Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human rights - Osijek Content CCENTREENTRE FFOROR PPEACE,EACE, NNONVIOLENCEONVIOLENCE AANDND HHUMANUMAN RRIGHTSIGHTS - OSIJEKOSIJEK

RREPORTEPORT 20052005 - 20062006 Content

CONTENT

53 Human rights 53 Legal Aid and Counselling 60 Dealing with the Past 60 Monitoring War Crime Trials 64 Advocating for the process of dealing with the past 61 Culture of Nonviolence 66 Mediation 70 „Building bridges“- interreligious cooperation 74 Community Development 74 Volunteers in Peacebuilding and Community Development 80 Through Dialogue towards Future 80 Interculturality and Youth 82 Civil Society Development 82 Development of voluntarism 83 Regional Forum of NGOs 83 Support to establishment and development of the local community foundation 85 Cooperation 87 Research 88 Providing training and other services to civil society sector and other sectors 90 Financial report

52 Human rights

HUMAN RIGHTS

Legal Aid and Counselling Since the beginning of its work, the Centre for Peace has, through its activities, been intent upon contributing to the easier realisation of civil and human rights and better access to justice for the citizens whose rights have been endangered. To realise this goal, the Centre for Peace has been conducting various activities. Legal aid and counselling is an activity that the Centre for Peace has been conti- nuingly implementing since 1998, targeting vulnerable groups of citizens in the Slavonia and Baranja region. Legal aid consists of providing legal counselling, help with composing offi cial letters for the realisation and protection of individual rights of citizens and repre- sentation in courts1 for benefi ciaries who are in need of this type of aid. In addition to this, we monitor the application of the law by competent institutions. This impli- es the analysis of each individual case and interventions by competent authorities in the cases of violations of the legal aid benefi ciaries’ rights. Up to 2007, the majority of our benefi ciaries have been returnees, refugees and displaced persons from the counties of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem. The work of the offi ce for legal aid and counselling has, to a large extent, been directed towards realisation of their rights related to return and/or integration into Croatian society. Furthermore, legal aid has been accessible to a considerable number of benefi ciaries from the most endangered and poorest groups in society. Out of a total of 3522 benefi ciaries of the legal aid and counselling in 2005, 2204 were persons belonging to the following groups: refugees (923), displaced per- sons (779) and returnees (502). 1318 benefi ciaries fall into the category of poor and vulnerable groups. In 2006, the number of benefi ciaries from the categories of returnees, refugees and displaced persons has decreased. Out of a total number of benefi ciaries – 3585, only 1873 were from these categories, while the number of benefi ciaries from the category of socially deprived has increased and totalled 1712. The following gro- 1 Representation in courts has ups fall into the category of socially deprived: the unemployed, benefi ciaries of been provided by lawyers who had applied to our com- the social welfare system, pensioners with pensions amounting to less than HRK petition by invitation, which 2.000,00, victims of domestic violence and members of minority groups. had predefi ned the conditions and criteria for legal services. During the selection procedu- re, we had taken into account their expertise and knowled- ge of the problem areas of our benefi ciaries. We have been providing legal services for all municipal and two county co- urts in the Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem Counties.

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GRAPH 1: THE STRUCTURE OF BENEFICIARIES OF THE LEGAL AID AND COUNSELLING

poor and 4000 vulnerable 3500 groups 1318 3000 1712

2500 returnees, 2000 refugees and displaced 1500 2204 persons 1873 1000 500

0 12

GRAPH 2: CLASSIFICATION OF CASES ACCORDING TO LEGAL CATEGORIES (2005)

Other Criminal and 16% Pension minor offences 17% 3% Health insurance 4%

Convalidation Property 4% 17% Social Welfare 5%

Former Tenancy 6% Status 12% Labour Reconstruction 6% 10%

Total number of cases in 2005: 3544.

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GRAPH 3: CLASSIFICATION OF CASES ACCORDING TO LEGAL CATEGORIES (2005)

Status Other 16% 14% Health 3%

Criminal and minor offences 3% Social Welfare Property 4% 15% Family 5%

Convalidation 5% Pension Former Tenancy 14% 5% Reconstuction Labour 10% 6%

Total number of cases in 2006: 3622. The results achieved through the direct provision of legal aid In 2005 and 2006, the following has been achieved through direct work with be- nefi ciaries: 7166 cases were received and processed. 990 cases were solved. In view of the problem of the slowness of the Croatian judiciary and administra- tion regarding the solving of cases (“silence of the administration”2), we 2 observed during 2006 at least a slight increase in the number of solved «Silence of the administration”: cases. In 2005, there were 429, and in 2006, there were 561 solved cases. synonyms for this term are “si- lence of the authorities” or “si- Provision of 4424 legal counsels, i.e. provision of general information about ri- lence of the administrative au- ghts and duties, preliminary legal counsel advice as well as complete instruc- thority (body)”. “Silence of the tions about the ways and possibilities of settling a particular legal issue. administration” refers to the following cases: when no ac- Writing 3404 offi cial letters and petitions (applications, rush notes, com- tions of the proceedings have plaints, claims, appeals, proposals for distraint etc.) been undertaken within the Representation in courts was provided to 49 benefi ciaries in municipal prescribed timeframe; when courts in Osijek, Beli Manastir, Dalj and Negoslavci; in county courts in Osi- the proceedings are brought to an end, but without issuing jek and Vukovar; in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia and in a decision; when the decision the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. 12 proceedings were is issued within the prescribed completed with judgements with fi nal force and eff ect, thereof 8 ended timeframe, but not delivered with positive rulings, while 4 were formally rejected. to the party.

