Citizens Call for Bosnian Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Truth and Reconciliation Association leader Jakob Finci says the point of such a commission is the "kind of catharsis" it could provide for all Bosnians. [Photo by Haris Memija for Balkan Times]

by Beth Kampschror for the Balkan Times in Sarajevo -- 17/12/01

A citizens group thinks Bosnians are ready to reconcile the separate Croat, Muslim and Serb accounts of history that have emerged in the country since the end of the 1992-1995 war. An association made up of intellectuals from Bosnia's ethnic groups hopes to see a truth and reconciliation commission established within three months.

"You know that with each war, the winners write the history. Here we don’t have winners," said Truth and Reconciliation Association leader Jakob Finci, who is also the head of Bosnia’s small Jewish community. "You could say that we have three losers. All three sides, all three losers, have their own histories."

The most important point of establishing the commission, says Finci, would be "to reach some kind of catharsis -- a massive psychotherapy for people on all sides."

Finci said the commission would hear testimony from victims from all sides and from perpetrators not considered war crimes suspects by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The commission would address areas not covered by the ICTY, including the roles that religious groups, media, political parties and foreign organisations played between the November 1990 elections and the signing of the Dayton peace accord in November 1995.

Finci said that the main obstacle to such a commission until recently had been the ICTY itself, because of concerns about finances and overlapping mandates. Now, however, officials at The Hague support the idea and are expected to approve the association’s draft law.

The draft law foresees the appointment -- most likely by the UN secretary general -- of seven commissioners from different ethnic and geographical backgrounds. About 50 percent of the commission's cost, estimated at $12 million to $15 million, would come from Bosnia's state budget, and the rest from foreign donations.

The association is studying the more than 20 world-wide truth commissions, but will likely model the Bosnian group on the one in South Africa, which is due to issue its final report on human rights violations under the apartheid government in the next few months.

South African political scientist and senior commission researcher John Daniel told Balkan Times that the South African body had some success because nearly everyone in the country supported it. "The question is, is there sufficient consensus in Bosnia to make the commission work?" Daniel said. "The circumstances are very different. That’s not to say you shouldn’t have the commission, because I think the worst option of all is to do nothing."

Finci said that the association achieved some sort of consensus by asking BiH politicians last year if they were for truth and reconciliation. "It was a tricky question, perhaps, but nobody said no."

Once the draft law is passed in parliament -- a process that could take several months -- the commission would take 6 months to prepare, 18 months to hear testimony and 6 months to issue its final report.