The Humanitarian Law Center invites you to a talk with historian Christian Axboe Nielsen on key questions of transitional justice, the legacy of the ICTY, and the role of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior police in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The event will take place on September 26, 2025, at 12:00, at the UNS Press Center, Kneza Mihaila 6, Belgrade.
The talk will address key issues of transitional justice and the legacy of the Hague Tribunal: :
- why ICTY judgments are accepted selectively,
- how “ethnic justice” rather than the rule of law took root in the post-Yugoslav countries,
- the ways in which ethnic nationalism shapes memory and political narratives,
- and whether reconciliation is possible through critical re-examination of the past as a foundation for the future.
Special emphasis will be placed on the role of academia, as its participation in critically confronting the past ensures both the legitimacy and the continuity of debates on accountability and justice.
Christian Axboe Nielsen will speak about his testimony before the ICTY concerning the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska and the role of police structures in the wars of the 1990s.
- “The police and associated paramilitary formations were key actors in the preparation and implementation of ethnic cleansing.”
- “Institutions, not only individuals, were the ‘drivers’ of events that paved the way for mass crimes.”
The discussion will also feature HLC researcher Jovana Kolarić, who will present the dossier Tomislav Kovač, dedicated to the role of the police of Republika Srpska from its establishment on 28 February 1992 through its involvement in the events in Srebrenica in July 1995.
The conversation will be moderated by Nataša Kandić, founder of the HLC.
About Christian Axboe Nielsen:
- Associate Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, Department of History and Classical Studies.
- Testified before the ICTY as an expert witness in the cases Stanišić and Župljanin, Stanišić and Simatović, Karadžić, and other proceedings examining the role of police structures in war crimes.
- His research focuses on the role of police in mass atrocities, mechanisms of ethnic cleansing, and transitional justice policies.
- Author of the book Mass Atrocities and the police: A new history of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2022).
Translation into English will be provided.
