on London public transportation system, the ongoing issue of the Iranian nuclear programme, the war in Iraq and the assortment of hurricanes that hit Central America, the Caribbean and the southern US States. Nonetheless, the coverage was there, focused mainly on the future of Srebrenica (internationally), international community’s responsibility (in the regional coverage), the fugitives from the Hague Tribunal (all over the place) and the issue of justice (mentioned everywhere). Following is the overview of the most important aspects of the international and regional coverage of the Commemoration, prepared by the OneWorld SEE Editorial Team. Also, for those interested in the current situation regarding Srebrenica, both in B&H and in Serbia, the two countries most directly involved, visit the web-site of Institute for War and Peace Reporting for their excellent reporting. A search of the news section at Yahoo! will also provide a useful amount of articles and comments on the issue. Bosnia and Herzegovina Months before the date of the actual ceremony, one could see that this year’s commemoration ceremony of the genocide in Srebrenica would be the „event of the year“ in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The media, print and electronic, have undertaken major and extensive preparations for the event that remained the top issue for days before and after the Anniversary. Of the many events that preceded the Commemoration, the greatest attention was paid to the „March of Peace“, organized by a group of survivors of Srebrenica. The March started on Crni Vrh near Zvornik, and followed the same path that the surviving citizens of Srebrenica used to reach the BH Federation territory. Three days later, it ended in Potocari, the site of the central ceremony.
The ceremony of the 10th Anniversary of the Genocide in Srebrenica on July 11 was the headline news on all electronic media. The public broadcasting service BHT1 aired live broadcast of the all proceedings in Potocari. Both entity public broadcasters treated Srebrenica as headline news. Special attention in the electronic media coverage was given to the speeches and addresses by B&H and international dignitaries delivered in Potocari. Biggest space was dedicated to Sulejman Tihic, Member of B&H Presidency, Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative, Croatian President Mesic, Richard Holbrooke and others. Special attention, which in the days before July 11 grew to the level of true controversy, was given to the appearance in Srebrenica by Serbian President Boris Tadic. His travel to Srebrenica met both approval and negative reactions. Tadic did not speak at the ceremony, but explained his reasons in the many interviews he gave before that. “I am not going to Srebrenica so that people could say ‘Look at Tadic, he did the right thing’. I want people to say ‘Serbia did the right thing... It is important to determine what really happened in the wars in Former Yugoslavia and take the right position on it, but I find it unacceptable that any nation, therefore the Serbs as a nation, should collectively bear the consequences of the tragic mistakes made by totalitarian regimes...” said Tadic in his interview for Nezavisne Novine from Banja Luka. “Dnevni Avaz” daily from Sarajevo, carried a report on July 11, quoting Paddy Ashdown: “The massacre of over eight thousand Bosniaks in and around Srebrenica is a monstrous crime. In moral, human and political sense, this is the darkest moment of all wars led in former Yugoslavia... The memory of that day continue to haunt all of us: the victims’ families, the small number of survivors that returned to this area, the people of B&H for whom Srebrenica became a symbol of the war and the blood-soaked independence, but also for a whole generation of European leaders, including myself. We remain forever marked and shamed by our inability to prevent this unspeakable crime. The next day, “Dnevni Avaz” also carried the words by Reisu-l-Ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric, who said that Srebrenica is the “difficult truth of the humanity today: “What future should we talk about today? The truth about the man who dared wish more space and more freedom for himself at the expense of the others...? Or should we talk about the truth for the mother whose heart has been flooded with so much pain that it is impossible to divide them one from the other? There are no such temporal or spatial paradigms that could oppose the magnitude of the grief and this dignity”. “Oslobodjenje” daily from Sarajevo, carried a commentary article (July 15, “Triumph of Routine”): The commemoration and the burial of hundreds of victims of the crime in Srebrenica have cast an apocalyptic shadow on July 11 and the days after. That day is used to cry, without tears, for all those whose lives were cut by the war – by bullet, knife, hunger, the post-war desert of solitude and memory. With one fear – will this be the one and only day when Srebrenica and its citizens are mentioned and thought about? Does anyone remember, five days after the commemoration, a single sentence from the many speeches given in Srebrenica? Couldn’t they give the floor to a single woman, mother, that is not a member or official in some organization... A friend who has spent a lot of time in Srebrenica was appalled by the applauses heard after some speeches at the symposium on genocide. The symposium was held on a killing field, for crying out loud. The routine has triumphed over piety.