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Problem: insuffi ciently Apart from providing legal aid in the offi ces in Osijek, Beli Manastir, Dalj clear criteria by which the and Negoslavci, our mobile team of lawyers had been continuingly visi- Directorate for Displaced ting elderly, infi rm and bed-ridden persons in need of legal aid in Nijemci, Persons, Returnees and Refugees makes lists of Srijemska Laza, Otok, Privlaka, Vukovar, Borovo, Vinkovci, Erdut, Bijelo Brdo, priorities for housing Dalj, Branjin Vrh and in St. Helena Home in Osijek. care outside the Areas of Help with acquiring basic personal documents and covering costs of ve- Special State Concern, rifi cations, translations, administrative fees, etc. for 97 benefi ciaries. and especially the lack of legal practice in the In cooperation with NGOs from Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Her- subsequent course of pro- zegovina, we provided assistance in obtaining personal documents to ceedings are obstacles for 120 benefi ciaries who have the status of “refugee”, “displaced person”, “re- interested benefi ciaries turnee” and/or “foreigner”. in attaining complete and After several years of waiting, the reconstruction of 5 family houses in truthful counsel founded on law. Ceranji Gornji, in Obrovac Municipality, was fi nished, enabling displaced persons from Ceranji Gornji, with temporary residence in Negoslavci, to return to their homes. In the collective centre “Friendship Settlement” in Čepin: 6 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina realized their right to reconstruction; 15 refugees realized their right to pension or pension back payments; 10 refugees obta- ined a formal ruling on the issue of restitution of privately-owned property; after a long procedure, fl at was returned to H.C., a refugee from Banja Luka; we registered 24 organised returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Problem: In his report for the year 2006, the Om- We registered the return of seven families with children to in the greater budsman states that the Osijek area. Directorate for Displaced Good and targeted informing resulted in a relatively high number of appli- Persons, Returnees and cations for the programme of housing for former tenancy rights holders Refugees and the Direc- torate for reconstruction outside the Areas of Special State Concern (ASSC) in the area of Osijek of Family Houses of (675) and Vinkovci (106) (the immediate Osijek and Vinkovci areas are out- the Ministry of the Sea, side the Areas of Special State Concern). By the closing date for applicati- Tourism, Transport and ons (September, 2005), a total of 4425 applications had been submitted. Development could be an By the end of 2006, according to our data, 13 families from the city of obstacle to the Croatia’s Osijek had settled in state-owned fl ats. However, they are still waiting for accession process to the the conclusion of tenancy agreements. EU due to a large number of complaints (there We provided a systematic and continuous provision of support to citizens in re- are 14 000 appeals still pending before state ad- alisation of their rights ministration bodies). We made legal aid accessible to the vulnerable groups in the greater area of the following cities: Osijek, Beli Manastir, Đakovo, Našice, Vukovar, Ne- goslavci, Vinkovci and Županja. Regarding refugee return to the Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem coun- ties, in the last two years 137 returns were offi cially registered. We regi- stered 31 cases of return of internally displaced persons of Serb ethnicity, who had temporarily settled in the territory of the Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties (the area of the former UNTAES; today ASSC), to their homes in other parts of Croatia (Western Slavonia, Knin, Obrovac etc.), where they had lived before the war broke out. In the last two years,

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there were 24 registered organised returns of refugees from the Collective The problem of the Centre Čepin to Bosnia and Herzegovina “silence of the admini- stration” still exists. For After the Government of the Republic of Croatia had, as far back as June many years now, we have 2003, adopted the Conclusion on Housing Care, it was not until the be- been emphasising, as the ginning of 2006 that housing care of former tenancy right holders in Osi- most frequent example of jek started. human rights violation, the problem of noncompli- Improved communication with the government institutions ance of the provisions of the General Public Admi- Through our continuous fi ling of complaints and rush notes, we have to nistration Procedure Law some extent contributed to the improvement of the quality of work of relating to the time limits the Directorate for Reconstruction of Family Houses of the Ministry of the for delivering verdicts in the fi rst- and second-in- Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development (they are responding to our stance proceedings and rush notes in accordance with the article 296 of the General Public Admi- the problem of lengt- nistration Procedure Law). The Directorate notifi ed by offi cial letters the hiness of administrative lower instance authorities, through which the latter were obliged to deli- disputes. Violation of the ver their reply about the status of the case to the Centre for Peace within mentioned provisions of 8 days, and the authorities complied with this. It can be expected that this the Public Administration practice will lead to the quicker solving of cases. Procedure Law is especi- ally common in the area of Furthermore, we have improved communication with the Croatian Pensi- retirement and disability on Insurance Institute, Central service in Zagreb, which has been regularly insurance and concerning providing us with information on actions they had undertaken related to the reopening of cases the cases of our benefi ciaries. in the second-instance proceedings. The president of the Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia has In the procedure of en- started supplying timely replies to all rush notes the Centre for peace legal forcement of the rulings team had fi led in order to speed up the proceedings. We registered that of the administrative the President of the Administrative Court ordered, as a matter of urgency, court, we have recorded that procedures were instituted for three cases of the Centre for Peace’s violations of the provisi- benefi ciaries (the cases were from 2001, and were still pending in 2006). ons relating to the time limits for delivering new We have enhanced our cooperation with the Osijek-Baranja Police Admi- verdicts, and especi- nistration. The Centre for Peace is frequently taking the role of a mediator ally the violation of the between a benefi ciary of legal aid and authorities/police offi cials. Legal principle of obligatoriness aid benefi ciaries often have more trust in the Centre for Peace’s lawyers of a decision. It often hap- and, consequently, often turn to them when they need interpretation of pens in practice that an administrative authority the acquired decisions. On the other hand, the police also frequently turn issues the same decision to the Centre for Peace when they need help in resolving problems they that had been annulled by are dealing with. For example, in the case of forced expulsion of the M. fa- the administrative court mily, the police called the Centre for Peace to monitor the police actions. ruling, but with diff erent In this particular case, the M. family had voluntarily and on their own left statement of grounds. At the territory of the Republic of Croatia. The invitation by the police to mo- the practical level, this me- nitor their actions indicates that they have raised their awareness about ans that the proceedings the responsibility and role that they have in the society as well as about will be stalled for another 4 to 5 years. the need for monitoring and transparency of their work. Cooperation with associations Through the Open Forum of associations from Croatia, particularly on for- mulating observations on the draft Law on Free Legal Aid, as well as on

57 Human rights

the analyses, observations and recommendations regarding the National Road Maps.3 As a member of the Coalition for Promotion and Protection of Human Ri- ghts (more about the Coalition’s achievements can be found in the chap- ter Cooperation, page 85) We signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Humanitarian and Law Offi ce from Podgorica. In the upcoming period, we intend to continue developing cross-border coopera- tion with the organisations engaged in the promotion and protection of the rights of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, by organising periodical meetings at which we would exchange information as well as practical experience, and examine issues related to return and local integrations (for example, with organisations Vaša Prava BIH, the Huma- nitarian and Law Offi ce from Podgorica, Montenegro, Serbian Democratic Forum Belgrade, Serbia and Serbian Democratic Forum, Zagreb, Croatia).

