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BIRN BiH to run media and war crimes training in Uganda

BIRN BiH is to extend its successful training model to journalists reporting war crimes issues to Uganda.

BIRN BiH is to extend its successful training model to journalists reporting war crimes issues to Uganda.

BIRN Justice Africa project will mentor Ugandan journalists reporting the International Criminal Court, ICC. The one-week intensive course will see BIRN’s unique approach to training court reporters in the
Balkans adapted to Ugandan media’s and ICC’s needs.

The training in Uganda is the first time BIRN has transferred the experiences of Balkan journalists reporting on war crimes issues to colleagues dealing with similar issues in other post-conflict countries.

The first stage of BIRN Justice Africa is being supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, War Crimes Office in London and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To find out more about BIRN’s activities in the transitional justice sector please contact Nerma Jelacic, BIRN BiH director at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

BIRN Rapporteur at International Conference

BIRN was commissioned by the Grantmakers East Group, GEG, to monitor and report on its 11th annual meeting, held October 18-20 in Belgrade.

The conference, entitled “Philanthropy and Participation – From Expectations to Practice”, addressed the challenges facing donors in promoting the development of civil society in South, Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The GEG annual meeting provides a forum for its members to increase the effectiveness of their grantmaking efforts and to encourage new donor activity in the region.

For more information about GEG, and to read the BIRN conference report published last week, click here: www.efc.be/geg.

Enquiries about BIRN’s consultancy services should be directed to Gordana Igric, BIRN Regional Network Director, [email protected].

Carla’s List Premieres in Sarajevo

On November 30, BIRN BiH director Nerma Jelacic moderated a panel discussion following the premiere of Carla’s List, a documentary about the work of Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Panelists included Del Ponte, Bosnian court president Meddzida Kreso and chief prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic.

The hundred-strong audience included representatives of victims’ groups from across Bosnia and Herzegovina, non-governmental
organisations, media and the diplomatic community.

Organised by the Swiss Embassy in Sarajevo, the screening marked the regional premiere of Carla’s List, which will also be shown in Croatia and Serbia.

BIRN BiH Director in Bijeljina

Nerma Jelacic, director of BIRN BiH, was a panelist on a live
television debate about dealing with the past in Bijeljina.

Organised by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika
Srpska, the series of debates screened on BNTV gather experts in the
field of transitional justice to discuss Bosnia’s struggle to deal
with the legacy of war.

Other panelists at the debate aired on November 25 included Mirsad
Tokaca of the Research and Documentation Centre; Dragan Banjac, a
freelance journalist from Serbia; Tamira Kaliterna, an activist with
Women in Back in Belgrade, and Zoran Pusic from Zagreb.

Nerma Jelacic on the Board of The Youth Initiative For Human Rights

BIRN BiH director Nerma Jelacic was elected to the governing board of
the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), a Belgrade-based
non-governmental organisation.

On November 11, Jelacic attended the organisation’s general assembly
meeting at which she was appointed to the board along with Slavica
Brajovic, Argjentina Grazhdani, Zorica Trifunovic, Senad Sabovic and
Vukosava Crnjansk.

YIHR aims to include young people in the various processes of
transitional justice through the promotion of truth-telling
mechanisms, the protection of victims of human rights violations, and
the establishment of new bonds among post-war generations in the
region.

RFE Interview BIRN Kosovo Journalist

Krenar Gashi, BIRN Kosovo Assistant Editor, was interviewed by the Serbian programme of Radio Free Europe on a BIRN investigation into the illegal trade in passports.

Gashi, who co-authored the report, “Ex-policemen Run Kosovo Passports Scam”, spoke about the desperate situation of people who try to get hold of passports illegally and the lengths they go to acquire them. He also discussed the way he went about researching the report.

The RFE interview followed extensive republication of the December 1 BIRN investigation in most of the daily newspapers in Kosovo and Albania.

