Genocide denial and revisionism continue to hinder reconciliation in the Western Balkans. This is despite ongoing efforts from civil society and the international community. To counter this trend, joint action by representatives of civil society and the international community is necessary to build a sustainable system for atrocity prevention and reckoning with the past.
It is hard to understand the killing of a child. The deliberate and ruthless targeting of children during the Siege of Sarajevo tragically illustrates the contrast between childhood innocence and war’s brutality. To commemorate the start of the occupation of Sarajevo, the documentary, "Djeca Sarajeva”, was screened for the first time on the 4th of April at the Sarajevo City Hall.
The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) and the non-profit Impunity Watch held in March this year a two-day conference on atrocity prevention. Entitled, “Building a Common Agenda for Prevention in the Western Balkans”, the conference took place in Montenegro’s capital of Podgorica. The conference gathered representatives from civil society across the ex-Yugoslav region and beyond. This was a conference with a multi-pronged aim: strengthening regional cooperation, identifying future joint actions, and fostering solidarity with and among post-conflict societies.
War memorialization in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remains a persistent and contentious subject. In the absence of state laws and regulations governing memorials, let alone a national commemorative strategy, the country’s memorial landscape is saturated with a wide range of memorialization efforts stemming from all levels of Bosnian society.
Džemil Hodžić was just a child when his brother Amel was tragically killed by a sniper during the siege of Sarajevo. Driven by a desire to find photos of his brother, he established the Sniper Alley platform in 2019, with the aim of collecting photographs, particularly those of children who lived through the Sarajevo siege. However, the Sniper Alley project is more than a mere collection of photographs, it is a testimony to survivor resilience.
Alma Numić and Mara Milanković-Daradan are peace activists who have shared their wartime stories with others and, by listening to the stories of other survivors, they promote the idea of peace among young people. For years, they have been working to build sustainable peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are an example of multi-ethnic friendship that breaks down the prejudices of post-war society.