Farewell, Srebrenica July 25, 2010

On Friday, the Summer Research University program ended. In an hour we headed to Sarajevo and from there our group goes our separate ways. But before the next part of my journey begins (including stops in Mostar and Istanbul), I wanted to share the speech I presented to the conference organizers and my fellow participants. More blog entries about the memorial center, transitional justice, and life in Bosnia i Herzegovina to follow.

Closing Speech of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center’s Summer Research University
Presented by Laurie Cohen
22 July 2010

Dobar Dan.

My name is Laurie Cohen and I would like to say a few words on behalf of the participants of the first annual Summer Research University held in Srebrenica for the past three weeks.

Intrigued by the opportunity to study at Srebrenica, we came from all over the world to immerse ourselves in the Summer Research University at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center, Marš Mira, and the commemoration ceremony on July 11th.

Collectively we represent the next generation of members of the international community.

A modern international community informed by the desire to serve, the desire to learn, the desire to respect, the desire to contribute, and the desire to be your partners.

Together, we come from Germany, Italy, the United States, Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Scotland, Montenegro, and the Czech Republic.

We are scholars, Ph.D. candidates, professors, professionals, and Master’s students.

We represent a variety of different religions, cultural backgrounds, global experiences, and ages.

All that linked us was a common desire to study and learn more about Srebrenica’s past, present, and future.

Some of us have had extensive experiences throughout Bosnia.

Some of us speak the language and understand your culture.

For others in the group, it was our very first experience in BiH, having only learned about the war, the genocide, and the country in textbooks and in our classes — far away from here emotionally and geographically.

Our research interests are varied. They include the study of:

• Peace building and transitional justice mechanisms
• The social anthropology of post-conflict societies
• Charity practices and post-socialist and post-war networks of solidarity in Bosnia
• Memorial sites as connections between past atrocities and contemporary society as mechanisms for healing and neutral discourse
• The anthropology of remembering: the memory of wartime violence and the politics of healing
• Ethnic identity and nationalism in the former Yugoslavia
• Religion and peace building in post-war BiH
• Economic revitalization and sustainable development in contemporary BiH
• Contested historical memory of the Srebrenica genocide in relation to contemporary society
• Media, politics, popular thought, and public memory
• The evolution of nationalism in contemporary BiH and the former Yugoslavia
• The responsibility of the international community as it relates to humanitarian intervention
• The ethical implications of September 11th

We came to Srebrenica to:

• Srebrenica and the memorial center as well as Zepa, Tuzla, and villages along the Marš Mira
• Broaden our understanding of BiH
• Learn about the Memorial Center and how it functions in present day BiH
• Gain first hand perspectives of life in Srebrenica and BiH
• Expand our understanding of Srebrenica, the war, the genocide, and current challenges facing BiH today
• Take the message of what happened back to our homes and communities to promote a greater understanding and awareness of BiH, Srebrenica, and your stories of survival
• Build upon what we have learned here, draw parallels in our own societies, and apply these insights to future conflicts so as to prevent war and genocide from happening again
• Contribute positively to the local economy and community

Our goals for next summer are to:

• Participate in the Marš Mira along with members of the local community
• Bring more scholars and increase interest and participation in the Summer Research University
• Secure international funding for future programming
• Contribute to the economic revitalization of the Srebrenica community

By the end of the trip, our group became a family infused by your tradition of hospitality.

We have been welcomed with open arms into your community.

You have shared with us your most painful, vivid, and personal memories.

You have entrusted us to carry your stories and emotions back to our homes so that we may share them with our families, friends, fellow students, work colleagues, and the rest of the world.

You have put a very real and personalized face on what happened here and we are truly blessed to have met you, to have had the opportunity to visit, and to increase our respect for and understanding of your lives and work in rebuilding BiH.

Thank you, Muhammed, for:

• Opening your home to us, even though we trashed it
• Listening to our endless needs, requests, and demands
• Planning, improvising, and improvising at every step of the journey to ensure our group was happy
• Sharing your stories of courage and survival
• And most of all, for having the vision to make this program a reality

Thank you, Ajdin and Kiran, for:

• Organizing the thousands of details involved in getting 15 people and our rolling luggage to and from everywhere
• Answering our questions every hour
• Booking such amazing and thoughtful speakers
• Sharing your time and your hearts
• And for being such fabulous program hosts

Thank you to the team at the Memorial Center, for:

• Inviting us into the center and the cemetery
• Letting us explore the property
• and sharing your experiences with us

Thank you to everyone from the bottom of our hearts. We are eternally grateful and blessed to have shared this experience with you. We will see you next summer! Živjeli!

