WHAT COULD BE THE PROSPECTS OF A COUNTRY SEEING THE SREBRENICA TRAGEDY WITH SUCH INDIFFERENCE?

Public debate within the project "Promoting a Social Climate Propitious to Transitional Justice and Culture of Non-impunity" realized with the assistance of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Valjevo, July 13, 2011.

The third round table in the series for this year to present the Helsinki Committee's magazine, The Helsinki Charter, in the Valjevo Cultural Center was addressed by the magazine's editor-in-chief, Seska Stanojlovic, historian Latinka Perovic and sociologist Ivan Kuzminovic of the Helsinki Committee.

Speaking of the Charter's editorial policy, which consequently fosters the culture of remembrance as a major segment of transitional justice, Seska Stanojlovic drew the audience's attention to some stories published in the last double-issue (No. 151-152). In this context she pointed to the entire section on the arrest of Ratko Mladic, accused of genocide, and his extradition to ICTY. The most moving story in this section was penned by the correspondent from Sarajevo, Irena Antic - the story based on tragic experiences of two mothers from Srebrenica, who buried their sons on this July 11, the sons they saw for the last time 16 years ago. She also referred to "an astonishing confession" by an anonymous member of the notorious "Red Berets," tasked in the spring of 1999 to shoot Jacky Rawland, BBC correspondent, in Djakovica. As exceptional reading matters, she also recommended the article by Latinka Perovic, marking the 100th birthday anniversary of the multidimensional revolutionary, communist leader and communist renegade, writer and philosopher, Milovan Djilas, as well as Vladimir Gligorov's economic analysis of "the costs of nationalism."

In her keynote address, Ms. Perovic also referred to the Charter's editorial policy, which, as she put it, "analyses the complexity of developments rather than simplifying them." "This is particularly relevant to a genuine research of the historical fall of Serbia's intellectual and political elites at the end of 20th century," she said. Twenty years after the last war Serbia has not made a stock of that period yet, said Ms. Perovic, adding that it could be said that Serbia is still in "mental confrontation" with the world and should change its priorities rather than stick to the two-centuries-old Greater Serbia project. She emphasized that even the present-day policy was unconvincing, particularly when it came to the region and the regime's attitude towards Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Ivan Kuzminovic captured the audience with a tragic story about a young man from Nis, whom the police killed by mistake and then tried for years to hush everything up. With this telling example Mr. Kuzminovic actually emphasized the need for radical reform of the judiciary and law enforcement system. "Reforms can be postponed no longer. Should they be, Serbia would remain an extremely poor and extremely unhappy society," he said.

All the three keynote addresses found an echo in the audience. Most of those attending the round table said they agreed with everything said. Through comments rather than through questions, citizens of Valjevo expressed their concern for Serbia prospects. What could be the prospects of a country seeing the Srebrenica tragedy with such indifference, many commented. People in the audience were also troubled with the incumbent political elite's incapacity for faster movement towards EU, the more so since that elite "was the best we have," as many put it.