Presentation in Vlasenica of Human Losses in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1991-1995 project

Name of the project

Project description

Population losses 92-95, Public Outreach

Project purpose

Evaluation

Project Sustainbility

Name of the project  

" Population losses 1992-1995, Public Outreach "

Project Description           

Background on " Population losses 1992-1995 "

The main motive for the project " Population losses in Bosnia and Herzegovina 92-95 " is the fact that an accurate account of the numbers of war victims, primarily those killed or missing, over the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 -1995 does not yet exist nine years after the end of war. No governement body in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Institute for Statistics, has collected data about the number of persons killed during the war, nor have they kept systematic records about other important events such as war suffering, or the extent and magnitude of war damages. Every member of the Bosnian community who lost someone during the war should have the right to have the memory of their loved one preserved, regardless of their ethnic, religious, social or other belonging. In addition, this project will help eliminate the ideological and political manipulation of the numbers of victims which has been frequent since the end of the conflict. The RDC believes that this manipulation inhibits the pursuit of the truth and justice, attempts to heal the wounds of war and the establishment of long-lasting peace in Bosnia. An accurate demographic picture of the victims of the war is an important precondition for the social reconstruction of Bosnia. It will serve as a catalyst for the process of reconciliation in Bosnia and will contribute toward the development of trust between the citizens of different ethnic groups.

Population losses 1992-1995, Public Outreach

Since the beginning of the project the RDC has made considerable progress collecting data. The Population losses Project has used a multiple source methodology to gather data about   those who perished. The project has used newspapers, pictures of gravesites, military records, witness statements, photo and video documentation, and the records of victims' organizations as sources for the names of individuals who perished in the war. All of this data is contained in what one American human rights activist described as " possibly the largest human rights database in the world." To date, the database has the names of approximately 90.000 killed and missing persons, for whom we have mutliple sources for each file. In addition there is valuable information about perpetrators, witnesses and damage done to physical objects. All violations of international law have been classified using a coding scheme which references the Geneva Conventions.

A crucial source of information for this project is citizens who would like to report the fate of their loved one or verify existing information in the database.

A comprehensive public outreach campaign is crucial to make sure the RDC has enough contact with members of the general public to:

1) give transparency to the project  

2) enable the RDC to engage citizens in the completion of the database

3) build public confidence in the project's results and

4) enable citizens to provide valuable information.

The public outreach campaign will utilize Bosnian media outlets to communicate the goals of the project to all of Bosnia's citizens. It will target sources which reach both metropolitan and rural areas. Respondents will be able to submit information by fax, e-mail, and surface mail. As the RDC is constantly engaged outside of Sarajevo, the Center will visit key locations all over the country in order to collect data. It will also establish contact with diaspora organizations outside of Bosnia.

There are numerous historical precedents for this type of project. On Monday November 22nd, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and archive in Jerusalem, will open a web site which has the names of over 3 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, along with biographical details, photographs and nutshell memoirs. ( See " At Holocaust Museum, Turning a Number Into a Name ", New York Times , 21 November, 2004. ) Family members will also be able to submit and verify data in their database. In addition, the RDC is affiliatied with American scientist Dr. Patrick Ball, perhaps the world's leading expert in this type of project. After a visit in September 2004, Dr. Ball consults the RDC on methodological issues and software design. See his other projects at: www.benetech.org/about/bio_ball.shtml

First phase of Population losses 92-95 project realisation have been marked by intensive contacts with numerous governmental commission and institution and NGO 's. Bearing in mind that RDC is victim focus organization and that main part of program activities is research based, it is simply impossible to imagine even one step toward the program aims realization without networking and consultation with different institution. It means that general approach of the Research and Documentation Center is to establish as wider as possible circle of relations and contacts inside and outside country.

During last year especially, RDC established close relation with different NGO's from BiH. (Žene ženama - Women to Women, Majke enklave Srebrenice i Žepe - Mothers of Enclave Srebrenica and Zepa, Nansen Dialog Center, Center for Human Rights, Žene žrtve rata - Women Victims of War, Assosiation of Detainees, ICMP, Helsinki Committee, Commission for missing persons, Institute for Missing Persons, and many others). This cooperation will continue and results of our project will be on disposition to them.

Second phase of the Population losses project and Outreach project as supportive part of the planned activities should also be realized in close cooperation with different commission and institution not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the region. Basic precondition for this will be Protocol about cooperation between RDC Sarajevo, Humanitarian Law Fund from Belgrade and Documenta - Center for dealing with the past from Zagreb, signed in Sarajevo on April 6 th 2004. Additionally, some scientific institutions expressed interest for cooperation with RDC ( Perdue University, Columbia University, Faculty for Criminology - University of Montreal, Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Copenhagen, etc.)

This means that some of these organization will be included in press conferences, presentation and promotion activities and exchanging and disseminating of information.

All our results will also be available on the books and RDC Website after final reports preparation.   

Project purpose ( what goals will be achieved and how the results will be determined/measured ):

The goal of this project is twofold:

1) public awareness in BiH about the Population losses 1992-1995 project and

2) the gathering of data from BiH citizens both in-country and abroad about killed persons.

Project objectives

The objective of this project is to contact as many members of the Bosnian public as possible who may potentially have information to provide to the Population losses 1992-1995 project.

Evaluation

The number of submissions from all around Bosnia and in Bosnian communities abroad will enable donors to evaluate the outreach portion of the project.

Project Justification ( please describe the need or problems the project will solve and the target groups ):

The Population losses 1992-1995 will be considered a success when the Bosnian public has confidence in the results produced by the database. The target group is all Bosnian citizens who lost a family member of friend during the war.

The public outreach portion of this project will serve several functions:

1) It will enable members of the public to verify already existing data;

2) It will enable then to submit new information and thus be a crucial source for the project;

3) public outreach will provide transparency to the whole research enterprise and thus will increase confidence in the project's results.

It is worth noting that much of the current work in post-war Bosnia has dealt with missing persons, i.e. those who have not been found or who have yet to be identified. Few projects focus on killed persons, which comprise the largest number of war victims. We believe it is of utmost importance to focus on this segment of the population.

There are multiple reasons why this is important:

1) an accurate accounting shows respect to the victims.

2) Information about the accurate cause of death will help to solve some of the problems plaguing the post-war Bosnian state. For example, some victims, who were civilian victims of the war, are currently registered as military victims, and consequently are receiving state resources as military victims. The improper classification of war victims creates administrative problems for the state and can potentially drain limited resources.

Project Sustainability:

After the conclusion of this short-term project, the RDC will need to maintain the web site through which members of the public can submit data.

Detailed description of the project activities:

•  Press campaign, including radio, TV, newspaper, outreach to diaspora orgranizations abroad and  

•  Creation of a web site through which citizens can submit data