Tag: Bosnia and Herzegovina

“When I first heard of the story of Nino Catic, who was persistent and stayed in Srebrenica until the very last moment, I wished to be at least half as brave as he was in my work,” she said.

“For several years, I have reported on war crimes and the genocide in Srebrenica, so I am extremely glad that my work at Detektor has been recognised in this way, especially on the 30^th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. I perceive this award as assuming responsibility to continue writing about the transitional justice topics in my future work,” she stated.

The jury, consisting of Marko Divkovic, Marinko Sekulic Kokeza, Sacir Filandra, Denis Latin, Sanjin Kodric and Andrej Nikolaidis, said it was a very important topic, praising “a journalistic job well done, calmly, with sufficient stance and sharpness of style.

“Praise goes for articles on the Detektor portal, primarily due to their investigative nature and for dealing with particularly important topics related to the Srebrenica genocide, genocide denial, without primarily being reduced to journalistic news only,” the jury added.

The awarded article approached the genocide topic in a less usual way and examined the violations of digital rights that deny that the Srebrenica genocide was committed.

In a piece published last July, Trepanic Hebib drew attention to children of those killed in the genocide, on whom denial leaves deep marks.

Besides Trepanic Hebib, who was awarded in the “Written Text” category, awards were also given to Nijaz Memic for a radio report, Haris Domazet for a television feature, Ivan Mandic for photography, and Aida Kaukovic in the “Blog” category.

Special awards were given to Ajsa Hafizovic-Hadzimesic and Kasim Softic, as well as posthumously to Denijal Smailbegovic, while appreciation letters were handed out to Srebrenica mothers Munira Subasic, Kada Hotic, Fadila Efendic and Nura Begovic, among others.

The “Nino Catic” award has been organised for the sixth year by the “Being a Journalist” Association on the initiative of Emina Hodzic and Dino Durmic.

Catic was a journalist from Srebrenica. In the war in Bosnia, he reported daily and informed the public about the suffering in his town. He last spoke live on July 10, 1995, and was last seen on July 11, 1995. His remains have never been found.

An exhibition, “The Lives behind the Fields of Death”, of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH, has been moved and reopened in an extended form in the Battery Factory in Srebrenica.

The “Memorial Room” consists of four main spaces – a room where personal items of the 1995 genocide’s victims are displayed, a multimedia room with 100 videos of survivors’ testimonies, a video room showcasing a documentary, Samir Mehic Bowie – Letters from Srebrenica, as well as a video exhibition of oral history, “Srebrenica: Our Story”, authored by Hasan Hasanovic, head of the oral history team.

The project “The Lives Behind the Fields of Death” began in October 2020. A hundred survivors and family members of those killed donated items that connected them to the events of the siege and genocide in the “safe area” of Srebrenica in July 1995. The Srebrenica Memorial Centre took over the items for permanent safekeeping, while BIRN BiH recorded the testimonies of survivors about the suffering of their family members or close friends.

At the opening of the permanent exhibition, the director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Emir Suljagic, explained that this was a “new-old” exhibition, which taught about the genocide in a multimedia form, representing a joint fight against genocide denial, false narratives and revisionism.

BIRN BiH director Denis Dzidic said that “The Lives behind the Fields of Death” project had been ongoing for five years. It was significant not only for giving a voice to victims but also for allowing different stories to be told during a time of denial, he said.

The Netherlands’ ambassador, Henk van den Dool, said the Memorial Room was the result of two projects funded by the Netherlands’ government, which supported the fight against denial and historical revisionism. He said the project aimed to emphasize personal stories beyond mere numbers and statistics.

Srebrenica mother Munira Subasic also addressed the participants at the opening, calling for humanity, doing good, and fighting against injustice and hatred. She thanked all those participating in the struggle to preserve victims’ memories.

BIRN BiH and the Memorial Centre, through the MATRA project (of the Regional Partnerships Fund of the Government of the Netherlands), give a voice to the families of the victims, sharing stories about people killed in the genocide in Srebrenica. The aim is to contribute to “social change”, while fighting against genocide denial, as well as discrimination against returnees who lost their loved ones in the genocide.