3 „Road Maps“ or „Signposts“ represent a national plan for resolving issues of refugees and displaced persons. On the initiative of UNHCR, OSCE mission and the Delegation of the European Commissi- on, the Ministries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia have signed the Declaration at the conference in Sarajevo. Saraje- vo Declaration anticipates the development of the National Road Maps. The National Road Maps should become a foun- dation for the development of a regional scheme, which will include and integrate all national programmes for the purpose of resolving the pro- blems of refugees, returnees and displaced person.

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Example from Practice: Description of the D.S.’s case

„CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP” «Any further polemics about this case are pointless and we recommend to the party to collect the decision on the acquisition of Croatian citizenship, if he has not done so already, in order to complete the administrative procedure.» “D.S. is not a Croatian citizen. He will become a Croatian citizen on the date the decisi- on of this Ministry is served on him. Naturally, the serving of the mentioned decision is connected with the payment of the administrative taxes prescribed by the Administra- tion Taxes Law, in the amount of HRK 1.500,00.” D.S.’s problem dates from the mid-2004, when he applied for the issue of a Certifi cate of Citizenship, because his old one had expired. He enclosed all required documents, but then he was told that his Certifi cate of Citizenship was not valid, because it had been issued to him by mistake in 1997. D.S. was born in the Republic of Croatia and his pa- rents are Croatian citizens. Through the process of peaceful reintegration, D.S. was issu- ed a Certifi cate of Citizenship. The Certifi cate of Citizenship is a public document which serves to prove Croatian citizenship (Article 28 of the Law on Croatian Citizenship). “Revision of citizenship does not exist as a legal institute relative to citizenship.” Being legally illiterate, D.S. agreed, at the urging of an offi cer in the Department of Citi- zenship of the Police Administration, to fi le a claim for acquisition of Croatian citizen- ship. Shortly afterwards, which is unusual, he received a notice to collect the decision on acquisition of Croatian citizenship and to pay the administrative taxes in the amount of HRK 1.500,00. At that moment, D.S. got in touch with our Legal Aid and Counselling team and asked for legal aid. Since then, our team has been keeping correspondence with the Ministry of the Interior and the Central State Administrative Offi ce for Public Administration – Department for Civil Aff airs. We also wrote an inquiry to the Ombud- sman of the Republic of Croatia, but have not received any reply from him yet. We have not received an answer to the question: how is it possible to demand from someone who is a Croatian citizen, which he can prove with his Certifi cate of Citizenship, to fi le a claim for the acquisition of Croatian citizenship? Well, one cannot just say: “Your Cer- tifi cate of Citizenship has expired. It was issued to you by mistake.” What about legal security? The Ministry of the Interior itself, in its reply, confi rms that the revision of citi- zenship does not exist. We also have not received an answer to the question about how it was possible for D.S., as a foreign citizen, to be enlisted and sent to military service, which he completed in 2003. To the present day, D.S. has not collected the decision on 4 the acquisition of Croatian citizenship. Ministry of the Interior, Assi- stant Minister, from the offi - We are waiting for a reply from the Ombudsman of the Republic of Croatia. cial letter sent on April 10th Epilogue: The Ombudsman, in his reply from June 30th 2006, stated that the conditions 2006 for issuing a Certifi cate of Citizenship had not been met. He could also not provide an 5 Ministry of the Interior, answer to the question how a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina could be enlisted. He Assistant Minister, from the asked from the Osijek-Baranja Police Administration to investigate the responsibility of offi cial letter sent on May th offi cer who had issued and certifi ed D.S.’s Certifi cate of Citizenship. 27 2006 6 Before the reply got in, due to personal reasons, D.S. had paid the taxes for the decision Ministry of the Interior, Assistant Minister, from the on the acquisition of Croatian citizenship and got his new Certifi cate of Citizenship. offi cial letter sent on May 27th 2006

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Dealing with the Past

Monitoring War Crime Trials Centre for Peace has been implementing the Monitoring War Crime Trials project since 2004. The aim of the involvement of organisations for protection of human rights into the monitoring of war crime trials is twofold: 1. Contribution to the im- provement of judicial practice; 2. Strengthening of trust in local courts. Both men- tioned aspects are important for more eff ective contribution in achieving justice for the victims of crimes and in strengthening the rule of law. Nine lawyers from fi ve partner organisations (Altruist Centre Split; Documenta; Ci- vic Committee for Human Rights; Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights; and Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights) have been working in the war crime trials monitoring teams. Centre for Peace has been implementing the regional project of Monitoring War Crime Trials in co-operation with the Humani- tarian Law Centre from Belgrade, and the Research and Documentation Centre from Sarajevo. Using a unique methodology of monitoring and reporting, the monitoring teams were present at 13 war crime trials in 2005, while in 2006, the teams were present at 18 trials, out of a total of 23 war crime trials, conducted at 9 county courts on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. (Table 1: Overview of war crime trials in 2005/2006) Within the framework of the regional project, we have been monitoring the fo- llowing trials during 2005 and 2006: the trial for war crime against war prisoners at Ovčara, and the trial for war crime against civilians in Zvornik – conducted at the Special court in Belgrade; the trial for crime against the family of the priest Matanović – conducted at the court in Banja Luka; and the trial for crime in Foča – conducted at the court in Sarajevo. In 2005 and 2006, we attended a total of 196 court hearings, and made the same number of reports. The fi nal analysis was made on each trial for which the fi rst-in- stance court verdict had been reached. The project was introduced to 21 county courts in the Republic of Croatia, to the State Attorney’s Offi ce, to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, and a regular correspondence was established in order to obtain information on court hearings, provide access to documents and notify courts on monitors’ presence during trials. The presentation of regional co-operation on activities in the war cri- me trials monitoring was held in the Media Centre in Belgrade, and at the NGO Forum in Zagreb. The fi ndings on monitoring war crime trials at county courts in the Republic of Croatia were presented to the expert community and interested audience at the round-table discussion which was held at the Human Rights Centre in Zagreb, at the press conferences and through the published reports (Monitoring War Crime

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Trials, Annual Report for 2005; and Monitoring War Crime Trials, Annual Report for 2006). All the reports, and all the documents collected at the trials, may be found at the web site of the Centre for Peace.7 The average of 4,500 visitors visit the Centre for Peace web pages on a monthly basis.

It is important to emphasize that the trial reports and fi ndings are regularly referred to by the following international and domestic organisations and the institutions in the Republic of Croatia: Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Croatia, representatives of the embassies to the Republic of Croatia, representatives of the State Attorney’s Offi ce, UNHCR, OSCE and ICTY, representatives of the Offi ce for Associations and some thirty organisations of civil society from the entire Croatia.

