CNA [Sarajevo | Beograd]
Centre for nonviolent action
We were taught about the Second World War in school, we watched films, read books. We expect there to be a consensus, at least about the basics. The Holocaust, the casualties of the Second World War, the reign of fascism and the horrors of destruction left in its wake are (mostly) not disputed. However, if we can agree on that, why can’t we commemorate this properly, by commemorating victims and the places where lives were taken?
Would you speak to your enemy? – published by FriEnt originally
What can Germany do better in the Western Balkans? Nenad Vukosavljević (Centre for Non-Violent Action) recommends: No border changes but people-to-people contacts & no tolerance of authoritarian tendencies
Political and social contexts in which we work: Not Great, Not Terrible (Bosnia and Hercegovina), And what have you got against Milo? (Montenegro), “Đuro will forgive you beating you up” (Croatia), Rendering our stories (Kosovo), Neither Here Nor There (North Macedonia), Who’s Next? (Serbia)
Despite the fact that the concept of transitional justice has widened (“evolved”), proof of its shortcomings has arisen through practice. In the Balkans, it was the original TJ concept that was implemented, relying solely on retributive justice mechanisms, in this case the International Criminal Tribunal and national war crimes proceedings.
Radomir Radević from Podgorica is a new-old member of the CNA team
Let us do less of what is perceived as “popular” for July 11th and do more of what is right for BiH; and let us look at mine, yours and ours Srebrenica for the will, strength and desire needed to make the changes we all need.
From the Annual Report 2018: Political and social contexts in which we work: We’re not adapting to nobody, no way (about Bosnia and Herzegovina), Subjective experience (about Montenegro), Bearers of European Values (about Croatia), What have(n’t) we learned from our neighbours (about Kosovo), There is Tension (Again) (about Kosovo), At a Crossroad Again (about Macedonia), As the old saying goes, “The higher they climb the harder they fall” (about Serbia)
Text by Marko Čolić, HV war veteran from Daruvar, following a joint visit by war veterans to the commemoration in Stupni Do
Deconstructing prejudice & narratives about ‘enemy’ groups, incl narratives rooted in the collective identity, must be at the core of all peacebuilding efforts, writes Nenad Vukosavljević (CNA).
We asked a few of our associates to join World “Mandela 100” Day marked on the day of his birth, 18 July.
As the victor, a member of the majority, a victim of the previous system – he chose the most difficult path of reconciliation – by rejecting revenge. He became a symbol of the persistent struggle for freedom, a struggle he refused to ever give up, because freedom was paramount.
The announcement that as of this school year, the history of the 1992-1995 war would be studied in more detail in primary and secondary schools is perhaps the most significant change in the history curriculum since the fall of communism
What was valuable to me? To spend at least some time with these people, descended from Kljajićevo, the Danube Swabians and their families. To step into their shoes for a moment. To be there, for them, and not as a ‘representative’ of someone from here.
Tamara Zrnović is a new member of the CNA team in the Sarajevo office