“ Elvir Huremovic wrote in his commentary in „Dnevni Avaz“ on July 20, „Faked Concern over Srebrenica“: „The surviving citizens of Srebrenica need nobody’s compassion or the false promises that they have listened to for so long. What they need is investment in industry and new jobs... A part of the problem can be solved by giving the city a special economic status, which would take in the constant care by the state“. Senka Kurtovic, Editor at “Oslobodjenje” wrote in her editorial on July 17, titled “Empty Words”, on the responsibility of the international community for the massacre in Srebrenica: “All excuses and hollow words that the foreign diplomats said in Potocari sound absurd and senseless. Some may call it “washing one’s conscience”, but that was not the case... Were there such a thing as conscience ten years ago, Potocari would not have differed much from any other place in Bosnia today... Today we know, however, that they knew it all. And what have they done? There was nothing but empty words. Words haven’t saved anybody ever...” Serbia „No event in the near past has been surrounded with so much misunderstanding as Srebrenica. No matter if it was discussed and talked about, or completely ignored, Srebrenica was always much more than just a place and the event – it has become a symbol, both for the victims and the perpetrators“, says the analysis of the Ebart Media Documentation centre on the writing of print media on Srebrenica. Ebart points out at another interesting point: until the beginning of June 2005 (ten years after the crime took place) Srebrenica was not all that much present in Serbian press. In the period January 2003-May 2005, Srebrenica was mentioned in 816 articles, and then in less then a month, between June 1 – 24, there were 676 articles. The film on the killing of six Srebrenica prisoners of war, first shown in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic in the Hague Tribunal and subsequently on B92 TV, started an avalanche of debates and discussions on Srebrenica, in the Parliament and a series of public debates. It all finally resulted in the travel of President Boris Tadic to Srebrenica. The process of facing the past in Serbia, for many people, started with the airing of this video recording. „The video with the killing of the six Srebrenica Muslims on Treskavica Mountain contributed to a certain change in Serbia, after the ten years of silence on Srebrenica. What goes on at the moment shows that the institutions still maintain the will to keep the good relationships with the chief factors of the Milosevic regime“ said then Natasa Kandic, the Executive director of the Humanitarian Law Centre. This year, Srebrenica finally came truly into the focus of the Serbian media. Depending, of course, on their editorial policy, the media provided significant coverage and attention to the 10th anniversary. Srebrenica reached the front-pages, comments and editorials were published, readers’ letters, and on July 11, most media send special reporters to Potocari. The reporting was correct, neither too bad or too good, but the fact is that there were no violations of the right to have the truth; nobody came out to dispute, deny or question the genocide in Srebrenica. The press mostly used the reporting from the commemoration as an opportunity to cover the visits of numerous foreign dignitaries, to quote their speeches, and rather disregarded the details about the victims identified so far, as well as the persons sentenced so far for their role in the genocide. The reports also paid some attention to the general atmosphere during and after the end of the ceremony. The electronic media, above all television, had a leveled, impartial and, in terms of placement and time allocated, fair treatment of to the commemorative ceremony. A number of TV stations sent crews with cameras to Potocari, and B92, Studio B TV and RTS ran live broadcasts of the ceremony and the speeches. The Potocari ceremony was treated as headline news by all TV stations’ news programmes. So, the media in Serbia did a very professional job in their reporting on the Srebrenica commemoration ceremony. The press, radio, television, news agencies and internet sites treated Srebrenica mostly as a „tragic event“, with only a few qualified it as a genocide. Of the few comments and editorials worth noting, the „Vreme“ weekly said in its report from the ceremony (July 13, „Report from the Spot:Srebrenica, ten years later“): „... The „Scorpions“ video, the billboards and the posters on Srebrenica in Belgrade have lead the B&H public to start thinking that the truth about Srebrenica finally comes out in Serbia. Ratko Mladic said, ten years ago, that the genocide of over 8,000 men in Srebrenica was his „gift to the people of Serbia for the holy St. Peter’s Day“. Srebrenica is just one of many such „gifts“ that Mladic and his sort – Prijedor, Foca, Visegrad, Sanski Most, Sarajevo, Gorazde... These remain just place names for the Serbian public, while their mention in Bosnia and Herzegovina brings shivers to the citizens. It is for Serbia to once and for all renounce such „gifts“ and the people that brought them. The feeling that you get when watching the graves „presented“ to you is painful beyond our capacity for description. And all the while, the survivors of July 11, 1995 want to find out the truth and discover the bones of their dead, to give them a proper burial“... Velimir Curgus Kazimir wrote in his column for B92: „We have seen an example of what a sudden meeting, face to face, with our past looks like on the two first days of June 2005. B92 TV aired the film on the cold-blooded murder of the boys from Srebrenica. The fact that our viewers saw this film courtesy of the Hague Tribunal is not just symbolic, but rather illustrative of the true relations and positions of the Serbian public towards Srebrenica...