Director Visits the Balkans

In September, Hazlett Lynch re-visited the Balkans as part of an ongoing study tour.  Before going on to Bulgaria, he spent five profitable days in Sarajevo, Bosnia.  What he learned on this visit took him somewhat by surprise, and encouraged him immensely. 

 

The issues raised this time were not mentioned last year, which indicated that the people there who are working with the victims of genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass executions are seeing the situation for what it really is.

 

Among the issues that were highlighted in the discussions and in the literature given to me, were the following:

 

• In the war in Bosnia (1991-95), one million people were displaced, nearly 30,000 were disappeared, 18,000 bodies have been found, and 8,000+ bodies have been “re-assembled,” using advanced DNA and forensic technology.  There are 100 registered associations of missing persons.  500 mass graves have been discovered 30km – 40km apart.
• The International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) does not work with perpetrators, war rapists or torturers.
• There is huge mistrust between the various victims’ groups.
• No government support.
• The big problem facing reconciliation activity is that war criminals are still free, many are in government in the Republica Srpska, and many hold high positions of state there.
• The Serbs are viewed as the aggressors, who were responsible for 92% of all atrocities.
• 800 names of Serbs have been lodged with the International Commission for War Crimes committed in Srebrenica.
• Politicians are seen to be contributing to, and fuelling, hatred – they are separating the people, not reconciling them.
• Political, social and economic instability.
• Reconciliation, which will be a very long process, requires two steps that must always go together – JUSTICE and TRUTH.
• There is no goodwill in Bosnia for a Truth Commission.
• The warlords are still alive and well, and corruption is rife.
• The cocktails of uneducated politicians and an uneducated electorate mean easy manipulation by politicians.
• Religion is behind every political party.
• Organisations working with victims find it very difficult to get funding, and government funding is pathetic; in 2003, one centre received €2,500, which was 2% of its budget; this year, they got €600, which was enough to pay for one dental treatment for one person.
• Extreme nationalism was blamed for the war and its effects, because it stigmatises and dehumanises other ethnic groups who are viewed as inferior people.  This provides the excuse for armed intervention, and for the expulsion of ‘unwanted populations’ from ‘disputed territories.’
• War, or terrorist-based, trauma is the most complex of traumas.
• There are many re-traumatising events experienced by victims.
• The trauma experienced is highly influenced by what is happening in society and politically.
• All the work done with the mothers of massacred people in Srebrenica is done by committed volunteers.
• Srebrenica was a UN protected zone, but the civilian people were left defenceless.  The Dutch forces refused to stop the torture, and massacres, and, in fact, treated the female civilians with utter contempt.
• Many heart-rending stories told of what the Serb army and it paramilitaries did to the Bosnaic people.
• Situation in Bosnia is worse now than it was one year ago, because the politicians are promoting separation rather than reconciliation.  There is no real prospect of change after the election (1^st Oct 2006).  The real problem is that the three main parties are inextricably linked with the three main religions – Muslim, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic.
• Wrong information and fear-mongering were spread to get local people to join the aggressors.
• One group that analyses government policies had to fold because of lack of funding.
• Opposition to a truth commission is widespread because it has not worked elsewhere, seeks compromise, which is against truth.  Each side tells a little, but most truth is still hidden.
• The whole truth is the best and fastest way to reconciliation.
• Use language that draws a clear distinction between victims and aggressors.
• People just want to be citizens of Bosnia.
• Proposed museum to be built in memory of those who were massacred by the Serb army and its paramilitaries.  On the marble slabs were the names of 8,200 people who had disappeared from Srebrenica, with room for a further 320 names.  This was erected in July 2005 by the victims.  Input from the perpetrators was not invited, nor would it have been accepted.
• First step in reconciliation in JUSTICE.

 

It does not take a genius to see the similarities between the Bosnian situation and ours, with many common themes emerging continually.  If our government and politicians ignore these lessons, they do so to their own peril.

International Terrorism

April 2004: Anti-Terrorism Rally in London

An international anti-terrorist rally was held in Trafalgar Square, London, which attracted several hundred people.  This is the first of a series of such rallies that are designed to raise public awareness of terrorist issues as they affect many countries in the world, not least in the UK. 

West Tyrone Voice (WTV) victims’ organisation was privileged to supply one of the speakers at the rally.  Project Co-ordinator, Dr J. E. Hazlett Lynch spoke on behalf of his organisation, and there were speakers from Israel and Sri Lanka taking part.

There was a significant group of people from Russia holding placards highlighting the plight of the people from Chechnya who had their children murdered in their Beslan school by Chechnyan terrorists – a most moving sight indeed.  These innocent victims supported the rally and were supported by those present.  Those listening to the speeches showed their agreement with, and appreciation of, what was being said.

Because the organisers needed permission from the Greater London Area council, where Ken Livingston rules as mayor, to hold the event on its property, there were very strict, oppressive and undemocratic restrictions placed on what speakers could actually say.  For example, there was to be no criticism of the Government, and no one was to be named publicly.  If this was contravened in any respect, then two things would happen: first, the microphones would be turned off, and second, the organisers would not get the Square again to hold future rallies.

In what is regarded as a free and parliamentary democracy, it came as a great surprise to have this unjustifiable restriction placed on what we could or could not say.  Terrorist victims were understandably very angry that Her Majesty’s subjects were unable to exercise their fundamental human right of free speech in a democratic country.  Not only angry, but deeply concerned at the way our country is going.  One man said to Dr Lynch that he would probably have more freedom to speak in Moscow than in London.

Dr Lynch told the gathering that despite protestations to the contrary, our leaders have in fact negotiated with terrorists to get deals done.  He said that in his part of the UK, we even had terrorists in government – something that would appal the parents of the Chechnyan children who were murdered by terrorists.  He also declared that the consistent position of the victims’ groups was one of total opposition to terrorists in government.  Referring to the past five years when a terrorist held a ministerial post in the Northern Ireland Assembly, he expressed the fear that victims will be subjected to further humiliation when what looked like a further period of having PIRA/SF terrorists in government with the Unionists will be imposed upon us yet again.  This, he argued, is as wholly unacceptable now as it had been in the past.  He spoke also of the ethnic cleansing of pro-British Protestants that took place especially in Londonderry, where in 1970 there were some 17000 of them living on the West Bank of the City, but now have a mere 800 residing there – and all as a direct result of PIRA terrorism.

The event was policed by the Metropolitan Police, who took video footage of the speakers and organisers of the rally.