The reasons for estabilishing the center

Organization and headquarters

Finansing, personnel and material terms of work of the center

" It lays a special obligation on the people

of the future to deal with the crime, even long

after its perpetrators are themselves dead "

(Schell Jonathan, 1982, The Fate of the Earth, New York)

THE REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING THE CENTER

• The most important reason is continuation of investigation and collection of all relevant data and documentation that could clarify causes, manner and consequences of the mass suffering of Bosnian citizens irrespective of their national, ethnic, religious or social origin, political opinion or any other collective or individual status. It is the main precondition for grappling with past for preservation of the memory of the recent war, the most important element in long - lasting peace and a preventive measure against presumable recurrence of suffering of Bosnian people. It is also very important to establish appropriate " plans of action " focused on the future to introduce future generations to the recent historical truth and to open the perspective for confidence building and reconciliation. It is extremely important for the Bosnian nation to fully recover from aggression and terror, and rebuild itself into a self-respecting and democratic civil society.

• The Center should be a place for proper storage, preservation, protection, processing and incorporation into archives of all relevant documentation, proofs or other evidence - film tape, video, photos, physical evidence, written witness testimonies, minutes and promulgation from different conferences and meetings. In this way, the Center would protect the documentation from damage, inexorable deterioration and permanent loss to history due to natural disasters, purposeful destruction or any other manner of improper care. Some temporary political differences and misunderstandings could a threat to existence of some documents.

• The Center will not merely receive and assort the pieces of the Bosnian puzzle, but actively cooperate and participate in the process of search for the truth and justice ( regionally and locally ).

• Establishing a modern data base and archiving system would contribute to development of conflict resolution technique by democratic dialog, because it would be open and accessible to judicial organizations, research and expert purposes, education of future generations, especially youth, in areas of history, law, sociology, political sciences, philosophy and international relations.  

• Protection, promotion and affirmation of basic human rights of war victims and their families, informing them about their rights and assistance in bringing the perpetrators to justice in front of the Tribunal and the domestic courts, reparation, rehabilitation, etc. would be a very important part of the Center's activities.

• Only the top - leaders' accountability for the genocide in Bosnia will not satisfy the victims of war. Amnesty for the perpetrators do not mean that they should not be held responsible for the war tragedy from a historical point of view. Because of that, we need as complete account of crimes as possible, which will eliminate any potential political and ideological manipulation.

• Thus, when all due processes have been finished there would be an institution, which would continue to collect documents, to preserve the memory of genocide and war crimes, to educate and train young generations in area of international humanitarian law. The aim is to prevent further conflicts in the society and resolve them by peaceful negotiation, to help establish and shape a civil society of democratic relations and to heal the deep wounds caused by the war. We have to bear in mind that some events from the Second World War have not been resolved until today, and investigations need to be carried out even fifty years later.

• Collection of documentation from different military, police, political and other independent sources and organizations that hide astonishing detail concerning destinies of thousands of victims will help in tracing the missing persons by uncovering sites of mass and individual killings and location of mass graves and pits. This might fill the painful hiatus in the hearts of the families that only want to know the final fate of their loved ones, and, if they were killed, bury them proudly and begin to complete their grieving process and continue with the rest of their lives.

• The Center's research of the roots and causes of the violation in Bosnia will be an additional contribution to better understanding of recent events that shocked the world public at the end of the twentieth century. It is also important, both at the regional and wider international level, to help better understanding of extreme manifestation of organized violence and inexplicable cruelty against innocent civilian population. In this context, the Center will serve as a very important basis for restoration of dignity of the Bosnian society and proud of her self-conciseness of necessity of the peacefully joint life in wealth of ethnic, religious, traditions, customs, political and other differences.

• Establishing contacts and cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations, experts, scientific institutions and individuals from Bosnia and from abroad ; exchange of information, experiences and knowledge, will open new paths and spaces for further gathering of additional documentation and raising funds for the Center's projects.

• Baring in mind that the Center is not merely to gather facts and evidence, one of the most important activities will be training the new generations of Bosnians to use new skills and techniques by which they will be able to understand causes and heal the consequences of this tragedy. Namely, due to the war, many generations of Bosnians were depraved of appropriate education about modern social sciences and investigative techniques, theoretical standards and practice, especially in area of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. Therefore, the Center will strive to fill a part of thus created hiatus for future generations.

• The Center will look for help and cooperation from existing centers and scientific organizations all over the world , trying to enable own personnel to use new skills and knowledge and pass them on. Additionally, by organizing seminars, conferences and practical training sessions which would engage foreign professionals in areas of history, political sciences, law, philosophy, computing sciences, librarian and archivist sciences, investigation methodology and other disciplines, the Center could contribute to improvement of skills of our students and experts in these areas.

• Promotion, publishing, audio and video production, exhibitions, conferences and other manifestations in connection with the Center's activities and affirmation of the results of its roles in the society will result in closer cooperation with a wide circle of important scientists, cultural activists, political and other public persons.

• As a new organizational form, the Center should have a positive influence on the development of relations between different NGOs and governmental institutions with aim to contribute to process of establishing a civil society, promote Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and Freedoms and improve and protect victims' interests.

ORGANIZATION AND HEADQUARTERS

The initial basis for establishing the Center would be the present Commission for Gathering Facts on War Crimes, formed by the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 28 th of April 1992 which worked as an independent and non-partisan body and group of the private founders.

The transformation of the Commission would make a significant starting basis for existence and function of the Center, having in mind its rich experiences, in the way that, essentially, work methods and contents that the Commission engaged in would be continued. In the past nine years the Commission has collected abundant documentation - 1.000.000 pages of typed documents ( witness testimonies, minutes, orders, etc. ) and formed a modern data base made up of more than 300.000 names of citizens - war victims ( protected and other categories ), names of more than 30.000 perpetrators of crimes or other violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, more than 20.000 photographs, 1.000 hours of video and audio material, and other.

The Documentation Center would be a non-governmental organization, politically impartial in performing of its functions and realization of its set aims and mainly focused on facts.

The headquarters of the Center would be in Sarajevo, temporarily in the offices of the Commission in Dubrovačka 2 street.

FINANCING, PERSONNEL AND MATERIAL TERMS OF WORK OF THE CENTER  

Voluntary donations from the citizens, own resources, sponsorships, NGO donations, from government budget ( state, entities, cantons, cities, municipalities... ) and other sources would finance the Center.

The Center would be governed and staffed by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, professionals and volunteers of different ethnic, social and professional backgrounds, predominantly highly educated and experienced in the assigned areas, with knowledge of foreign languages. At first, it would work with around ten professional consultants and at full capacity with around thirty. The Center would be ran by a governing board ( of 7 - 9 members) along with an international council ( 11 - 15 members ) assembled from experts in the areas that the Center engaged in.   

Help from experts and scientists from around the world ( Europe, USA, Australia, Canada... ) will be necessary for the work of the Center - scientific and expert supervision. Most conveniently, the Center would make connections with similar existing programs at a UN body and a University such as Yale, Oxford, Columbia, Cambridge, Sorbonne, Essex, etc.