Improvement of war crime trials practice is clearly visible in the following:

1. The State Attorney’s Offi ce of the Republic of Croatia has continued to: stren- gthen the regional/international cooperation on war crime trials; insist on dis- continuation of court practice of conducting war crime trials in absence; launch investigation procedures for the crimes committed against ethnic non-Croatian population, and investigation on the persons who are responsible for crimes according to the command responsibility; proceed with a trend of gradual ope- ning up towards the public by providing an increased availability and access to information. 2. During 2006, at the fi rst-instance court trials before the county courts: no major violations of the regulations of the Law on Criminal Procedure were registered; no incidents in the court lobbies, or obstruction of work of the War Crime Coun- cils, or obstruction of work of the parties involved in court trials, provoked by the audience in the courtroom, were registered; several repeated court trials were completed in a correct manner; cooperation between the judiciary and the po- lice of the Republic of Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on bringing the witnesses to the court, has started functioning. Defi ciencies of the war crime trials practice in the Republic of Croatia are mainly a result, and some of them are the repetition, of the previously employed, poor judicial practices. These defi ciencies point to unwillingness, ineff ectiveness, and/or partiality in conducting war crime trials.

The key defi ciencies are as follows: court trials held in absence of the accused; insuffi ciently detailed indictments (indictments are not precise enough); repea- ting of court trials; non-standardized practice of ordering detention; insuffi cient support to the witnesses and the victims.

7 http://www.centar-za-mir.hr/ sudenje.php

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TABLE 1: OVERVIEW OF WAR CRIME TRIALS IN 2005/2006

CRIMINAL COURT CASE YEAR ACT

County Court in „Crime in Ernestinovo“(2005) War crime 2005. Osijek against „Crime in Branjin Vrh“(2005) civilians „Crime in Branjina“(2005) „Crime in Beli Manastir and other towns and villages in Baranja“ (2006) „Crime in Čepin“ (2006) „Crime in Paulin Dvor“ 2006 „Crime in Dalj“

County Court in „Crime in Borovo Selo“ (2005) War crime 2005. Vukovar against civilians „Crime in Mikluševci“ (2005-06) Genocide Genocide / „„Crime in Lovas“ (2005/06) War crime against civilians „Crime in Berak“(2006) War crime against civilians „Crime at „Velepromet““ 2006 War crime against „Crime at „Borovo – Commerce““ 2006 civilians

County Court in „Crime in Kruševo near Obrovac“(2005) War crime 2005. Zadar against civilians

County Court in 2005. „Crime in Frkašić detention camp“(2005) War crime Karlovac against war prisoners „Crime at the Korana river bridge“ Illegal killing (2005/06) and woun- ding of enemy

County Court in „Crime in Trnovo i Croatian Danube War crime 2005. Zagreb region“(2005) against war prisoners

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County Court in „Crime in Bjelovar“(2005) War crime 2005. Varaždin against civilians/war crime against war prisoners

County Court in „Crime in Virovitica“ (2005/06) War crime 2005. / Bjelovar against 2006. civilians

County Court in „Crime at „Lora““ War crime 2005. / Split against 2006. civilians

County Court in „Crime in Raštević“ 2006 War crime 2006. Zadar against „Crime in Korlat“2006 civilians

County Court in „Crime in Lovinac“ War crime 2006. Rijeka against civilians

County Court in „Crime at the BiH corridor, in Potkonj, War crime 2006. Šibenik Vrpolje and Knin“ against civilians

County Court in „Crime in Petrinja“ War crime 2006. Sisak against civilians

County Court in „Crime on Pogledić hill near Glina“ War crime 2006. Sisak against civilians

Court in Banja „Crime against the family of the priest War crime 2004./05. Luka Matanović“ against civilians

Court in Sarajevo „Crime in Foča“ War crime 2004./05. against civilians

Court in Belgrade „„Crime at Ovčara“ War crime 2005./06. against war prisoners

Court in Belgrade „„Crime in Zvornik“ War crime 2006. against civilians

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Advocating for the process of dealing with the past Within the advertising campaign for the documentary fi lm series in Osi- jek, we presented the documentary fi lm „Lora“ with guest Nenad Puhov- ski, the fi lm author; the documentary fi lm „Sarajevo in times of war“; and the documentary fi lm „Pretty Dyana“. We organised the following panel discussions and round-table discussi- ons: The Ovčara Crime Trial, with guests from Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Vukovar; „I have the guts“ with the guest Svetlana Broz, the author (Karlovac); War Crime Trials Monitoring presentation to the students of the Zagreb Law Faculty and the Osijek Law Faculty; „Political violence and pressure exerted on the media“ as a reaction to frequent threats to newsreporters and their replacing due to publishing of publicly inappro- priate information; „War veterans in the post-war period“ where the posi- tions of war veterans in today's Croatian society were discussed as well as the causes and models of war veterans' active involvement in a post-war society; and the round-table discussion covering the dialogue between the non-government organisations dealing with human rights, on one side, and veterans' associations, on the other side, held at the Zagreb HVI- DR-a premises. In co-operation with the Centre for Non-violent Action from Belgrade, we organised a promotion of the book „I cannot be fi ne if my neighbour is doing badly!“ which is published by the Belgrade' s Centre for Non-violent Action. The book is a very successful example of oral history which deals with the war in all areas of the former Yugoslavia, including the areas that were not directly ravaged by the war but were also greatly aff ected by it. (Osijek) Two special issues of the „Culture of Peace“ magazine were published: 1. „Dealing with the Past“, a total of 1,600 copies were printed in Croatian and English language (2005); and 2. „War Crime Trials“, 700 copies were printed in Croatian language (2006). Both publications were presented to the public and distributed in Croa- tia and throughout the region. We have organised an expert seminar under the title of „New Tactics in Human Rights: Tools for Activists“. The seminar was organised in co-ope- ration with the Human Rights Centre from Zagreb. We have participated in the following media presentations: presentation of the regional co-operation on dealing with the past and war crime trials monitoring (Media Centre in Belgrade); presentation of the war crime tri- als monitoring in the television show at Bijeljina TV (Republika Srpska); we participated in one-hour Split TV broadcast „Censure“ discussing the trial for war crime at „Ovčara“; Culture in the process of dealing with the past, interviews given to the cultural programme of the Croatian Radio Cha- nnel II; Dealing with the past, an intervju given to the Radio 101; report

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on humanitarian law violations committed by the Military and Housing Commission, prepared for the fi lm „Dossier Osijek“ produced by B92 TV from Belgrade; report on process of dealing with the past, prepared for the „Mreža“ TV (Network) from Belgrade. We joined the public discussion regarding unsolved murders of civilians in Osijek in 1991. On that occasion, we organised press conferences and issued 3 press releases that were broadcast during the prime-time radio and television news reports. Promotions of the publications „Monitoring War Crime Trials in the Repu- blic of Croatia – key fi ndings and recommendations “ - Annual Reports for 2005 and 2006, were held in Zagreb and Osijek. The recommendations given by civil society organisations that work in the fi eld of dealing with the past (including the recommendations given by the Centre for Peace) have been included in the national and regio- nal recommendations to the Global Action Plan for Prevention of Armed Confl icts (see www.gppac.org) and the initiative has been launched for the UN Resolution „Trauma-recovery and reconciliation“.