Fahrudin, directed by Alen Drljević, is an animated documentary about seven-year-old Fahrudin Muminović, who survived the mass shootings in Orahovac.

On July 14, 1995, more than 800 men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Orahovac, one of the largest execution sites of the Srebrenica genocide. Muminović survived and was later a witness in several Hague tribunal war crime trials.

The movie is based on an idea by BIRN BiH director Denis Džidić, who explained during a panel after the screening that after he interviewed Fahrudin Muminović a few years ago, he intended to make a documentary.

But he had always wondered if such a format could visually convey all the horrors the seven-year-old had experienced.

“At the end of all those recordings, while attempting to make a script, I came up with an idea that the best way to depict this was through a certain clash between something childish, animated, perhaps simplified – something that we all instinctively associate with something very innocent – and the horrors he survived,” Džidić said.

The film was screened at the Europe House for schoolchildren and students from Srebrenica and Sarajevo, who, according to the authorship team, will most authentically experience the story in this format.

Drljević noted that the film took only two-and-a-half months to produce, adding that its special form consisted of connecting animation with documentary elements.

“In fact, this is what in my opinion gives strength to this film narrative. It gives it the authenticity that could not be achieved with animation or a documentary alone,” Drljević said.

The animation was done by Antonio Ilić, who spoke about the challenges of portraying authentic emotion, explaining how he and the rest of the team jointly reflected on how to project emotion and make an impression on viewers, “so as to leave something that will be remembered”, Ilić said.

One of the youngest employees at the Memorial Center, Mirela Osmanović, whose relatives were among those killed in Srebrenica in July 1995, reflected on the fact that Fahrudin still lives in Srebrenica – and still meets people who possibly participated in war crimes and genocide.

“Not only was his childhood interrupted, but I can safely say that his life was destroyed,” Osmanović said.

Fermin Cordoba, from the European Union’s Delegation to Sarajevo, in collaboration with which the film was screened in Sarajevo, addressed the audience before the screening.

Cordoba praised the film as an example of how different multimedia formats can be used to discuss the culture of remembrance and transitional justice in different ways.

“Projects and ideas like this help to discuss such difficult topics from different perspectives, and we hope that this film will inspire others to do the same,” Cordoba said.

Improving knowledge in the field of law and exchanging specialist and scientific information are some of the goals in a new collaboration between BIRN and the International University of Sarajevo.

The deal, signed by IUS rector Ahmet Yıldırım and BIRN BiH director Denis Dzidic, aims to improve science, practice, and education in the field of law, implement new projects and increase the  exchange of experiences between the two organisations. 

IUS assistant professor Mirza Ljubovic said the deal originated from a desire for increased collaboration within the NGO sector among institutions that promote media values, develop a culture of research and expertise in media law. This was why BIRN BiH was chosen as  a partner.   

Ljubovic said that, through this collaboration, joint lectures, conferences, and other activities offering students practical experiences outside the classroom would be set up. 

“We want to offer students this practical experience too, because of very important projects and lectures, which will be significant for the public, too – on transitional justice, restorative justice, and development of a culture of remembrance,” Ljubovic said. 

Dzidic said BIRN BiH was happy to build as many partnerships with academic institutions as possible in order to ensure synergy between the academic community and researchers, alongside investigative journalism and BIRN’s experiences, especially in the areas of transitional justice and the rule of law. 

“This is the best way for our materials to be used for educational purposes and for assisting in building a better society long-term,” Dzidic said. 

Previously, BIRN BiH signed several memoranda in different cantons, enabling teachers and professors to use an interactive platform when implementing programme content in history teaching.

This year the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) will be a strategic partner of the Srebrenica Memorial Center in order to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide.

This year the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) will be a strategic partner of the Srebrenica Memorial Center in order to mark the 30^th anniversary of the genocide.

