Thousands sill missing in Balkans

The beautiful Mostar Bridge has been rebuilt, but elsewhere the scars from the Balkan wars are still visible and raw/Veronique Mistiaen

I’ve recently travelled through Bosnia and Croatia, and was shocked to see that two decades after the Balkan wars, the scars are still so visible and raw: many buildings are still in ruins or poked with bullet holes. People are suspicious and deeply divided, and many children are growing up without ever meeting a child from another ethnic group. Across the Balkans, thousands of people are still missing.

Today, some 14,000 people remain unaccounted for in the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia – nearly half of the total number who disappeared in the decade since war broke out in 1991.

Between 1991 and 2001, a total of 34,700 people were reported missing due to enforced disappearances or abductions in the region. The majority of their relatives are still waiting for justice.

In a briefing published yesterday on the International Day of the Disappeared, The right to know: Families still left in the dark in the Balkans, Amnesty International calls on the authorities in the Balkans to investigate enforced disappearances – crimes under international law – and to ensure the victims and their families receive access to justice and reparations.

Not far from the Mostar Bridge, many buildings are still in ruins/Veronique Mistiaen

Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director, Jezerca Tigani, said:

“People living in the Balkans have not closed the chapter on enforced disappearances. They are a daily source of pain for the relatives still waiting to learn the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones, still searching for truth, justice and reparation.

“The victims of enforced disappearances come from all ethnic groups and from all walks of life. Civilians and soldiers, men, women and children – their families have the right to know the truth about the circumstances of the enforced disappearance, the progress and the result of the investigation and the fate of the disappeared person. For families of the disappeared, having the body returned for burial is the first step towards achieving justice.

 “The lack of investigations and prosecutions of enforced disappearances and abductions remains a serious concern throughout the Balkans.  

“The major obstacle to tackling impunity and bringing the perpetrators to justice is a persistent lack of political will in all countries of the region.”

The briefing highlights cases of enforced disappearances and abductions in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia and Kosovo. All six governments have failed to abide by their international legal obligations to effectively investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Some perpetrators have been brought to justice by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), but the Tribunal is nearing the end of its mandate.

Domestic courts are slow to abide by their responsibility to seek out, identify and prosecute the remaining perpetrators.

Most Mira festival – hope in a deeply divided post-war Bosnia

Today’s judgment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), convicting two Croatian generals of responsibility for crimes against humanity, is a strong victory for Balkans war’s victims.

But in Bosnia, sixteen years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, the region is still deeply scarred and profound divisions fester underneath a fragile peace. Last year’s Bosnian elections saw a resurgence of nationalism and threatening rhetoric – on an even larger scale than before the war.

While traditionally, Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks have lived and worked together in the country, the children born after the war are completely segregated.  They live in different areas, go to different schools where they learn different versions of their country’s history, and never meet children from another ethnic/religious background.

But once a year in May since 2009, some 450 children from all ethnic groups in the Prijedor region of Northern Bosnia come together for Most Mira (Bridge of Peace) festival, a festival of dance, drama, music and arts where they learn new skills, develop friendships and build a new future.  

The festival is run by a growing number of volunteers from all over the world and is the brainchild of Kemal Pervanić, a Muslim from North West Bosnia who survived the infamous Omarska concentration camp and now lives in England, where he founded the charity Most Mira in 2005.   

Pervanic was so alarmed at the mistrust and hatred he discovered during his visits back to his hometown of Kevljani that he decided to try to bring the children together and “build a bridge of understanding and tolerance between youngsters who have learned only fear and distrust.”   Many of these children have now developed lasting friendships across ethnic groups.   

The weeklong festival, which will run this year from May 16 to May 21, also provides one of the rare opportunities for these children to engage in the arts in a region whose economy has yet to recover from the war.

The project almost collapsed when Pervanic realized that one of the local teachers he had enlisted into the scheme was one of his interrogator/torturer in Omarska.

Pervanic is the author of The Killing Days – My Journey through the Bosnian War and a human rights activist. He contributes regularly to conferences and educational talks on issues relating to genocide and human rights, as well as to TV and radio programmes about Bosnia, The Hague war crimes trials, and issues such as citizenship. 
He has an MA in Conflict Resolution from Bradford University. I've met him for an article a few years ago and we have remained in contact.

Most Mira needs help: if you want to get involved or make a donation, click here.

Stop Forced Evictions of Roma in Serbia

 “They came with trucks and police and vans. We all had to leave in 20 minutes. I lost...everything. I wasn’t even there when the house was taken down.” Tomica, Belgrade

Since 2009, Roma communities in Belgrade, Serbia, have been living under the constant threat of forced eviction by the authorities. Some, like Tomica, have already lost their homes. This is a violation of their right to adequate housing.

Roma are already among the poorest people in Serbian society and face systematic discrimination. They are excluded from public life and forced to live in informal settlements without access to basic services like water and sanitation.

The Serbian government should have put safeguards in place to protect those affected by evictions. Yet Roma are rarely informed about the authorities‚ plans, let alone consulted. When alternative accommodation has been provided, it is substandard. Some evicted Roma have been moved into segregated settlements on the outskirts of Belgrade, where they live in metal containers while others have been forcibly displaced to southern Serbia.

The threatened evictions can only prolong this cycle of poverty and human rights abuses.

Roma communities are taking action to challenge the evictions and defend their rights, and Amnesty International is urging everyone to support their effort by signing this petition.