A Shared Desire: Regional Efforts to Prevent Genocide

Gabriela Ghindea

A quarter of a century after the unfolding of genocide and other mass atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina has passed. But at a different pace in Southeastern Europe. For the genocide survivors and all families, torn apart by the tragic loss of their dear ones, the time had a different quality than for the rest of us. My thoughts and heart go out to them, and I hope that after many years of uncertainty, an assiduous quest for truth and justice, despair, and immense grief, their acute pain could be perhaps to some extent alleviated by some answers. However, we must never forget that their every-day reality will always be marked by the suffering produced by atrocities such as the massacre from Srebenica, commemorated these days. Genocide survivors and their families remain, over the years, an essential guiding and moral authority in the process of rebuilding a more inclusive and peaceful society in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

For the rest of us, witnesses to a genocide in the middle of Europe, Srebenica is a powerful memento of the fact that peace is a privilege. It should never be taken for granted, and prevention work should be a constant matter of conscience, involving the whole of society, not only governmental actors or other policymakers. Srebenica proved, once again, the misconception that genocides are singular events, confined to the past and remote countries, and put into practice exclusively by monsters, who could never be part of our culture and community. Unfortunately, the genocide in Bosnia confronted us with the unsettling truth that there were several stages and recognizable risks along the way that could have been observed and prevented before the atrocities unfolded. It also taught us that anyone could become a victim or a perpetrator in a mass atrocity.

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Sources

  1. Turčalo, S. & Karčić, H. (Eds.). (2021). Bosnian Genocide Denial and Triumphalism: Origins, Impact and Prevention. Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, in cooperation with Srebrenica Memorial Center and Institute for Islamic Tradition of Bosniaks.

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