The centre will screen three documentaries, hold a summer school, run sample classes and open a memorial room based on a long running project, entitled ‘The Lives Behind the Fields of Death’, alongside other activities.

BIRN BiH has cooperated with the Srebrenica Memorial Center previously. The largest project has been “The Lives behind the Fields of Death”, which began in October 2020, when 100 testimonies of surviving genocide witnesses were filmed. They are now part of a permanent exhibition alongside items the survivors donated for preservation in the memorial room set up in the Memorial Center in February 2022. Following a series of positive reactions, the project continued by filming another 100 oral histories.

Earlier this month the Memorial Center and BIRN BiH opened an exhibition titled “From Words to Violence: The Lives Behind the Felds of Death” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to mark the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. The exhibition consists of 12 displays from the material previously recorded by BIRN BiH and the Memorial Center, alongside around 200 more testimonies during an oral history project.

The memorial room previously placed in the administrative building will be relocated to a separate exhibition space in a former battery factory, where visitors will have the opportunity to listen to 100 short interviews with genocide survivors, in addition to visiting a small cinema space and see artifacts donated or found in mass graves.

The space will be multimedia-equipped, and BIRN BiH’s documentary “Samir Mehic Bowie – Letters from Srebrenica” will also be exhibited there.

The film follows written conversations between members of a rock’n’roll band from Srebrenica, whom the war separated in the spring of 1992. Drummer Faruk left Srebrenica, while guitarist Samir stayed in the town. Through their letters, they dreamt of reuniting until July 1995. As part of the 30^th anniversary, the documentary was screened in Zagreb, Tuzla, Mostar, and Visoko.

“Visitors to the memorial room in Potocari contact us every day with positive experiences, and we are really proud and satisfied that this exhibition will become a permanent exhibition at the Memorial Center. But also that we have managed to tell the stories of survivors in a way that we have managed to preserve their voices,” Dzidic said.

Emir Suljagic, director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, pointed out the importance of this collaboration, especially given the sensitivity and complexity of reporting on genocide.

“This year, on the 30^th anniversary, our message is that the story of Srebrenica will be told by survivors from Srebrenica. This is our story. That is why it is important for us to have partners who are proven friends, and who have the respect and trust of our community, and these are certainly the journalists and editors of BIRN BiH, who have a proven sensibility for such topics,” Suljagic said.

BIRN BiH’s documentary “Pravda i правда” [Justice and Truth] which deals with peace and transitional justice, as well as experiences of Bosnia and Herzegovina and war-torn Ukraine, will be screened at the SrebrenicaDocs Festival on June 25.

The third film by BIRN BiH to be screened in Srebrenica and Sarajevo is an animated documentary titled “Fahrudin”. The story of Fahrudin Muminovic, a boy who survived a massacre in Orahovac, is one of the most devastating testimonies of the brutality of the genocide and the power of human survival. Fahrudin was only seven when he and his father were taken to be shot together with other men and boys from their community. His father did not survive, while Fahrudin, who was hit with bullets and covered with bodies of the dead, stayed alive.

The films “Fahrudin” and “Samir Mehic Bowie – Letters from Srebrenica” will be screened for participants in the Memorial Center’s summer school in Srebrenica.

As a contribution by BIRN BiH to the commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the genocide, sample classes on the Srebrenica genocide were held in Tuzla and Srebrenica using materials available in the Database of Judicially Established Facts about the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Detektor will report on these and other activities of the Memorial Center, and during the commemoration in Potocari on July 11.

“From Words to Violence: Lives Behind the Fields of Death” opened on Tuesday at UN headquarters in New York to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in eastern Bosnia.

The exhibition includes 12 displays based on testimonies collected from survivors during an oral history project led by BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Srebrenica Memorial Centre.

During the process, surviving family members donated items belonging to loved ones who were killed in the genocide and shared their stories, so they can be preserved for a historical record.

Denis Dzidic, director of BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina, said at the opening of the exhibition that he was proud of the journalistic work done on the project but felt most grateful to everyone who told their own stories and the stories of those killed in July 1995.