BIRN Macedonia Trainees Complete “Success Stories” Workshop

Eight
young journalists from print and broadcast media in Macedonia attended a workshop
organised by the Office of Public Affairs of the US Embassy and BIRN Macedonia,
aimed at encouraging media to include more features and positive stories in
their output.

The
one-week training session, held the week beginning November 20, included
lectures, held by Professor Silcock and BIRN Director for Macedonia, Ana
Petruseva, and practical work.

As a
result of the training, the journalists produced three television and five
print stories, which were presented at the end of the workshop. They ranged
from a story on a civic initiative providing a playground for the young in Skopje, a man who lost
his job and went on to become a successful farmer, to a famous acting family
which takes care of stray dogs.

Some
of the stories have already been published while others will be published in
the next week in the media where the journalists work: the dailies Dnevnik,
Vest and Vreme; A1 TV, Channel 5 TV and ALSAT-M TV; the state news agency MIA;
the economic web portal Total; and the weekly Capital. The stories will also be
published on the BIRN Macedonia home page.

At
the end of the workshop, the US Embassy in Skopje awarded a Certificate of Completion to
each of the trainees.

“Life in Kosovo” Debates Kosovo Returnees

The subject of people returning to their former
homes will feature in this week’s Life in Kosovo TV debate show to be broadcast
on Friday, 24 November 2006,
at 20.30, on Kosovo public television, RTK.

The
programme will examine a number of issues, including where the returnee process
has been most successful; whether people are sufficiently motivated to return
to Kosovo; and if the resolution of Kosovo’s status will result in more
returns.

Panelists
in the debate are: Frode Mauring, head of United Nations Developing
Program-UNDP; Dragana Zivkovic, director of the return department in the
Ministry of Return; Dardan Gashi, head of the technical group for the return; Nazmi
Fejza, deputy minister on the Ministry of Return; and Fatmir Sheholli,
spokesman of the Ministry of Return.

Mauring
says the number of people interested in returning is on the rise and the
resolution of final status talks will bolster the process.

Among
the studio audience, there will be ten returnees from the different ethnic
groups in Kosovo who will talk about their personal experiences.

BIRN Macedonia Organises Training Workshop

BIRN Macedonia has selected eight trainees for a one-week workshop, organised by the Office of Public Affairs of the US Embassy and BIRN Macedonia on the theme of “Success Stories”. The training aims to encourage print and broadcast media to feature more interesting stories in their output.

The trainees are young working journalists from the dailies Dnevnik, Vest and Vreme; the broadcasters A1 TV, Channel 5 TV and ALSAT-M TV; the state news agency MIA, economic web portal Total and the weekly Kapital.

The training will be held between November 20 and 24 at the BIRN Macedonia office in Skopje. In addition to lecturing the trainees, the chief trainer, Professor Bill Silcock, from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and Ana Petruseva, BIRN country director, will help them prepare stories over course of the session. In advance of the workshop, the journalists were taken to Kumanovo to prepare stories that will be discussed at the event.

BIRN Interview with Holbrooke Broadcast on BHTV

Bosnian television BHTV’s leading current affairs programme, Javna Tajna (Public Secret), broadcast BIRN’s interview with the former US Balkan envoy Richard Holbrooke on November 16.

In the interview, Holbrooke said that Kosovo’s independence was inevitable this year or next and that Serbia’s obstructive tactics, such as the adoption of a constitution that restates Serbia’s claim on Kosovo, won’t delay the inevitable.

Holbrooke said Serbia will have no choice but to accept the loss of Kosovo. He said the Serbian leadership faces a historic responsibility to face up to reality, but expressed scepticism about this happening soon.

The chief architect of Bosnia’s Dayton peace agreement rejected once again allegations about a US administration deal with Bosnian Serb wartime leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic that is said to have allowed him to walk away free in exchange for quitting public life. Holbrooke called for the arrest of all fugitive war crimes suspects.