Bones. Thugs. Disharmony. July 21, 2010

A single human skeleton contains 206 bones. Fingers. Knuckles. Toes. Pelvis. Spine. Legs. Arms. Neck. Hips. Skull.
—
A single human body contains a heart. Lungs. Blood. A brain.
—
A single human being contains a mind. Love. Hope. Joy. And most of all, a soul.
—
A single human existence is precious.
—
A single human life reduced to a pile of bones whose remains are found in four separate locations across fifteen separate mass graves/pits. Perhaps a single broken fragment of a bone is found. Or two. Ten. Thirty. With or without the skull attached.

Re-association: the process of putting the bones of a body together based upon DNA testing.
—
On this trip, we had the occasion to visit the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Tuzla, about a three hours drive from Srebrenica. The ICMP is the largest international organization dedicated to the forensic identification of persons missing from war, genocide, natural disasters, and other tragedies.
—
Upon walking into the ICMP’s Podrinje Identification Facility, it looked like a regular disheveled office with a long hallway and several offices. Papers and office equipment stacked haphazardly in the hallway, except for the large yellow doors that look like the entrances to commercial freezers. Following a detailed explanation of the ICMP’s work I was staring into what appeared to be a large room with bookshelves, medical equipment, and two washing machines. Nothing much to stare at. Then I poked my head into the space a bit further. And there he was. The skeletal remains of an adult male spread out on metal table organized as though this soul was lying down taking a nap. His ribs. Pelvis. Femurs. Hands — a series of bony parts sans his skull. I went numb.
—
Behind the yellow door we walked into a large warehouse with a clammy temperature and a gassy, odd smell. Inside it were trays and trays of bags stacked ceiling to floor. Plastic mesh and brown paper bags with identification numbers on them containing unearthed bone fragments, clothes, and other artifacts excavated from mass graves. My tears began to flow. My breath became shallow. My skin pale. My head pounding. My stomach turning. The experience will live within me forever.
—
The Popović trial heard by the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia proved beyond a reasonable doubt that genocide was indeed committed at Srebrenica on 11 July 1995. The physical evidence accumulated makes this a proven fact despite Serbian nationalist propaganda and rhetoric claiming otherwise.
—
To date, the ICMP has identified 5,036 missing persons from Srebrenica. Identifying those murdered in the genocide presents a number of forensic challenges, not the least of which is the large number of people who met ‘missing’ in such short span of time. This is compounded by the lack of forensic capacity in the local municipalities and the sheer number of primary and secondary mass graves located throughout the countryside. As a result, the challenge of identifying a single human being is extremely difficult because the remains of each person slaughtered have been violently disturbed, even after the most gruesome of deaths. This problem is because the Bosnian Serbs disinterred bodies from primary graves to secondary ones. In the process, the bones were damaged. Clothing, objects, and even identification cards fell away that may have more quickly made the recognition process somewhat easier.
—
Following the war, an army of international archaeologists and anthropologists descended upon Bosnia. Some remains were excavated by hand, while others were dug up using mechanical equipment, further damaging the evidence. The process of identifying each bone requires a DNA sample to be taken. But in order to make a match, DNA samples from family members are also required. Since over 8,000 men and boys went missing, the ICMP had to collect blood samples from 8,000 families in the Bosnian Diaspora scattered across the globe. As such, over 28,000 separate DNA tests were collected for over 15,000 victims given the scattering of forensic evidence and large number of mass graves.
—
The ICMP estimates that approximately 8-10,000 bodies are still buried underneath the ground. The location of these graves is complicated by the fact that there are few witnesses willing to come forward. The reason? These particular persons are frequently eye witnesses and/or participants in the murders. And even though the Bosniak men and boys killed were from Bosnia i Herzegovina (BiH), their remains may also turn up in other territories. These locations include Serbia and Croatia given that the Drina River Valley is the natural division between countries rather than the politically-enforced borders. As a result, the site of a person’s disappearance may not in fact guarantee the recovery of his remains in the same place.
—
The Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo (RDC) runs the Human Losses Project. This recording process has collected evidence of 100,000 persons killed, lost, and missing during the war of all ethnic backgrounds. The project provides irrefutable evidence of the war’s devastation on the population. The RDCS uses Google Atlas technology to locate these mass graves. 4,500 bodies have been buried to date. The decision to bury one of the identified victims is solely up to the family. However, the process of identification does not end when a body is buried since additional bones may turn up in graves at a later date. Some families choose to delay this process as long as possible especially when the skull is missing and/or to ensure that the majority of bones have been located.
—
As luck would have it, on the Marš Mira Peace March, I met Sarah Wagner, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina at Greensboro. She wrote an influential book entitled, ““To Know Where He Lies: DNA Technology and the Search for Srebrenica’s Missing.”While remains from victims from the 1995 Srebrenica genocide have been mostly located, those persons slaughtered in 1992 are not as likely given the passage of time.
—
Forensic re-association and DNA matching remain a scientific process. Not so for the families of the missing. During our visit to the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center, we met with a staff member whose father was killed in the genocide and who was missing for several years. One night she had a dream that her father’s remains would be identified with the exception of a single piece. A call from the ICMP came the next day confirming her vision: her father’s body had been found and was only missing one part. The bones may turn to dust, but the soul remains.
—————————————————————————-
International Commission on Missing Persons:

http://www.ic-mp.org/

**
Popović et al. (IT-05-88) “Srebrenica”: http://www.icty.org/case/popovic/4
**
The Research and Documentation Center: Human Losses Project:

http://www.norveska.ba/ARKIV/Ongoing_Projects/6CFD9857_BDFA_402B_8CF2_45E9803E08B5/

***
Sarah Wagner’s book, “To Know Where He Lies: DNA Technology and the Search for Srebrenica’s Missing”:
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520255753

Let me show you the world in my eyes July 15, 2010

 My deepest suspicions are true: in that place during that time I would not have lived. I would be dead. From mortar shells, from sniper gunfire, from execution, from dehydration, from hunger, from exhaustion, from rape, from torture, or from much worse. It does not matter how, but the truth remains the same. The fate of my immediate family, extended kin, and beloved friends would remain unknown. How easy is it to think about the past and contemplate what you would do to escape a war? Targeted persecution? The face of evil? How easy is it to believe that you would be the one to be saved, to possess super human strength to survive, to beat the odds and live to tell the harrowing tale?

         

 I came to Bosnia i Herzegovina (BiH) for two reasons. One was to conduct research at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center for my master’s thesis on the relevancy of memorial sites as a way to connect past atrocities with contemporary issues. The other was to reconcile my historic categorization as the other with my emerging identity as a visible and empowered global citizen advocating equality, human rights, and tolerance for all.

        But first things first. My journey to BiH began with my acceptance as one of 15 participants taking part in the inaugural Summer Research University (SRU) sponsored by the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center. On this trip are a mix of master’s and Ph.D. students, researchers, and professors from countries including Montenegro, Australia, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ireland, Italy, and the United States (US).

        In the parts of the countryside I have seen to date, signs of war, shells, bullets, and destroyed buildings abound. Reconstruction is most definitely visible. But for a newcomer to BiH, the destruction is overwhelming. Everywhere you look there are reminders of war. Houses that have not yet been resurfaced look as though they have severe acne. Marks on buildings from bombs and mortar rounds look like deep splatters and ‘bear claws’ as Christopher Hutchins describes. After studying the war in BiH for many years, and in-depth in my graduate coursework, nothing could still have prepared me for the realities on the ground. No amount of research can approximate my experiences here to date, both negatively and positively.  

        BiH is one state with two political entities: the Federation of BiH (mostly inhabited by Bosnian Muslims aka Bosniaks and Croats) and Republika Srpska (RS), dominated by Bosnian Serbs. For example, while there is one army and a single currency, there are different educational and telecommunication institutions. While BiH has a new flag for the entire country, the territory of RS features many Serbian nationalist symbols including its own flag and religious three finger hand moniker. The reality is more complicated as resettlement programs initiated by the international community have resulted in a mix of these three ethnic groups. This is despite the fact that returning refugees encounter a terrain that no longer resembles the homes of their memories. 

        This three week in-country immersion features two components. The program’s first half was a 110KM three day peace march (Marš Mira) attended by over 6,000 people throughout the BiH countryside (primarily in the territory of RS) between 8-10 July 2010. The other portion of the program is to meet with survivors and staff from the memorial center as well as with local, regional, and international experts about the war and the reconstruction challenges and opportunities within this post-conflict landscape. So far we have met with a legal advisor from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); a police investigator with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); the head a civil-society organization, and a former soldier from the Dutchbat 3 (Dutch Battalion) peacekeeping mission. This does not include the myriad of people we have met along the way who survived the genocide, fought in the army, and/or remain deeply affected by the aftermath of war.

        Marš Mira took us through the woods, mud, steep hills, corn fields, gravel roads, and local villages. It is described as “to freedom via the route of death” and considered a peaceful protest attended by national and international participants of all ages. Residents along the route came to watch the marchers and at many homes coffee, tea, juice, snacks, and water were freely distributed.

        We camped for three nights. The first evening outdoors (prior to the start of the march) was in a small field surrounded by the woods with approximately ten houses nearby. Upon our group’s arrival, complete with a pile of backpacks and rolling luggage (for reasons to difficult to explain), we discovered that men outnumbered women by 50 to one (or so it seemed). The group could not have looked more conspicuous and ridiculous. Our luggage and laptops were eventually evacuated to a more secure location. We could se se nearly everyone, including the Bosnian army, staring at us, as though we were aliens arriving from another planet. Large tents housing 60 persons each were set up by the army. After being heckled out of one of these massive tents, a kind soul came out to welcome our group, putting us somewhat more at ease. My single person tent stood out as though adorned in neon. Needless to say, one of the men in our SRU group used it instead.