65 Culture of Nonviolence

CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE A culture of nonviolence includes values that determine the way people relate to each other, whether at individual or group level. The foundation of nonviolence is a relationship based on equality in dignity in which people treat each other with res- pect. A society based on equality in dignity is the society that nurtures nonviolence. Nonviolence is not only about stopping the violence or absence of violence, but also about proactive actions towards nonviolence. It implies confl ict transforma- tion through reaching agreements that solve a problem. It implicitly includes a personal and social responsibility – a responsibility for one’s own life as well as the appreciation and care for the needs of the others and the community. In the culture of nonviolence, a confl ict becomes an opportunity for: recognising one’s own needs and appreciating the needs of others; opening dialogue and exchange of information, knowledge and ideas; developing creativity and innovativeness in search of diff erent ways to meet our needs, while taking into account the needs of others. Learning about nonviolence and living pursuant to the values of nonviolence im- ply personal growth and change. Through getting to know ourselves, our own Nonviolence is… needs and emotions, we will be able to better understand others, fi nd understan- Appreciating diff e- ding and compassion for the needs of others and take these needs into account. rences Active nonviolence calls for continuous examination of our attitudes, opinions and Listening to others actions related to specifi c persons and situations in which we fi nd ourselves. The- Compassion refore, as Gandhi said: There is no way to peace; peace is the way. Dialogue and coope- The promotion and affi rmation of the culture of nonviolence has been one of the ration fundamental backbones of the work of the Centre for Peace for many years. In the Not avoiding, course of 2005 and 2006, we worked on the promotion of mediation as a method But resolving confl icts of resolving confl icts in a peaceful way, and we fostered education on nonviolence in a peaceful way for members of diff erent churches and religious communities. A lifestyle …. Mediation Mediation is a nonviolent dispute resolution method where a third neutral party helps confl icting parties to open dialogue and fi nd the best solution for their problem. Nonviolent confl ict resolution is based on mutual understanding and acknowled- gment, and not on attacks, accusations and usage of force against each other. It is based on dialogue and joint searching for a solution that all parties are satisfi - ed with. Nonviolent confl ict resolution is not based on “who is right and who is wrong”, but on the concept that it is possible to fi nd a solution that meets the needs and interests (no matter how diff erent or similar they might be) of all of the confl icting parties. All of us sometimes fi nd ourselves in situations in which we don’t see a solution and need help to be able to express our thoughts, our view of the problem, to deal

66 Culture of Nonviolence

with our emotions and to talk calmly. When a confl ict escalates, emotions are very often intensive, which makes communication and clarifi cation of the problem very diffi cult. In such situations, when parties in confl ict need help, mediation is one of alternative options that might be used. Mediation is done with the assistance of mediators who help confl icting parties to communicate with mutual respect, to listen and to develop empathy. Mediator helps parties in confl ict to recognise and understand their own needs and feelings, to see and consider diff erent aspects of the problem, which is leading them towar- ds seeking the best solution. Mediators help parties to redirect their focus from people towards the problem and help parties to create and choose the solution they feel is best for them. That way, the power is returned to the confl icting parties and therewith the responsibility for the own choices and the own life. Solutions achieved by mediation are more sustainable and long-term because they were created and chosen by parties themselves, who know best what they need and how they want to achieve it.

What we have accomplished

We have chosen to contribute to the process of development and promotion of mediation in the area of Slavonia and Baranja in several diff erent ways: sensiti- sation of the public for nonviolent dispute resolution; empowerment of citizens, children and youth for responsible and creative confl ict transformation; setting up and opening mediation centres in which citizens can get mediation service free of charge; supporting the process of networking between NGOs and institutions that provide mediation services or education on mediation with the goal of exchange of information, best practices and development of strategies on national level. We have started by implementing activities directed towards education and pre- paration of mediators.

Education 55 citizens mediators, 34 community policemen, 12 judges and 10 social workers in three local communities (Osijek (Os), Vukovar (Vu) and Beli Ma- nastir (BM)) have participated in mediation trainings. We have conducted 44 days of training in total. After basic eight-day training, all participants were given opportunities to further improve their skills through supervisi- on, role plays and peer exchange meetings.

Two mediation centres opened Two mediation centres were opened in January 2006 in Osijek and Beli Manastir and since then mediators are providing mediation services. The number of mediation cases is rising, especially in Beli Manastir. In 35 cases people have applied for mediation. Six cases ended with an agreement, 13 cases are still in process and at least 15 cases were not suitable for me- diation and were therefore referred to other agencies or institutions.