“Thirty years after the genocide, at the very location where the [UN General Assembly] resolution on Srebrenica was adopted, there is nothing more appropriate than to put the focus on the personal stories of those who are no longer with us and on those who have dedicated their lives to ensuring their loved ones are remembered and honoured,” Dzidic said.

In May last year, the UN General Assembly voted to designate July 11 as an annual International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

Emir Suljagic, head of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, said people had fought for the right to tell their stories and speak the truth.

“We had the privilege of experiencing justice as people, at least partially. We saw the generals and presidents who were behind the genocide, as they stood before the face of justice [in court],” Suljagic said.

“And today, when July 11 is on the United Nations calendar, we know we are not forgotten, neither us nor our truth. That is the message we’re sending for the 30th anniversary of the genocide,” he added.

Bosnia’s UN representative, Zlatko Lagumdzija, said the exhibition was “more than an artistic and documentary display – it is a moral call for humanity to not forget.

“Srebrenica is not only a symbol of genocide but also a symbol of the responsibility of all of us to prevent future crimes,” Lagumdzija said, adding that, in a time of denial and revisionism, the exhibition stands as proof of established facts.

The “Lives Behind the Fields of Death” project started in October 2020, when 100 testimonies from surviving witnesses of the genocide were recorded.

These formed part of a permanent exhibition, along with items donated by survivors, at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, opened in February 2022. After drawing positive reactions, 100 more oral testimonies were recorded.

The exhibition at UN headquarters was organised by Bosnia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, with the support of the Office of the Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and the UN Global Communications Department.

On May 29, the Srebrenica Memorial Centre and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH, organised a sample class in Potocari for teachers, representatives of education ministries and pedagogical institutes and students. The class was dedicated to the case study of the genocide committed in Srebrenica.

Speaking about the history of studying the conflicts in the 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Professor Melisa Foric Plasto, from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo, recalled that the first content was introduced in textbooks in 1993 and 1994, and that following the signing of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, the media became active about having content about the war reviewed and parts considered potentially offensive removed.

She added that, in 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe advocated the temporary suspension of teaching about the 1992-1995 period until historians in Bosnia had established a common approach to studying this period in schools.

She explained that the Sarajevo Canton was the first to introduce the study of the War in Bosnia into the educational system in 2018. After that, it was introduced in Republika Srpska, and then also in other cantons in the Federation entity.

Analyzing the available textbooks, Foric Plasto said that there was a noticeably different interpretation of the nature of the 1992-1995 war, and a selective presentation of facts, and the qualification of the war itself varied depending on where the topic was studied.

Where students learn Bosnian and Croatian languages, textbooks state that aggression was committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, she said, while in Republika Srpska, they state it was a civil war.

She added that in cantons with Bosniak majority, the term “genocide” is mentioned in textbooks, while this term is not mentioned in textbooks in Republika Srpska or in cantons with a Croatian majority.

“I would like to recall the role of history, especially in conflict and post-conflict societies, as it can actually help better understanding, tolerance and trust among peoples, and can be a means of supporting peace,” Foric Plasto said, after which she presented what a school class could look like and suggested performing certain activities with students aimed at teaching them about the genocide committed in Srebrenica.

BIRN BiH journalist Haris Rovcanin presented the Database of Judicially Established Facts for the region of Srebrenica, where, as he said, the facts about genocide and other crimes were established in 11 verdicts delivered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

He added that the Database was not intended only for ministries of education, professors and students, but also for everyone who was interested in the topic of the War in Bosnia and the genocide committed in Srebrenica, and that the goal was to create a tool for a joint fight against denial and minimization of crimes and established facts.

“The goal was not to determine who was convicted for which individual act, but to record what trial chambers established in several cases, regardless of whether individual criminal responsibility was determined or not,” Rovcanin said, adding that the verdicts stated a huge number of crimes in the area of Srebrenica and the wider region.

