History textbooks in post-conflict societies: Education for reconciliation?

History textbooks in post-conflict societies: Education for reconciliation?

konferencija

On Friday April 24th, 2015, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) held a conference History textbooks in post-conflict societies: Education for reconciliation? The HLC’s aim was to contribute to the debate on the role of education in the process of dealing with the past and overcoming its heavy legacy, and the actualization of the issue to do with the contents of history textbooks regarding the wars and war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s. Experts in the fields of history, political studies, law, sociology, and philosophy, many of whom have already made their contributions to the analysis of the content of history textbooks, were invited. The participants were invited to offer their answers to the problem of how historiography today values the judicial facts about war crimes, why most of the textbooks ignore these facts, which historical sources are relevant for the wars waged during 1990’s, and what the role of the voluminous material now available about war crimes, collected by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), might be in the creation of a common historical memory of all societies in the former Yugoslavia.

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The Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Presented

The Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Presented

post_model_konferencijaOn April 23rd 2015 the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented the Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed during and in relation to the Armed Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia (Model Strategy).

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Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed During and In Relation to the Armed Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia

Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed During and In Relation to the Armed Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia

post_modul_stragerija_engThe objective of the Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed during and in relation to the Armed Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia (Model Strategy) is to stimulate the relevant institutions to adopt an official state strategy for the prosecution of war crimes committed in the armed conflicts during the 1990’s on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and provide a comprehensive, informative and objective contribution to the production of this Strategy.

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A Model of the Law on Civilian Victims of War Presented

A Model of the Law on Civilian Victims of War Presented

post_model_vestThe Center for Advanced Legal Studies (CUPS) and the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented on April 17, at the Media Center in Belgrade, a Model Law on the rights of civilian victims of human rights violations committed during and in connection with the armed conflicts in the period 1991-2001 (the Model Law). The presentation was attended by representatives of associations of victims and victims’ family members, NGOs, the media, the EU Delegation to Serbia, embassies and international organizations, the Office for Human and Minority Rights, the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor and the Democratic Party.

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Press conference for the purpose of presenting the Bill on the rights of civilian victims of human rights violations committed during and in relation to the armed conflicts in the period 1991-2001

Press conference for the purpose of presenting the Bill on the rights of civilian victims of human rights violations committed during and in relation to the armed conflicts in the period  1991-2001

post_fhp_cupsThe Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies (CALS) will present the Model Law on the rights of civilian victims of human rights violations committed during and in connection with the armed conflicts in the period 1991-2001 (Model Law) on Friday, April 17th, 2015 at 10:30 in the Great Hall of the Media Centre in Belgrade (Terazije 3, I floor).

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Conference “The role of education in the processes of establishing accountability and reconciliation” held in Belgrade

Conference “The role of education in the processes of establishing accountability and reconciliation” held in Belgrade

post_obrazovanjeThe Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo and the ‘Lawyer’ Association from Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Union University Faculty of Law and the Center for Comparative Studies, organized a conference on the role of education in the processes and strategies of Transitional Justice on February 6th, 2015. The Conference was held at the Union University Faculty of Law with the participation of academic communities from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia, including university professors, researchers and research fellows in the fields of law, history, anthropology, sociology, political sciences, and other sciences and disciplines, as well as representatives of three generations of students of the Regional School of Transitional Justice.

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31,600 documents undoubtedly confirm death or disappearance of 13,535 individuals during war in Kosovo

31,600 documents undoubtedly confirm death or disappearance of 13,535 individuals during war in Kosovo

post_prezentacija_KMBThe presentation and evaluation of the Kosovo Memory Book (KMB) Database was held today in the Belgrade Media Centre. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo joined forces in the production of the KMB Database, containing data on the people who lost their lives  or disappeared in events related to the war in Kosovo in the period January 1st, 1998 – December 31st, 2000. The conference was attended by a large number of media, non-governmental organizations, and local and international institutions and experts.

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Presentation of “Rudnica” Dossier

Presentation of “Rudnica” Dossier

post_dosije_rudnicaOn January 29, 2015 the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented the “Rudnica” Dossier. The Dossier offers an insight into the evidence on four crimes committed in April and May 1999 in Kosovo by members of the Yugoslav Army (VJ) and the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), the victims of which were Kosovo Albanian civilians whose bodies were exhumed from the mass grave in Rudnica, as well as to present the evidence which points to those who participated in the operations of transporting and concealing the bodies at secret locations for 15 years.

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Discourses on war crimes trials in Serbia

Discourses on war  crimes trials in Serbia

post_predstavljenje_21.11.2014

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented on 21st November 2014 the Analysis of media discourses on war crimes trials in Serbia 2003-2013 and the Analysis of political discourses on domestic war crimes trials in Serbia 2003-2013. The main findings of the analyses were presented by the author, Dr Katarina Ristić, a researcher at the University of Leipzig. Before that, HLC Executive Director Sandra Orlović in her introductory remarks stressed that the Serbian media reporting seldom represented the cathartic element that opens the broader social dialogue about the past, and that the institutions themselves also did not perceive the trials as something that can generate dealing with the past. Thus war crimes trials, the only functional mechanism of transitional justice in Serbia, are unable to fully contribute to dealing with the past in Serbia.

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Presentation of the Analysis of the Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia in the period 2004 to 2013

Presentation of the Analysis of the Prosecution  of War Crimes in Serbia in the period 2004 to 2013

predstavljanje_analizeOn September 30th 2014, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented its Analysis of the Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia in the period 2004 to 2013. The Analysis encompasses the overview of practice, achievements and problems in the work of the institutions which were responsible for the enforcement of criminal justice in cases of crimes committed during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, as well as 75 recommendations to institutions and other stakeholders. The Analysis provides a starting point for drafting the strategic guidelines for the prosecution of war crimes in the forthcoming decade, which will be handed to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia at the end of 2014.

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