67 Culture of Nonviolence

Introduction of mediation into Croatian courts: 12 judges from 5 courts participated in the education programme (Muni- cipal Court Osijek, Commercial Court Osijek, Municipal Court Beli Mana- stir, Municipal Court Đakovo and Municipal Court Valpovo). Judges participated in the process of developing procedures and forms that are necessary for referring cases to mediation inside or outside the court. Municipal Court Beli Manastir chose the model of referring cases to the Mediation Centre Beli Manastir and Osijek, determined procedures and appointed a Mediation Offi cer inside the court. The Commercial Court Osijek off ers parties interested in mediation information about all orga- nisations/institutions where they could apply for mediation in Osijek and During the implemen- tation of the project, leaves it up to them to decide whom they contact. The Municipal Court our cooperation was Osijek decided to start a pilot project in cooperation with the Ministry of extended to another Justice and has began off ering mediation services inside the court, where area. The Police Depar- mediation is conducted by judges. tment Osječko-Baranska invited our trainers to Improved Cooperation with Police, Social Welfare Centre and NGOs: participate in regular Previously established cooperation with the Police Departments in Osijek, professional education Beli Manastir and Vukovar was improved, and currently community poli- of policemen working in cemen give citizens in confl ict information about mediation and where the Osječko-Baranjska they could apply for mediation services. In total, 13 cases were referred by County. Topics that were contact policemen last year. particularly interesting for the police were com- Very good cooperation was developed with organisations that work on munication and dealing introducing mediation into Croatia. During study trips to Norway and with stress. Three wor- Finland, representatives of diff erent institutions and organisations from kshops were held with Croatia had the opportunity to get to know each other better, which re- three diff erent groups sulted in joint plans for future cooperation. The concept of joint advocacy of policemen as a pilot for introducing peer mediation into schools was developed and agreed programme. Policemen upon. The next step is the presentation of the concept to the Ministry of showed high motivation Science, Education and Sport. for participation in these After participating in the mediation training, social workers from the Soci- workshops. al Welfare Centre Vukovar (SWC VU) have expressed how important they think mediation is and that they are willing to apply it in their everyday work with clients. The Centre for Peace cooperated with the SWC VU to further develop capacities for mediation of social workers of SWC VU. Promotion Mediation is a new way of dealing with confl icts suitable for the majority of citizens and therefore we have put special attention to the promotion of mediation, in order to lessen prejudices and fears connected to this new method: several local radio stations broadcasted a jingle on media- tion every day throughout the week in which we celebrated the Interna- tional Day of Peace; we have made a short fi lm on mediation; distributed around 230 posters, around 2850 leafl ets; published several articles on mediation in local newspapers; newspapers announced events and pre- sentations related to mediation; we have held 9 presentations on medi- ations for citizens, schools and institutions; the fi lm production company

68 Culture of Nonviolence

“Fade in” made for the channel “HRT” a 5-minute documentary on medi- ation and the project we have been implementing in 2005. The fi lm was broadcasted as a part of the TV-Show “Život u živo” (“live from life”); the project and background information about mediation were presented during an one-hour live radio show on Radio Vukovar, and two live radio shows on Radio Baranja and radio Banska Kosa in Beli Manastir. Peer Mediation in Primary Schools After a two-year break, which resulted from a lack of funds, we are wor- king again on the promotion of peer mediation in two primary schools in Osijek. In one of the chosen schools the Mediators’ Club has already been functioning for the last three years. In this school a new generation of mediators is being educated, and already experienced mediators are receiving additional training. Recently, the other school off ered peer me- diation training for their students for the fi rst time.

Why mediation From its fi rst days in 1992, the Centre for Peace works on the promotion of a culture of peace and dialogue, which inevitably includes raising capacities for confl ict transfor- mation in local communities. For us, mediation is a very important method of active non-violence and it is also a method that can be used by everybody – everybody can participate in a mediation process as a party in confl ict. Mediation gives the power for confl ict resolution back to the people in confl ict and develops the belief that a choice and a way out always exist. This approach to confl ict resolution on individual level contributes to a diff erent culture of living that acknowledges identity and integrity of the other person and the diff erences between oneself and the other person. It helps learning about the own needs and bor- ders as well as the needs and borders of others, improving the quality of relationships and developing creative potentials on the individual level. It enables fi nding better and more sustainable solutions, it opens space for a diff erent kind of communication and it is motivation and encouragement for facing, opening and solving future confl icts. That way, confl icts become opportunities for change. Practicing mediation on all levels, contributes to the development of the capacity of the com- munity for the transformation of confl icts, to a change of the culture of dominance (competi- tion and violence) into a culture of cooperation (democracy and non-violent action). Mediators have a special role in this social process as well as in the mediation process. Their role is not to “reconcile” the parties in confl ict, but to create a space in which they can cooperate in the search for the best solution for all of them. For this role they need skills of analysis, communication and dealing with strong emotions. They need empathy for the pain a person or a group experienced during the confl ict, because this can open the possibility of releasing the past. However, fi rst of all, they need the attitude and con- viction that parties in confl ict are able to solve the problem themselves, that each per- son knows what he/she feels and needs, and that he/she is able to express that and be assertive, at the same time acknowledging the needs of the other (that compassion, love, solidarity and courage are a capacity of every human being). Here lies the humbleness and humanity of mediation, its greatness and opportunity to infl uence change.

69 Culture of Nonviolence

„Building bridges“- interreligious cooperation

Towards Peace and Reconciliation through Education on Non- violence for Representatives of Churches and Religious Com- munities

We are living in a society in which churches and religious communities have an im- portant role in shaping our value systems, attitudes, patterns of behaviour and cul- ture. Even though the Centre for Peace is a secular (worldly) organisation, our work in the area of the culture of nonviolence also includes cooperation with members of various churches and religious communities. Recognising the importance of their involvement in the processes of developing a democratic society, in the last few years we have focused our work on bringing together and initiating coope- ration among diff erent churches, religious communities and non-governmental organisations in South East Europe. The main activities targeting this goal were in the fi eld of education on nonviolence and nonviolent action. Nonviolence has been acknowledged to be a fi rm, common foundation on which the dialogue among diff erent stakeholders can be built. The main purpose of education on nonviolence is to ensure examination of per- sonal attitudes, values and relationships to nonviolence through the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills and to encourage believers to be actively en- gaged in peacebuilding. We provided for education on nonviolence at two levels: 1. Basic training for those who want to get empowered for nonviolent action; 2. Advanced training or training of trainers (ToT) for those who want to teach others about nonviolence and nonviolent action.9

What we have accomplished

47 participants in 4 countries completed the basic training on nonviolence Representatives of churches, religious communities and non-governmen- tal organisations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia10, Mace- donia and Serbia joined the project. The basic training on nonviolence, in duration of 12 days, was held in all mentioned countries. From the total number of 55 participants, 47 completed the training. At the training, we 9 Participation in the training of trainers was dependent on opened up a discussion about nonviolence as a common foundation of previous completion of the all religions, a space for exploring the relation between nonviolence and basic training on nonviolence religion, a space for examining personal attitudes and value systems and following the curriculum of the for discovering possibilities for the application of nonviolence in everyday Centre for Peace or other similar lives. Our intention was to encourage the participants of the training to curricula) explore and discover similarities in their religions and beliefs. However, an 10 In Croatia, the training on non- violence was conducted in the even bigger challenge was to create a space for examination and search earlier phase of the project for the answer to the question: How can we live together respecting dif- implementation, during 2003 ferences that exist among us and the religions we belong to. and 2004, and was completed by 12 participants.

