Many officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) support those convicted of war crimes. How can the moral healing of society be achieved?
The position of the Minister of Culture and Sports in the entity Federation of BiH (FBiH), Sanja Vlaisavljevic, that persons convicted of war crimes must be rehabilitated after serving their sentences caused a lot of criticism. She referred to FBiH President Lidija Bradara’s statement about Dario Kordic, that after serving his sentence he “stopped being a war crime convict” and that she “doesn’t give up her friends”.
Brkic: “Regardless of the name, we must condemn the war crime”.
Josip Brkic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH and Bradara’s party colleague from the HDZ, who also nominated Minister Vlaisavljevic, believes that glorifying war criminals and denying genocide does not lead to reconciliation.
“Regardless of the name and surname, we must condemn the war crime and expect all those convicted to serve their sentences. By doing so, we contribute to the final understanding of the events of the 1990s,” stressed Brkic.
Jahja Muhasilovic, professor of international relations at the International University in Sarajevo, considers the views of public officials on the rehabilitation of those convicted of war crimes devastating: “Speaking in that way, apart from being cruel, is inhumane, anti-civilizational and anti-state,” he says. He also believes that the majority of convicted war criminals have not repented or faced their crimes.
“Lack of moral values”
What kind of message do BiH public officials send to society and the future by supporting those convicted of war crimes?
“BiH is a state of absurdity, with three truths. Everyone has their own heroes and other people’s criminals, and there is only one truth,” says Vehid Sehic, political analyst and president of the Strategic Committee of the coalition of non-governmental organizations ‘Pod lupom’.
Sehic also mentioned the convicts who served their sentences and ran for public office, but also the fact that there is no legal provision for the deprivation of civil rights.
“A war criminal will always be a war criminal, he does not have a nation, but a first and last name. It will always be written in the transcript of criminal sanctions that he was convicted of a war crime. That will remain forever,” Sehic adds. He also points out that in the states of the region, societies have not truly faced the past and facts.
“Those convicted of war crimes are national heroes. The thesis is still ‘we defended ourselves in a defensive war, and in a defensive war there are no war crimes’. There is no moral healing in society because we do not want to face the past. It is the perfect basis for the development of uncivilized attitudes,” Sehic concluded, DW reports.
E.Dz.