BIRN BiH director Denis Dzidic recalled that this agency was founded principally to monitor all war crime trials, and that it represented a pioneering process of striving to make the knowledge, expertise, and what has been established by court judgements, more accessible to the educational system.

“We visited all education ministries in the past few months hoping that this will be accepted as a platform that would depend mostly on your work, because you are the ones who have the knowledge and can make this alive,” Dzidic told the participants, including representatives of the education ministry, pedagogical institutes and teachers.

Emir Suljagic, Director of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, said there was nothing that had a permanent effect on reality like knowledge, adding that the goal of the sample class was to come up with a document or framework from which “students in Bihac and Gorazde will learn the same about Srebrenica”.

He said one basic problem was the fact that the dominant part of what we know about Srebrenica has emerged from court proceedings, which do not focus on the broader historical context and establishing the truth, but on witnesses and survivors recounting only what was relevant for the acts charged against the defendants in court.

This year, BIRN BiH is a strategic partner of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre in marking the 30th anniversary of the genocide.

This year, three organisations dedicated to transitional justice are leading study trips for students on the events of the 1992-5 war in Bosnia and are preparing materials for history teachers to teach about the past based on judicially established facts.

These facts will be supplemented by the verdicts of domestic courts, as part of activities within a broader project for building long-term peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In collaboration with the Srebrenica Memorial Centre and the Forgotten Children of War Association, this year, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH, is launching an educational initiative for senior class students and teachers on judicially established facts about the war in order to foster dialogue and the fight against denial of judicially established facts about the war.

BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina will draw on its experience from the past 20 years, during which it has focused on issues of transitional justice and reporting on war crimes.

“Although the prosecution of war crimes cases is now coming to a close, we continue to see historical revisionism, genocide denial, war crimes denial and relativization, as well as glorification of perpetrators, even among young people,” BIRN BiH director Denis Dzidic explains.

Following a recommendation of the Council of Europe to temporarily suspend teaching on the 1992-1995 period, since 2018 the topic has returned to curricula and textbooks.

“Research shows that there is no universal approach to this issue in schools throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dzidic notes.

It is for this reason that the three organisations wish to encourage critical perceptions among young people about the war in Bosnia through the education system and oppose historical revisionism, as well as emphasize the importance of factual knowledge of war circumstances.

BIRN BiH will expand its database of judicially established facts that includes verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal, ICTY, in the Hague, with verdicts passed down by courts in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, with a focus on the suffering and war crimes rather than on the perpetrators. A new digital platform of the database will be developed, making it more accessible to children and young people.

“Based on this database, a handbook for history teachers on how to teach about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be developed. This project is implemented in cooperation with education ministries across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in consultation with history teachers. We want to create a space for dialogue, critical reflection on the past, and a healthier future for young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dzidic explains.

BIRN BiH, together with its other partners, will also organise study tours to Srebrenica, Tuzla and Sarajevo, and prepare trainings for history teachers on how to use the materials derived from this database in class when teaching about the past.

The project “Building Long-Term Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Investing in the Future”, supported by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund, PBF, promotes fact-based learning, the development of critical thinking, and intergenerational dialogue – to strengthen trust and build a more resilient and inclusive future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since becoming eligible for the UN’s Peace Building Fund’s support, Bosnia has advanced six active peacebuilding initiatives focusing on social cohesion, transitional justice and the engagement of women and youth, with a total investment of about 16 million US dollars, Ingrid MacDonald, Resident Coordinator of the UN in Bosnia, explained.

“By fostering fact-based multi-perspective education about the past conflicts, this initiative in particular equips young people with the tools to think critically, confront denial and engage with diverse narratives, laying the groundwork for more informed, inclusive and resilient society,” MacDonald added.

This initiative is not only an investment in education, but in the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she added.

PBF is the UN’s leading instrument to invest in prevention and peacebuilding, in partnership with the wider UN system, national and subnational authorities, civil society organisations, regional organisations and multilateral banks. The Fund supports joint UN responses to address critical peacebuilding opportunities, connecting development, humanitarian, human rights and peacebuilding pillars.