70 Culture of Nonviolence

TABLE 2: THE NUMBER AND STRUCTURE OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE BASIC Topics of the training on TRAINING nonviolence Basics of nonviolent NUMBER OF communication PARTICIPANTS CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS COUNTRY Introduction to confl ict OF THE BASIC COMMUNITIES TRAINING How do I behave in a confl ict Albania 7 Islam community and Orthodox church Confl ict transformation Bosnia and Islam community and members of Christian 7 Herzegovina churches: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Cooperation and under- standing of nonviolence Macedonian Orthodox Church and Macedonia 14 Protestant (Evangelical) Church Diversity of religious Serbian Orthodox, Methodist and Catholic identities Serbia 7 Church Prejudices and Catholic, Baptist, Adventist and reformed stereotypes Croatia 12 Church Structural violence Total 47 Theatre of the Oppressed After the basic trainings on nonviolence had been held in the above-men- Faith and political tioned countries in June 2005, we organised a regional gathering for 26 engagement participants that took place in Osijek. The purpose of this meeting was to Introduction to get to know each other and exchange experiences through socialising and consensus 11 taking part in various activities. The evaluation of achievements after the Social change and fi rst phase of project implementation suggests the following changes: nonviolent resistance The most important change in participants occurred in the way they think My power to change about and in their attitude towards nonviolence. They became aware of Interreligiuos dialogue the opportunity for choice, that is, that violence is not an imperative way Spirituality of of reacting. The majority of participants adopted an activist way of thin- nonviolence king, asking the question: “What can I do for the benefi t of the society and community I live in?!” Many participants started applying the skills of non- violence, like active listening, assertiveness and dialogue skills during their work in their churches, communities, organisations and in their every-day lives. They have recognised nonviolence as the common foundation of all religions, but also as reinforcement and support for the development of future joint activities and cooperation on peacebuilding. 11 participants completed the advanced training on nonviolence / Training of trainers After the selection process among the participants of the basic training, 11 we organised a training of trainers (ToT) for 11 participants: 2 from Croatia, The Centre for Peace was a partner organisation in orga- 2 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3 from Serbia and 4 from Macedonia. The nising the programme of the participants were members of the Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant (Baptist, Kristfest (The Ecumenical Fe- Methodist, Evangelical) Church and of the Islam community. The parti- stival of Christian Culture) that cipants of ToT mastered the following tasks they had been exposed to: was taking place in Osijek at they went deeper into the topics of the basic training, acquired knowled- that time, so that the partici- pants of the meeting had an ge and skills for running trainings and led a two-day training session on opportunity to participate as non-violence organised for believers in their communities. There were 5 guests in the programme of introductory training sessions on nonviolence held: two in Bosnia and the Festival.

71 Culture of Nonviolence

Herzegovina, one in Macedonia and one in Croatia. It is important to po- int out that the participants of the introductory trainings were members of diff erent churches and religious communities. They had prepared the workshops with the help of supervisors. The new trainers evaluated the cycles of education on nonviolence as very useful in several respects. The participants pointed out that they have deepened their knowledge and skills about non-violence and nonviolent action. Moreover, they have developed knowledge and skills about the methodology of training. However, the majority of participants pointed out the following as the most important aspect: getting to know mem- bers of other religious communities and churches, mutual exchange of experiences and cooperation through experiential and practical work. All participants of the ToT demonstrated a high level of motivation for coo- peration and development of joint peacebuilding activities. The infl uence of education on nonviolence in these four countries is refl ec- ted in an active engagement of the new trainers in diff erent civil society organisations that work on peacebuilding as well as for the emergence of two new organisations: The Centre for Prevention of Terrorism (Saraje- vo) and The Centre for Peace, Interconfessional Dialogue and Cooperation (KIFA, Skopje). Furthermore, the participants of the training are more open for dialogue and cooperation with representatives of civil society, chur- ches and religious communities and express readiness for active involve- ment in peace work. We have educated new trainers, who are motivated for the further dissemination of knowledge and for continued work with members of diff erent confessions in their community. Also, strong bonds have been established among associations from South East Europe that want to work on peacebuilding through promotion and development of interreligious cooperation. Izdali smo publikacije o nenasilju We issued two publications on nonviolence We translated and published the book Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink from English to Croatian (1000 copies). The book is very encouraging for all those who deliberate about the value of nonvi- olence as an eff ective and creative way of resolving confl icts, about rela- tionships and power at the personal and social level. The book was also translated into Macedonian and we are expecting the publication to be issued soon for readers in Macedonia. We completed a manual A Tool on the Path of Nonviolence12, which was edited by Snježana Kovačević (The Centre for Peace, Osijek) and Ana Raf- fai (RAND, Zagreb). It was developed through joint eff orts of new trainers – members of churches, religious communities, and civil society organi- sations – and the project team. The manual will also be translated into Macedonian.

12 The manual A Tool on the We participated as partners in the organisation of the Kristfest – The Ecumeni- Path of Nonviolence has been cal Festival of Christian Culture. This initiative was jointly implemented by local published and can be found churches for the purpose of contributing to the development of the culture of in the Centre for Peace

72 Culture of Nonviolence

dialogue and civil society development. The Centre for Peace contributed to the realisation of the festival through the following activities: promotion of the book Jesus and Nonviolence; workshop on nonviolence for citizens / members of dif- ferent Christian churches; theological forum titled The Prospects of Christianity in United Europe, which gathered around 50 citizens, mostly theologians and peace activists; interreligious prayer meeting for peace in the world gathered around 40 citizens and representatives of religious communities (Roman Catholic, Baptist and Evangelical-Pentecostal Church).

