CONFLICT PREVENTION PUBLIC DEBATES

Report from the Presentation in Foca

Truth against Conflict - Public Debate in Gorazde

With Truth against Conflict- Public debate in Srebrenica

" CONFLICT PREVENTION PUBLIC DEBATES "  

DURATION OF THE PROJECT: December 2006 – March 2008

PROJECT GOAL:
The strategic, long-term goal of the project is to remove the causes of instability and lower the chances of potential conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina by promoting the efficiency of the state and giving support for the transformation of political culture. In this sense, we want to ensure that guidelines are made as well as recommendations for governments and local authorities about promoting cooperation, communication and overcoming the challenges on the path of securing sustainable peace.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT:
Twelve years after the end of the war and the Dayton Peace Accord, the institutions of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still weak, both economically and politically, and the society is ethnically polarized and divided. The political attitudes, the rhetoric used as well as the views on recent past and the manipulations of it are the sources of new potential conflicts. One of the crucial preconditions for permanent peace is dealing with the past, which is a process based on historical facts, common values and a dialogue between different social and ethnic groups.   

It is very difficult to speak of preventing new conflicts if we are not able to understand and explain the causes and consequences of the ones that passed. One of the primary goals of the Research and Documentation Center’s work is to contribute to the prevention of conflicts by preventing historical revisionism, falsifications and manipulations of facts. By opening a dialogue between different ethnic and social groups we try to identify challenges and threats to sustainable peace and security. 

Together with its partner organizations the RDC plans to organize twelve discussions across Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which, through the project of ‘Public debates’ we plan to initiate a dialogue and talk about themes that are potential sources of conflict and confrontation. Our goal is to include in the debates actors like state institutions, political parties, civil society organizations as well as media, the representatives of religious communities and the citizens in general. By including these actors, as well as by using the results of the ‘Human losses in B&H 1991 – 1995’ project, we aim to contribute to the ending of ideological and political manipulations of the victims that have been persisting from the end of the war onwards.  

The themes that will be discussed include the adoption of the law regarding the denial of genocide, the process of building the state prison, the ‘fate’ of The Hague archives, marking the locations where atrocities have been committed, continuing the confrontations between different groups through naming streets and squares, as well as the segregation in schools.   Also, the discussion will include the impact of the law suit filed by the citizens of Srebrenica against the Dutch government and the UN on the country’s stability, the claims for damages and reparations by the former detainees of concentration camps against the Republic of Srpska as well as the contribution of religious communities on the establishment of sustainable peace.

The debates will be organized in smaller communities, on the local level, as to give an opportunity to the citizens to express their attitudes and opinions on the most acceptable solutions to the existing problems through dialogue. For this reason, the discussions will be organized in communities in which threats and causes for potential conflict have been identified, such as Bratunac, Prijedor, Srebrenica, Bijeljina, Stolac etc.

The target group includes the institutions of government on the state level, as well as the local one; civil society organizations such as associations of citizens and victims, political groups, scientific and educational institutions, student associations, religious communities, minority groups and the broader public that shows interest in the issues.

In each debate our wish is to point out the problems and offer solutions through constructive dialogue, which might lead to showing that common values between different ethnic groups can be an advantage and not an excuse for conflict.

OUTREACH:
For a successful realization of the project we believe it to be important that the citizens and the public are well informed about the themes of the debates and the proposed solutions and conclusions with which each discussion will result. The public debates will be followed by a presentation of the results of other RDC projects such as the ‘Human losses in B&H’ project which is the back-bone of the organization, together with different research that was done as well as gathered facts and documents. Our wish it to make our work and the results of our research available for criticism and cooperation.  

The public and the citizens will be informed primarily through the media; local, national as well as regional; and the RDC web site www.idc.org.ba. Also, we plan to hold two press conferences. One is to be held at the beginning of the project when we plan to present the themes and the other one, at the end of the last debate, when we want to evaluate what we accomplished.  

We will invite local media to the debates, in every city in which we will have the discussions, since we believe that their attendance is crucial in insuring that the broader public is informed about the problems of the local community. The debates will include the participation of acknowledged experts; eminent scientists; representatives of authorities, the judiciary, political parties; activists, representatives of religious communities and international organizations.

The success of the project will be measured by the participation of the panellists, citizens and guests as well as by the media coverage and the hits on the RDC web page. Also, we will analyze the comments and reactions of the public on each of the organized debates.  Special interest will be placed on the partnership and the participation of other non-governmental organizations. In this sense, we welcome all constructive criticism which will help us remove all possible oversights in the shortest possible time.   

PARTNERS:
In the realization of the project we plan to include our permanent partners such as the Nansen Dialogue Centre, Women to Women and the Helsinki Committee. Along with the mentioned partners, we want to collaborate with organizations such as The Investigative – Reporting Centre, The Centre for Civil Initiatives, The Media-centre, and The Youth Initiative for Human Rights as well as The International Commission for Missing Persons.
A contribution to the realization of the project is also expected from local authorities, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, associations of citizens, the media, eminent experts and other individuals who share common interests with the RDC.