“ Nebojsa Petrovic wrote in „Danas“ (July 12, 2005, „An End to Endless Revenge“): „Even after such horrible events, or in spite of them we could say, we need reconciliation. Not with the individual hang-men but reconciliation as a form of resistance to this poison. Let’s think for a minute about the possible motives and goals of those who planned and ordered such crimes, thus pushing one group of men to their death, and taking away from those that received the orders for execution the most important human characteristics, humanity itself? Obviously, it is much more than just acquiring more territory. It was, anyway you look at it, an attempt to create lasting hatred and permanent fear and animosity between peoples and nations“... Croatia The media in Croatia dedicated extensive coverage to the 10th Anniversary and the commemoration ceremony. All media carried chronology of events before and after the fall of Srebrenica ten years ago. The emphasis was given to the subjects of Mladic and Karadzic giving the order, responsibility for Srebrenica, both local and of the international community, the role of the UN and the Dutch peacekeepers. Both print and electronic media send special correspondents to the Ceremony in Potocari and dedicated pages of space and huge amounts of airtime to the speeches of the numerous dignitaries that spoke in Srebrenica. Also, great coverage was given to the video recording of the execution of the six Srebrenica men on Treskavica mountain, south of Sarajevo, and the effect it had on the public in Serbia and in the world. Absence is felt, however, of the families of the victims of Srebrenica. They are reduced to mere numbers, or interviewed here and there to get more details of the massacre. There is no mention of various efforts to assist the life of the victims, their life in foreign countries, possibility for their return and reintegration, or good practices. There were a lot of editorial comments and opinion articles before and after July 11. An interview on T-Portal carries the following statement on the matter of responsibility: “From the very beginning, Milosevic and his partners wanted to involve as many people as possible in the crime. They wanted to turn the guilt of a few men into responsibility for into a responsibility for the masses... It is clear who was guilty of the crimes, but what to do with those responsible. With bus drivers and bulldozer operators, people who served Drazen Erdemovic coffee while 800 men were shot across the road?” William Montgomery, former U.S. Ambassador to both Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, asked in another article: “Have we ever heard a high ranking UN official, or somebody at UNPROFOR, a foreign country, to utter a single word of apology or admittance of responsibility?”
''BBC, the greatest TV company in the U.K. appologized the other day for the broadcasts of ‘disturbing’ pictures of a man saved from the explosions in London”. In the rush, they forgot to censor the ‘disturbing’ scenes. All of that because of a single blooded head that disturbed “oh, so very much” the English? Well, we have a question for them: did BBC, just like the other global media, recently broadcast the cold-blooded murder of six young men from Srebrenica? Did the citizens of the U.K. demand that BBC censor those “disturbing” pictures?” ZaMirNet published an interview with Emir Suljagic, the writer of “Postcard from the Grave”, a book on Srebrenica. Suljagic said in the interview: “This is very personal for me. I don’t have an idea how the other people deal with it, what they go thru... July 11 of this year is important for me, for then, I will finally burry my father and I will know where his remains are, which was not the case so far. Privately, that was the biggest trauma of my life”. The Kupus.net portal reported this on the recent event during the EXIT’05 Music Festival in Novi Sad: “This year’s EXIT will be remembered for the attempt to mark the 10th Anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica. Initially, the idea was to have a moment of silence on all stages of the festival in memory of the victims, then it turned into an idea for a song and message against all crimes, past and future, and finally it came to nothing. These past days, Srebrenica is a major political issue in Serbia. Belgrade is filled with billboards that remind of the war crime committed, the right-wingers return with lists of Serb victims. EXIT wanted, we guess, to contribute to the process of collective catharses. After all, such a festival with its political, anti-nationalist origins would have been the right place for that. However, exposed to successive bomb threats, the organizers gave up on everything they planned.” Macedonia The Macedonian media did cover the Srebrenica Anniversary, although not to the same scope and levels dedicated by the other countries in former Yugoslavia. The media reports on the events at the Commemorative Ceremony were based on the international news agencies’ and news wires reports, while the electronic media also used footage prepared by the great international broadcasters and available through the satellite exchange systems. The news reports were rather straightforward, with brief chronology of events that preceded and followed the fall of Srebrenica, mention of the fact that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, the people who ordered and implemented the executions are still at large. Also, TV “Sitel” and TV “Telma” aired documentaries on Srebrenica on July 11, which were rerun the next day, July 12, 2005. Utrinski Vesnik daily ran a feuilleton in three installments (July 8-10) on the events in Srebrenica safety area during the War in Bosnia, 1992-1995. There were but a few editorials and comments, mostly referring to the need for reconciliation between the Bosniak and Serb nation. Vladimir Locev wrote the following in his editorial of July 12, 2005, titled “Srebrenica Should not Repeat Ever”: “Ten years after, it is the time for the Serbs and Bosniaks to burry