From dawn till dusk in the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, transition always entails a dose of risk. Most of the time, it is simply fear of loss and failure. Our environment was unfortunately struck by both. Everything that once was is lost, and the fear of what will come tomorrow continues.
In disadvantaged and dismantled societies, Transitional Justice (TJ) will lose all credibility if it has not dealt with social injustice, corruption, exploitation of resources and economic violence. Moving towards reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires the rethinking of TJ from the very beginning, while inclusion of economic and social rights is essential for TJ effectiveness.
In 1984, viewers from across the region laughed at the skit “Nadrealisti” in which Rizo sells the City Hall of Sarajevo to American tourists for 25,000. Today, 30 years later, we have representatives of the city administration and employees of the National and University Library in Sarajevo.
The peace that the Yugoslav people once built has been destroyed; all because of the stereotypical claim that the hatred between the nations of Yugoslavia was ever-present. This hatred was fabricated by the ruling elites who wanted to teach Slavs how to be civilized and democratic.
Youth in Bosnia-Herzegovina live together and only an occasional "report" reminds them of how they are ostensibly divided. It is often said that transition is not a process, but a permanent state of society in BiH. Since the end of the war, we have been working on reconciliation.