July 11

Srebrenica

There were 50,000 people at the funeral. There were 775 people being buried. The coffins were small, draped in green cloth, and with numbers at the end: numbers like 386, 413, 125. The coffins held remains of men and boys who were killed 15 years ago. The coffins were passed overhead through the crowd, the 775 coffins carried by thousands of men to the waiting graves.

Fifteen years ago, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered by Serb militia outside the town of Srebrenica, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. In 1995, fifty years after ‘never again’ was uttered following the Holocaust, fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons were slaughtered because they were Muslim.

This was another genocide in Europe.

There are 3,749 grave sites at Srebrenica already. Yesterday’s funeral brings the total to about 4,500. There are 3,500 bodies that are not yet accounted for.

At the funeral site, there are huge open pits with remains that are being exhumed and identified by the International Commission for Missing Persons. It takes a long time to conduct identifications, to determine whose body it is when only a few fragments are found. Sometimes the living family members wait until more remains can be identified so their loved one can be buried more whole, more complete. Other survivors fear that they, too, might soon be gone and they dare not wait any longer before having a funeral, and so they bury only a fragment.

The names of each of the 775 were read aloud. The names of the thousands and thousands who were killed are written on a circular marble memorial that goes on for what seems like forever. The birthdates of those who perished are given – some were born in the 1930s, some in the 1970s.

World leaders, including those from each of the former Yugoslav republics, attended the funeral. Everyone said “never again.”

Former President Bill Clinton, on whose watch this genocide happened, opened the first memorial ceremony in 2003.

Memorials are painful to everyone. To those who suffered loss, a memorial brings grief into sharp focus, especially on such a huge scale. To those who stood by and did nothing to stop the carnage, it brings guilt. And to those who were perpetrators, it can make the divisions and hatreds that caused the tragedy even greater. We hope, of course, that memorials will bring people together to find justice, to work for peace, to envision a peaceful and productive nation.

In 2005, two bombs were found at the memorial site just days before the ceremony was to take place. In 2007, the day after the July 11 commemoration, men dressed in the uniforms of the military units that perpetrated the murders marched through the streets of Srebrenica. And last year, there were several ethnically-related incidents, including defacement of the Bosnian flag and threatening graffiti scrawled on a mosque.

Yet we must memorialize and remember.

Imagine this funeral of 50,000 people memorializing and burying 775 victims of genocide. And another one next year. And the year after that, until all 8,000 bodies have been identified and properly buried. We all have a responsibility and an obligation to create a world without genocide.

July 10

Mostar

Today we went to the beautiful town of Mostar, about a two-hour drive from Sarajevo. This old and very scenic town is located on the Neretva River, and it is this location that played a tragic role in the 1990s war.

Mostar had a beautiful stone bridge, built in 1566 by Suleyman the Magnificent, and this Old Bridge, or Stari Most, was a World Heritage Site.

In 1993 the Croats blew up this world-famous bridge. This bridge, which had been standing for 497 years, was turned into rubble in one of the most pointless incidents of the war. The entire town was reduced to nothing, almost a 1990s version of Dresden after the bombings in World War II.

There are three major ethnic groups in this region, as I’ve mentioned before. They combined in every combination to fight against one another in almost every part of this country during the war: Serbs fought Bosnians; Croats fought Bosnians; Croats fought Serbs. In Mostar, the Croats and Bosnians had initially fought together against Serbs in 1992. A year later, the two former allies became enemies as the Croats expelled Bosnians from their homes, interned people in detention camps, and tried to obliterate the town. The bridge was blown up and the town was destroyed.

Of the 27 beautiful old mosques, only one remained.
Today, the town is divided, with the western half Croat and the eastern half Bosnian. The schools are separate, the services are separate, and it’s only the police force, trained by the UN after the war, that serves both ‘sides’ of the city.
Although much of the town has been rebuilt, there are still shocking reminders: gutted houses, pieces of rubble from the bridge, and trees growing inside once-busy offices and apartment buildings. The holes from shells and bombs are evident in nearly every block.

