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Supported by a grant from Open
Society Institute
©Almin Zrno
 In Prosecutor
v. Krstic, a landmark ruling that put to rest any doubts about
the legal character of the massacre, the Appeals Chamber of the
International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia unanimously
ruled that it was an act of genocide. As the Chamber’s judgment
states:
By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian
Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the
40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was
emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general.…The Appeals
Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate
terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre
at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible
will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those
who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous
act.
Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the world's first United
Nations “Safe Area,” was the site of the worst case
of massacre in Europe since World War II. In July 1995, the Bosnian
Serb army staged a brutal takeover of the small town and its surrounding
region. Over a period of five days, the Bosnian Serb soldiers
separated Muslim (Bosniak) families and systematically murdered
more than 7,800 men and boys in fields, schools, and warehouses.
The massacre was carried out after the commander of the United
Nations Protection Force, General Bertrand Janvier, handed the
town over to the Serbian army General Ratko Mladic. On
the eve of the tenth anniversary (July 2005) of the Srebrenica
genocide, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in the United States
faced an obligation to deliver a commemorative event that would
once again put Srebrenica genocide on the front pages and in public
discourse.The Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABH), a not-for-profit
organization based in New York, held an event that commemorated
the massacre of Bosniak men and boys, which occurred from July
12 through July 18, 1995 in and near the UN declared "Safe
Area" of Srebrenica. During the week of the commemorative
event, an estimated 30,000 visitors reflected on the exhibit in
the lobby of the United Nations building in New York, and dozens
of news outlets around the world carried the story of Srebrenica
remembered.
Srebrenica Commemorative Event
The July 11, 2005 commemoration held at the United Nations headquarters
in New York generated a dramatic moment reflecting on the 1995
events, created a lasting record as a reminder to all Bosnians
and the international community of nations, sensitized the general
public to the crimes of genocide, and at the same time helped
present artists from Bosnia-Herzegovina and several other countries,
paying special attention to younger, emerging artists.The events
were open to public and free. Representatives of the United Nations
and its Member States, civil society, media and the general public
attended and reacted to the events.Beyond commemoration and awareness-raising,
the Srebrenica commemoration events sent a reminder to the international
community in attendance about unfulfilled individual accountability
for the crimes committed. The ultimate message was a call for
international solidarity in the face of future genocides, and
for the international community to have the will to act appropriately
in time to guard against human rights abuses that precede genocide.
Art Exhibit Commemorating 10 years since the Srebrenica Massacre
©Michelle Rodgers
 The
art exhibit, which opened on July 11, featured a selection of
some of the best photographs and multimedia works available on
this theme and was on display until July 31, 2005.The art
exhibit and multimedia presentation were opened at the south end
of the UN entrance pavilion on July 11, 2005. The exhibit showcased
a selection of art works with the theme commemorating the 10 years
since the Srebrenica massacre. It included works influenced by
the historical events in Srebrenica, its aftermath and the coming
future. It commented on the massacre and the phenomena of human
experience faced with genocide. Works included photographs and
digital images of other artwork, such as painting and sculpture,
as well as video material looped on a TV screen.Photographs that
were selected portrayed, in their documentary and artistic capacity,
events and consequences of those events, while unveiling and demystifying
the subject matter, bringing the viewer closer to those who were
affected by the Srebrenica genocide. The subject matter stunned
but also moved the viewers to a new emotional understanding of
the tragedy; it provided historical information and at the same
time remembered the victims and their families with dignity. This
exhibition has contributed to what is hoped will be an artistic
process that will preserve the collective memory of events that
took place in Srebrenica and will develop recognizable visual
iconography of those events, much like Picasso’s Guernica
did for the Holocaust.Works were received through an art contest
and included artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina and United States
but also artists from other countries such as Norway and Ireland.
Participating artists (in alphabethical order):
Aida Sehovic (USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Almin Zrno (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Dzeko Hodzic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Dzemila Rekanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Enes Sivac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Esma Spaho (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Kemal Hromic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Lara Nettelfield (USA)
Lisa Kahane (USA)
Maria Fuglevaag Warsinski (Norway)
Michelle Rodgers (Ireland)
Muhamed Ceif (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Raib Salihefendic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Samir Biscevic (USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Samra Mujezinovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Sara Terry (USA)
Sarah Wagner (USA)
Tarik Samarah (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Toso Mitesevski (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
"Što te Nema?" (Why are you not here?) Art Installation
©Aida Sehovic
 In "Što
te Nema?" (Why are you not here?), young Bosnian-American
artist Aida Šehovic built on the traditional Bosnian ritual
of gathering for coffee to perform an art installation, influenced
by the Srebrenica events, in the same space as the exhibition
in the UN lobby over five days, opening on July 11, 2005.On
July 11th, 2004, Ms. Šehovic set up the first version of
the art installation in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1,327
small porcelain coffee cups were set up for this installation
in front of a mosque, corresponding to the number of the first
identified and re-buried victims from Srebrenica.Ms. Šehovic
extended the reach of the "Why are you not here?" installation
with a subsequent July 11th, 2005 installation as the number of
coffee cups grew (to 1,705) as more bodies were discovered, identified,
and laid to rest. She set up the updated version of this installation
in the UN building as part of the Academy's Commemoration of the
Srebrenica massacre. She spread the cups on a bed of soil depicting
a map of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cups were concentrated at
the eastern edge of the map in the geographic area of Srebrenica.
Most of the cups were filled with coffee. Cups representing victims
under age 18, who were too young for the coffee tradition at the
time of their death, were empty and held sugar cubes only. Tape
recorders ran tape loops of Ms. Šehovic reciting the names
and birthdates of the dead.All of the cups used in this installation
were collected from Bosnian families living in the United States
and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most were collected by members of
the NGO "Women of Srebrenica Association" from residents
of Srebrenica and neighboring areas.
Film and Speaker Presentations
©Maria Warsinski
Extending the messages of the exhibit and art installation, on
July 11 in the UN library auditorium, Srebrenica survivor Sejdefa
Ðozic moved the audience to tears as she recounted the story
of leaving her hometown; while the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Roy Gutman, who reported extensively from Bosnia and Herzegovina
during the war, called for serious lessons to be learned for the
future. A documentary film by Maria F. Warsinski, containing clandestine
archival footage, was screened at the auditorium, presenting a
visual indictment of the perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide.
The auditorium presentation was intended to put the events of
Srebrenica in more of a historical and political context for the
audience unfamiliar with the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and Srebrenica as one of the monumental events in that conflict.
-----
 The
Academy of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a not-for-profit organization dedicated
to empowering a new generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians
living in the United States and diaspora, commemorated the genocide
of Srebrenica which stunned the world in 1995 in the heart of
Europe, raised the awareness about it, and sent a message for
the implementation of justice. The Academy also sought to connect
this commemorative event to other memorial events taking place
in the Bosnian diaspora and around the world.As the United Nations
Security Council presses the war crimes tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia to conclude its work, the men most wanted for their
role in Srebrenica's genocide -- Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic
and former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic -- remain
at liberty, even though they were both indicted by the International
Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, specifically on charges
relating to Srebrenica, for genocide, crimes against humanity
and other grave crimes of international concern.
For more information please contact progam staff:
Damir Pozderac
Leila Rachidi
Almir Lucevic
Amra Turalic
Nebojsa Seric Shoba
Lejla Hadzic
Alison Hanson
ULUPUBiH
"Why Are You not Here?" Art installation team:
Aida Sehovic
Gates Gooding
Amel Mujezinovic
Dzana Sehovic
Maja Sedic |
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