BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina News and Events

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).

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

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.

BIRN marked its first year of operation on November 9 with a reception at its Bosnia and Herzegovina office. Regional director Grodana Igric updated BIRN supporters and partners on the network’s achievements over the past twelve months.

BIRN BiH director, Nerma Jelacic, spoke at a regional summer school on Transitional Justice for the judiciary on August 27 in Igalo, Montenegro. The event was organised by UNDP’s regional Transitional Justice Programme and included two seven-day training sessions for parliamentarians and the judicial representatives of the region. Jelacic spoke on the complimentarity of truth commissions and criminal justice systems in the region.

An editor of BIRN’s Justice Report magazine, Nidzara Ahmetasevic, made a guest appearance on the political talk show ARENA, in Belgrade on June 29.

Members of the Association of Court Reporters who cover the Court of BiH held their third meeting on June 27. A list of proposals and suggestions aimed at improving the outflow of public information from the state judiciary was agreed and will be presented to the Court of BiH.

An editor with BIRN’s Justice Report, Nidzara Ahmetasevic, spoke at the conference “War crimes and media:
possibilities of establishing trust” held on May 18 and 19 in the Mediacentre Sarajevo.

The BIRN team was featured in the June issue of the women’s magazine Gracija. Entitled “Women lead in Balkan Investigative Reporting Network”, the picture story presented the BIRN BiH team and its Justice Report service which is produced in Sarajevo.

BIRN BiH organised a round table in Bihac, north-west BiH, on October 13 as part of its Transitional Justice project to stimulate dialogue between the new War Crimes Chamber and the Bosnian public.

BIRN BiH’s series of Transitional Justice events for civil society leaders continued last week with a round-table debate in Brcko on October 29.

BIRN BiH is organising a conference on November 10 entitled “In Pursuit of Justice: An overview of progress in the transitional justice system of BiH”.

The Norwegian Embassy in Sarajevo has generously provided BIRN BiH with funding to launch the next phase of its Justice Project.

BIRN BiH will this month publish its manual on the War Crimes Chamber in Sarajevo.

BIRN BiH has moved office in Sarajevo.