the hatchets. To forget the war-cries and let the common sense prevail. The inevitability of their joint walk into the future forces the two nations to reconcile. Srebrenica should be remembered, not for some future “revenge” or “rerun”, but as a warning that will help them to take the road to Europe together”. Sonja Kramarska, reminded us of the responsibility of the international community and the lessons of the tragic events of Srebrenica for all of us, in her comment of July 12, titled “Srebrenica – Warning for the Future”: “To the world, Srebrenica is a constant reminder of the genocide and the shame over the failure of an international mission led by the most powerful countries. For us, in Macedonia, it is a lesson about the destructive power of nationalism, which takes the countries to ruin and instability. Multiethnic societies like Macedonia can’t allow for great outbursts of nationalism without it reflecting on the overall stability of the country.” Albania On July 11 and 12, all print media in Albania carried reports and articles on Srebrenica Anniversary and Commemoration Ceremony, usually with front-page treatment. In “Shekulli” daily, Eva Kushova wrote that the “international authorities have accepted the shame that befell them for not preventing one of the worst horrors of the world. The full article is available Here. The electronic media reports on the Anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre were based mostly on broadcasts of international news agencies and international broadcasters, although Srebrenica did receive more minutes than the other news of the day. The majority of the media criticized the fact that the Dutch peacekeepers with the UNPROFOR failed to defend and protect the city, an official UN Safe Area, which “subsequently led to the fall of the Government of Wim Kook”, as a comment on www.shqiperia.com portal, one of the biggest in Albania. For the full article, visit this Link A number of Albanian citizens got involved in internet forum discussions. Olsi Jazexhi said in his comment on Yahoo Groups mentioned that, in addition to the fact that Karadzic and Mladic were still fugitives at large, “...only 17% of the citizens of Srebrenica have returned the ownership rights to their pre-war property”. Kosovo Radio and Television of Kosovo reported on the failure of Serbian Skupstina (the Parliament) to adopt a declaration to condemn the Massacre of Srebrenica. Also, RTK dedicated a lot of airtime to the sudden appearance of Srebrenica as an issue in Serbia, after the broadcasts of the video that depicts the executions of six young Bosniaks from Srebrenica. Muhamedin Kullashi, a prominent analyst and historian and professor of Sociology in the University of Paris VIII wrote in “Java” weekly, in his opinion article “Investigations on Crime in Srebrenica” about the two meetings held in Paris dedicated to the crime in Srebrenica and whether the event is to be qualified as “genocide” or “crime against humanity” On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of Srebrenica Massacre, Kosovo Parliament joined the marking of the Commemoration by adopting a Resolution which called on Serbian institutions to condemn it as well. “Kosovo Parliament invites the Members of the Parliament and all the democratic and peace-loving forces in Serbia to distance themselves and condemn, unequivocally, the suicidal and genocidal policies and to join the efforts to find just, sustainable and democratic solutions to all open issues”, states the Resolution. International Coverage The international coverage of the 10th Anniversary of the Genocide in Srebrenica was very straightforward. Much of their attention at that time was concentrated on the terrorist attacks in London. Majority of the media relied on their stringers and Balkan correspondents for reports on the commemorative ceremony and the related events, as well as the reports prepared by international news agencies. Unlike the media in the region, the international media and reporters were far more interested in the current situation in Srebrenica. They all sought personal stories of individual citizens of Srebrenica today, with much interest of the future of the town and reported the destitute state of living there. Much attention, understandably, was given to the issue of the responsibility of the western countries and politicians for what happened in Srebrenica, with several comments in that regard, and lots of coverage by international figures and officials who referred to that in their statements. The bulk of the commentary, however, placed Srebrenica in the context of the terrorist attacks on the London public transportation system of July 7. Also, the commentaries referred to the fact that Karadzic and Mladic, the chief architects of the crime, are still at large and have not been brought up to justice, as well as need for Serbia to face the past and reach some sort of catharsis. For a good round-up of the most important editorials from all over the world, visit the Guardian web-site. In a feature story of its own, “Pompous ceremonies will do nothing without justice” (July 1, 2005), The Guardian’s Jonathan Steele wrote:
