The construction of the Croatian National Defense (HVO) museum on the site of the Heliodrom camp in Mostar, and the recent statement of war criminal Dario Kordić, are a painful reminder that the international community has failed to establish a transitional justice strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, claims the professor of philosophy and genocide and holocaust studies at Southern Connecticut State University and member of the Executive Board of the Genocide Study Program at Yale University, prof. Ph.D. David Pettigrew.
He notes that within the framework of transitional justice, memorials to the victims of genocide and other war crimes should be ensured, glorification of convicted war criminals should be ended and hate speech should be prevented, in order to restore the rule of law and protect survivors from re-traumatization.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona School of Medicine Statements by dr. Esad Boskailo believes that the pervasive denial of genocide and other crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Herzegovina – as well as the glorification of those crimes – keeps survivors and perpetrators in a cycle of despair that blocks real healing.
“The construction of the HVO Museum on the location of the Heliodrom concentration camp will further retraumatize the survivors,” emphasized Boškailo, who survived six wartime concentration camps in Herzegovina and is the co-author of the book “Wounded and Awake: The Search for Meaning after Terror” about his experiences in the camps and psychological consequences of war traumas.
He underlined that after thirty years, the new generation in Bosnia and Herzegovina does not know anything about those places, and they are exposed to claims that no terrible crimes were committed at that location.
The working group for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which gathers numerous domestic and international experts, sent a letter to the Secretary of State of the United States Department of State, Antony Blinken, urging him to use “all available channels, legal mechanisms and diplomatic influence” to stop the construction of the HVO military museum. and on the site of the former Heliodrom camp.
They believe that this “reckless museum project” is a flagrant violation of the common commitment to preserve historical memory and human dignity, and to prevent impunity for crimes against humanity.
Instead of building a museum, they proposed the installation of a dignified plaque on which was written the recognition that in 1993-1994, was a concentration camp.
“This plaque would serve as a powerful reminder of the crimes committed. The plaque would mark a sacred place where we could gather every year on April 22nd to honor the victims and acknowledge the tragic history that unfolded within those walls,” they said.
The letter was also sent to High Representative Christian Schmidt, US Ambassador Michael Murphy and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