        At dusk, it began to pour while consumption of alcohol flowed throughout the crowd, even though this was strictly prohibited. Nothing about that first night indicated the sentimental journey to follow in the coming days. “God is crying for Srebrenica,” a new compassionate acquaintance told me. His parents unable to secure US visas for him and his two brothers, the three boys were forced to return to BiH and lived here with relatives throughout the war.

        During the darkness, especially when the army’s floodlights were turned off, the rowdiness of the crowd intensified. So did the aggressiveness of the men towards the women in our group. That is not to say that there were not gentlemen or soldiers present who were willing to strongly shoo away our determined and over-stimulated suitors. A few older women and children from the neighboring village came out and invited us to spend the night in their homes. It was a blessing from above after having had my nerves utterly shattered. During this night, I began smoking cigarettes to quell my intense anxiety and fear. I was visibly shaking unable to hold the smoke, as a fellow female SRU participant later told me.

        At dawn the following day, the march began in earnest. Thousands of men, women, and small children marched body to body for a long time in the intense heat. A water tanker followed us and bread and high caloric snacks were provided at key junctures from the Tuzla Canton’s Red Cross. I found it extremely difficult to walk and was overwhelmed with the irony that the now peaceful, lush, and gorgeous countryside was a death trap in 1995. The walking sticks I balked at purchasing back in the US were the primary reason I was able to march at all. (More on that later).

        Interspersed throughout the walk were small printed signs denoting numerous locations of mass graves. The signage indicated both primary execution sites as well as secondary pits where the remains of those massacred were moved by the Bosnian Serbs in an effort to destroy forensic evidence. At all times the path we took was within sight of mountainous areas that had sheltered snipers determined to kill those fleeing during the war.

        Over the course of three days, the march took us from a small village in Nezuk back to Potočari. The path retraced the steps – in the opposite direction – of the thousands of Bosniak men who fled Srebrenica and Potočari in an effort to reach Tuzla, part of the ‘free’ territory during the war. This route became a journey of death for the thousands of men who took to the hills in an effort to escape. Despite the cover of trees and foliage, this human column was surrounded by Bosnian Serbs who subsequently captured and murdered a significant number of male refugees. The fate of thousands, mostly men and boys, remain unknown to this day. The vast majority of persons executed were males aged 12 to 75.

     A separate mass of people–some 40,000, including men, women, children, the infirm, the elderly, and the newly born–all fled from surrounding villages first to Srebrenica and later to the industrial center in Potočari as the Bosnian Serb army continued to ethnically cleanse the area. It is at Potočari where the primary United Nations (UN) compound is located. This massive site was declared by the UN Security Council’s Resolution 819 a ‘safe haven.’ (UNSC Resolution 824 later extended this categorization to Tuzla, Žepa, Bihač, Goražde, and Sarajevo.) History proved otherwise. Men, women, and children were separated from one another at the Potočari site, which included an old battery factory. Women and children were put on buses and sent to Tuzla via a harrowing journey throughout hostile territory and constant harassment from armed Bosnian Serbs demanding cash and goods. Eight thousand men and boys suffered a more gruesome and genocidal fate.

        The march ended in the commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of the genocide that took place in and around the Srebrenica enclave on 11 July 1995. The event was attended by international diplomats, BiH government officials, and well over 20,000 local visitors. These included families, an overwhelming number who were women, mourning their beloved sons, husbands, grandfathers, uncles, neighbors, and friends. Approximately 750 persons were buried, whose remains were recently identified. The iconic images of a two rows of men passing these green coffins from the battery factory several hundred feet to the cemetery across the street was humbling, numbing, and intensely emotional. Interspersed were international photojournalists looking for the perfect shot of women crying and praying for their loved ones. Even members of the SRU group, including myself, confronted the ethical dilemma of taking pictures to document the experience while trying to respect the intense mourning that engulfed us.

        More installments, including happier encounters, to follow.

Background on the Srebrenica Genocide:

http://www.srebrenicagenocide.org/

http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/

Marš Mira:

http://www.Maršmira.org/en_Maršmira.php

Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center Summer Research Institute:

http://sru.potocarimc.ba/cat_2010.php

UN Security Council Resolution 819:

http://www.nato.int/ifor/un/u930416a.htm

“The 10 Worst U.N. Security Council Resolutions Ever” by Colum Lynch

(Foreign Policy Magazine, 24 May 2010) 

http://tinyurl.com/3ahxry8