The rebuilt Old Town is charming, with lovely little cafes alongside the river, shops selling beautiful ceramics depicting the bridge, watercolors of the town, and handmade fabrics and jewelry. But there is still almost no industry, fifteen years after the war, and a city that is divided – within a country that is divided.
The bridge was rebuilt with support from donors around the world. Engineers attempted to reconstruct it using the materials and techniques of the 16th century.

But of course it’s not the same. The story is tragic. Tourists walk on the bridge in the sun, pausing to take pictures of young boys diving recklessly into the river below, but it’s not the carefree moment that it appears on the surface. The bridge had stood for nearly half a millennium - only to be destroyed because of ethnic conflict.

July 9

Today we met with people from Sarajevo’s Jewish community. There are only a few hundred Jews remaining here. Most were annihilated during the Holocaust, largely at the hands of Ustase, a Croatian Nazi/fascist organization.

Yet there is a story of great heroism and bravery here as well. Eli Tauber, head of the Jewish Community organization, gave us a copy of a book he wrote called Bosnia and Herzegovina: Righteous Among the Nations. This book is the story of 47 Bosnians – Muslims, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats – who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. These 47 people have been designated “Righteous Among the Nations,” the highest recognition given by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem.

Bosnians saved Jews during the Holocaust – and Jews saved Bosnians during the genocide. Jews in Sarajevo provided medicines and meals to hundreds of people daily for several years. And Jews organized convoys to rescue Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats and to take them safely out of the country.

This small Jewish community continues to provide support wherever they can, delivering meals to elderly shut-ins, Jews and non-Jews alike, and hosting events to bring people together.

We visited the Jewish cemetery, a site high on the Sarajevo hills. Tragically, this cemetery was used during Sarajevo’s four-year-long siege as a place for launching attacks on the Bosnians in the bowl-like area below the hills. The cemetery was almost totally destroyed, including being filled with landmines that were finally removed in 1998.

The beautiful Jewish synagogue, in the Moorish tradition of this largely Sephardic community, has regular services, led by a lay person most of the year but by a Bosnian rabbi who comes from Jerusalem for Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. And for the past two years, that rabbi has conducted extraordinary services. In 2008 and 2009, the first bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies since the Holocaust were held in Sarajevo!

Jewish education and traditional celebrations have been revitalized since the fall of Communism. Spiritual and communal life is flourishing.

July 8

Today Randi Markusen and I met with leaders of three important organizations. We spoke with the staff at the Concentration Camp Survivors’ Association, which has gathered testimony from 55,000 survivors. The goal is to create laws to provide restitution for these survivors as one form of transitional justice. The Association helps survivors prepare their testimonies for court and works to insure their safety as they speak out against those who perpetrated crimes against them.

At the Association of the Mothers of Srebrenica, we met with women who lost husbands, fathers, and sons at the massacre. These mothers, most of whom are from small villages, have developed a powerful network and a political presence. They created the annual ceremony of remembrance at Srebrenica, pressed for ongoing exhumation and identification of remains, and advocated for government support for the widows and children of the men who perished. We heard heartbreaking stories of loss and grief – but also of hope, of love for neighbors with whom lives were shared regardless of ethnicity and religion, and of a vision for a peaceful and prosperous Bosnia.

We had a very inspiring meeting with Anisa Suceska Vekic, Director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). Much of the journalism in Bosnia following the war was what we would call ‘yellow journalism,’ the use of opinion instead of fact, emotion and sensationalism instead of objectivity. This was very problematic because media reports of genocide trials were inaccurate and misleading. These distortions of the truth kept people from understanding the past and moving towards a better future. Through BIRN’s work, courtrooms for genocide trials are now open and transparent and evidence-based journalism has become the norm. BIRN’s reports are available online, with more than a million regular readers, and they now produce radio and television news as well. BIRN is also creating the next generation of investigative journalists through outreach to students in the area’s universities.