“During the decade in Bosnia since the war ended, thousands of Nato peacekeepers have made only three attempts to arrest Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serbs' former leader. Mladic lives in Serbia while the EU does nothing more to get him arrested than issue vague promises of opening the road to membership if the Serbian government persuades him to go to The Hague”, adds Steele later in the comment. Pakistan’s Daily Times published an editorial - Srebrenica and Muslim Memory - on July 11, bringing the Muslim memory of Srebrenica and Kosovo in the context of the current rift between Western and Muslim worlds. The editorial concludes: “There is a much bigger tragedy in that the Muslims have forgotten the good done by Europe and the US in Kosovo. Instead, the pain of what was not done in Bosnia has lingered on. That is why when European leaders go to Srebrenica today and offer regrets, the Muslims are not able to respond with understanding. The ‘mujahideen’ who went into Bosnia under the US shield have attacked New York’s World Trade Centre in 2001 and the entire Muslim world is paying for it.” Ironically, Iraq has been attacked by bypassing the UN in the same manner that Serbia was in 1999. Bosnia could have become a symbol of understanding between the Muslim world and the West, but it did not. Alas!” BBC published a comment The Hunt for Karadzic and Mladic on the lack of success to apprehend and arrest the two persons that planned and orchestrated the massacre. The comment says: “The West's attempts to capture them have been characterised by unfulfilled promises, botched arrest attempts and, until recently, a distinct lack of interest.” The major international organizations also joined the marking of the Srebrenica Anniversary. On July 11, the “Why are you not there?” exhibition opened at the UN Headquarters in New York, to commemorate the Massacre in Srebrenica. The traditional Bosnian ritual of gathering for coffee was the central vehicle for this art installation by artist Aida Šehović, a Bosnian refugee living in the United States. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, send a special message to the people gathered at the Ceremony in Potocari. In the message (available full text at this link, he said: “Our first duty is to uncover, and confront, the full truth about what happened. For us who serve the United Nations, that truth is a hard one to face. We can say -- and it is true -- that great nations failed to respond adequately. We can say -- and it is also true -- that there should have been stronger military forces in place, and a stronger will to use them. We can say -- and it is undeniable -- that blame lies, first and foremost, with those who planned and carried out the massacre, or who assisted them, or who harboured and are harbouring them still. But we cannot evade our own share of responsibility. As I wrote in my report in 1999, we made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality and non-violence which, however admirable, was unsuited to the conflict in Bosnia. That is why, as I also wrote, “the tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt our history forever”. Of the other major international organizations and NGOs, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and its newly localised project, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, speak to survivors, returnees, their Serb neighbours and those attempting to identify the victims, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on July 11, IWPR. The list of reports is available at IWPR website. The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina published a feature article on its web-site (already available in the Oppinion and Analisys section of OneWorld SEE. Italy Italian media dedicated a lot of space to Srebrenica, which is not surprising having in mind the large engagement of Italian non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On July 11, the leading Italian daily La Repubblica dedicated three articles to the 10th Anniversary of Srebrenica. Also, La Repubblica website carried a short video with excerpts from the funeral ceremony of the identified remains of the victims. The paper also carried an editorial by Guido Rampoldi, on the responsibility of Western countries, for they were expected to intervene to ensure the basic human rights implementation. Ten years later, the editorial says, “...the West is weaker, and international intervention once again is used to serve narrow national interests”. The full text of the editorial (in Italian), is available at this link. Corriere della Sera dedicated similar amount of coverage, with special report on the ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte declaration on Srebrenica, and another article that gave the overview of the past ten years since the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. For the Corriere della Sera coverage, visit their page dedicated to the Anniversary. La Stampa carried four articles on statements by del Ponte, international dignitaries who said that Potocari events were a shame for the UN. An editorial was published that oversimplified the events, blaming the medieval age hatred as the cause of the cycle of revenge between the two sides. For La Stampa Coverage, visit the website of the paper. Unita published a report on the Commemoration held in Potocari, as well as the ICTY decisions on Srebrenica. by the Editorial Office Has an article by the editorial team describing the event in Srebrenica-Potocari and the decision of the ICTY. For Unita coverage, visit this Link. Among the alternative online media, Osservatorio sui Balcani produced a well documented dossier on Srebrenica. The dossier didn’t stay just at the Anniversary Commemoration, but carried a series of interviews with actors in the field. The idea was to get the feedback of the citizens of Srebrenica from the two main communities there. Also, OSB got a comment by the international community representative that works there. As a part of the dossier, OSB also prepared a video documentary of the people from the area telling their stories, the past, the present and the difficulties that the future brings. Overall, lot of events were organized in Italy, not only to commemorate the massacre, but also to discuss the issues of reconciliation and challenges it faces and demands it has to meet. |
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