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Establishing The Truth in Post Conflict Period:
Initiatives and Perspectives in Western Balkan
Conclusions from the Regional Conference
Sarajevo, 5th and 6th May 2006
The Research Documentation Centre (BiH), the Humanitarian Law Center (Serbia), and Documenta (Croatia), the parties to the Protocol on Cooperation in Documenting War Crimes and Fight Against Impunity (2004), organized a conference on 5 th and 6 th May 2006 in Sarajevo related to the initiatives and perspectives for establishing the truth about the past, which was the subject of international and domestic war crimes trials.
The conference gathered representatives of human rights organizations and victims' association from the countries at the territory of the former Yugoslavia, representatives of the Hague Tribunal, BiH Court and Prosecutor's Office, the BiH Presidency representatives, international and local experts for transitional justice, representatives of OHR in BiH, OSCE mission to BiH, as well as members of the Parliamentary Political Parties' Workgroup, which is preparing, in cooperation with the US Institute for Peace, a draft law for creating a national commission for establishing truth and trust in BiH.
The participants supported the trials before the Hague Tribunal and the local war crimes trials aiming to establish individual liability of the war criminals, being aware that criminal trials are not sufficient for establishing truth about the recent past, bringing justice to victims, and preventing violence from reoccurring.
The need for public debates and broad consultations on the means and initiatives for establishing truth that would be conducted within the civil society, Parliament, and other institution, was underlined during the debate.
The participants also supported the initiative for the organizers of the conference to send a proposal to the Parliaments of the countries at the territory of the former Yugoslavia to enact a transitional justice programme and establish a strategy for bringing justice in view of the past human rights' abuses.
The importance of the regional approach to establishing truth and necessity for strengthening regional cooperation in the war crimes trials was also emphasized during the debate.
The participants supported the conference organizers' intention to continue with the consultation regarding the initiatives and perspectives for establishing truth at the regional level, including the representatives of victims, war veterans, refugees, displaced persons, journalists, artists, writers, and experts' associations, as well as representatives of political parties and institutions in this discussion.
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