This organization’s remarkable work is done by a small, young, and dedicated staff. The director will share this story at a conference at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. next week.
We were inspired and encouraged by great work being done by people who believe in Bosnia.

July 7

The second day of the conference began with introductory remarks by Dr. Charles English, U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dr. English, shown shaking hands with Kennedy, began by asking how the crime of genocide could have happened again in Europe, fifty years after the Holocaust. He spoke about the need for justice and reconciliation and the importance of remembering those who lost their lives during the conflict.

Dr. Edina Becirevic, professor, analyzed transcripts from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the court in The Hague, Netherlands, operating since 1993 to prosecute perpetrators of genocide.

In my remarks, I examined the question of how people can do evil things, and I discussed the manipulation of situational factors that can influence ordinary people to engage in acts that lead to dehumanization, torture, and extermination.

The conference concluded with Hasan Nuhanovic, a Srebrenica survivor who shared his story of witness, loss, and ongoing efforts for justice from the United Nations and the government of the Netherlands; and Dr. Fikret Karcic, professor, with an analysis of Bosnia’s failure to pass a law prohibiting genocide denial.

The conference was publicized widely in all Sarajevo media; I also gave an interview for Radio Free Europe. We hope that the messages of remembrance and ‘never again’ will engage students and ordinary citizens here in Bosnia and elsewhere.

July 6

This year is the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, the killing of 8,000 Bosnian men and boys by Serb militants. This horrific massacre occurred in the context of country-wide violence between Croats, Bosnians, and Serbs in a bitter battle over territory and control. More than 200,000 people perished in fighting between 1991 and 1995.
Conference

In recognition of this date, and as one of many programs to promote understanding and healing, the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation in Sarajevo sponsored two days of conferences on the topic “Remembrance and Forgiveness: Steps Toward a Bright Future.” Both Randi Markusen and I were invited to be presenters.

Organized by Velma Saric and Alison Sluiter, the conference attendees included both Serb and Bosnian university students, a first-ever gathering of both groups at this kind of event, and survivors, human rights advocates, public officials, scholars, and community representatives.

Ed Vulliamy was one of the featured speakers. A journalist from the UK, he broke the story about the Omarska and Trnopolje concentration camps in Bosnia; his articles and photographs, including one that appeared on the cover of Time magazine, provoked horror and outrage in the world community. He has received many awards for his outstanding reporting that ultimately led to a NATO bombing campaign that helped end the war.

One of the prisoners at Trnopolje concentration camp was Fikret Alic. Vulliamy’s picture of Alic, shown below, was shocking in its resemblance to photographs from the Holocaust. Alic spoke at the conference about his experience at Trnopole and also at Keraterm concentration camp.



Dr. Gregory Stanton, director of Genocide Watch, talked about the dangers of genocide denial, one of the eventual outcomes of every genocide.

Randi Markusen, Chair of the Board of Directors of World Without Genocide, presented information about the Rwandan genocide, highlighting testimonies given by survivors.

Other speakers included Murat Tahirovic, president of the Association of Concentration Camp Detainees; Munira Hadzic, the director of BOSFAM, an organization that has created memorial quilts to commemorate those who perished at Srebrenica; and Peter Lippman, a human rights activist who works for refugee return and recovery.

In the picture: Ambassador English, Dr. Stanton and Dr. Kennedy.

Dinner with the President

Randi Markusen and I had the remarkable opportunity to have dinner with President Haris Silajdic, along with Dr. Greg Stanton; Dr. Edina Becirevic, professor, University of Sarajevo; Velma Saric, conference convener; Ed Vulliamy; and the editor of the renowned Bosnian newspaper Dani. President Silajdic was optimistic about the country’s future, speaking about possibilities for business and economic development, education, and trade opportunities.

Photo of dinner guests: President Silajdic is fourth from left, with Kennedy and Markusen on his left.