The Centre for Peace, Interconfessional Dialogue and Cooperation Skopje, Macedonia As a result of participation in the project, a new organisation – KIFA - the Centre for Peace, Interconfessional Dialogue and Cooperation, was established in Skopje, Ma- cedonia. Although at the beginning of our cooperation, the team in Macedonia, as well as the teams in other countries, had been full of mistrust towards us as a se- cular non-governmental organisation, after the basic training on nonviolence the attitudes changed as well as the understanding of the application of nonviolence, and the prejudices against the Centre for Peace were reduced. The organisation KIFA was established with the purpose of connecting all believers in Macedonia. It was founded by the members of the Macedonian Orthodox Chur- ch and the Evangelical Church. At the very beginning of their work, and with conti- nuous support from our team, they developed a vision, mission and programme of work for their newly launched organisation. They have established contacts with non-governmental organisations in Macedonia. They have started creating the- ir own programme on the application of nonviolence, trying to meet the specifi c needs of their community. They are wiling to further their knowledge and skills and to be more engaged in the promotion of nonviolence and peacebuilding. One of the leaders of a religious community in Macedonia, who participated in the training on non-violence, states: “I must honestly confess that I don’t remember when was the last time I had such a strong spiritual experience, as the one I had at the training on nonviolence. The team was also great. I think and feel that we can do a lot of good things with this project in the territories of our brutal Balkans. (excerpt from the evaluation of the ToT) Furthermore, this participant points out that he has changed his attitude not only towards other religious communities, but also towards non-governmental organi- sations. Now, his view of nonviolence is diff erent and he is more ready for coopera- tion. He wants to transfer what he has learnt about nonviolence to the members of his church and to those of other churches and religious communities. Speaking from his own experience, he considers the infl uence of the people in a position of authority in society and/or in church to be crucial for cultivating community among believers and reducing prejudices against other churches, religious com- munities and non-governmental organisations.

73 Community Development

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT “In order to ‘develop a community’, you must do things that give people the sense of belonging, that they are truly connected, that they can trust each other and that they can lean on each other. You must do things that help people to feel compe- tent, to feel that their opinion matters and that they can infl uence a positive chan- ge in their lives and in those of the people in their environment.” Herb Walters The development of strong, local citizens’ initiatives13 and community organisations is a long-term process that requires a lot of investment and support from people. Our work in communities started from the following assumptions: citizens of a community are the ones that can gain or lose the most, depen- ding on whether the eff orts invested in community development / revitalisa- tion will be successful or not citizens of a community are best acquainted with the problems people in their community most often face citizens know best which kind of activities are useful, and which are destructive The development of diff erent knowledge and skills is an important aspect in the development of initiatives, groups or organisations, and individuals. However, the persons that have not had the opportunity to learn skills required for strengthe- ning community need support. If the support is off ered in a way that does not exclude respect, believing that the persons who are off ered help do not lack capa- bilities, but only certain skills, then the support can be good and eff ective.

Volunteers in Peacebuilding and Community Development After the peaceful reintegration of the occupied territories of the Republic of Cro- atia, the need for establishing various initiatives emerged, which would work on connecting and reconciling people and which would use their own power and capacities to infl uence everything that was going on around them. Back in 1998, we started our activities directed towards these needs in the war-aff ected areas of Eastern Slavonia and Baranja. These activities are a forerunner of our current community activities.14

13 A ‘citizens’ initiative’ is an or- The main aim of the project Volunteers in Peacebuilding and Community Develo- ganised group of local pe- pment 3 (2004 – 2007) is the development of sustainable structures, whose role is ople (inhabitants) who join to launch initiatives and support active and responsible participation of citizens in together in order to clearly express their problems that the development of their communities. are infl uencing their life in the community and to take During 2005 and 2006, the work on community development included: leadership in resolving these motivating and strengthening volunteers for starting initiatives important problems to the community 14 More about achievements on development of new knowledge and skills as a precondition for the deve- http://www.centar-za-mir.hr/ engprogram_izgradnja.php lopment of an effi cient group or organisation

74 Community Development

strengthening structures that support citizens’ initiatives and voluntarism encouraging cooperation among diff erent stakeholders in the community promotion of the values of peacebuilding and the culture of nonviolence: tolerance, coexistence, cooperation, solidarity etc.

What we have accomplished With the continuous support of supervisors and community organisers, 150 – 200 active volunteers either started or joined diff erent activities in the communities of Tenja, Dalj, Vukovar and Beli Manastir. During 2005 and 2006, 2500- 3000 people from the above-mentioned communities took part in these activities. Volunteer centres were founded in Tenja and Dalj. They were formally registered at the end of 2006. In Beli Manastir, we supported strengthening of the Roma asso- ciation – Luna, which promotes the values of volunteer work, whilst nurturing multiculturalism and nonviolence as their core values. A group of youngsters from Vukovar, aged 10 to 12 years, launched an initiative aiming at building trust and cooperation among youngsters (regardless of their sex, age, ethnic or religious affi liation etc.) In addition to our support to these four communities, we continued to monitor the development of associations that emerged in the earlier phase of our work in these communities: association Luč in Berak and Duga in Okučani. Tenja In the Volunteer Centre Tenja (VCT), there are around 50 volunteers that regular- ly take part in diff erent activities (facilitating workshops; participating in organising diff erent manifestations; participating in the work of the advisory body; designing and implementing activities). VCT successfully cooperates with the local gover- nment, numerous community organisations (the cultural club, associations of wo- men, pensioners, hunters etc.), churches, the school and other associations and citizens’ initiatives. With the support of VCT, the Handball Club, Youth Club and the association The Ring of Posavina, which is composed of Croatian refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, journalists group and many other initiatives and citizens groups, started their work in the community. During the last two years, the Council of VCT - composed of the president of the local administrative offi ce, a primary sc- hool teacher, representatives of non-governmental organisations and several res- pectable community members - has been actively supporting the development of voluntarism in the community. Once VCT was formally registered, the members of the former Council became members of the VCT’s Managing Board. Some of the activities conducted by VCT during the last two years: Volunteers facilitated and/or organised the following activities: English lessons for children and adults; debates: creative workshops for children and youngsters (for example, the workshop “The Paper City” during which they were forming a vision of their community in the future); the magazi- ne Fanzin, which provides information on the activities of the Youth Club;

75 Community Development

movie evenings for the youth; sports activities – organising a football competition, Pilates, etc. 20 new members joined the Youth Club. The Youth Club has also esta- blished a cooperation with the association PRONI Mediators-volunteers conducted several mediations in their community The Unemployed Incubator has been successful in helping local residents to fi nd a job. They established cooperation with 14 local entrepreneurs and off ered them their services in fi nding workers. In the course of one year, they found jobs for 20 local residents (mostly seasonal jobs). They cooperated with the Serbian Orthodox Church on organising an art colony, in which 80 artists from the region took part And more…: Together with the association Life Without Ragweed from Osijek, they organised two voluntary actions for removing ragweed; in cooperation with the women’s association Izvor, they took part in provi- ding care for welfare cases; they provided support for the local initiative of building a children’s playground in the old part of Tenja.

Dalj In Dalj community, they organised a seminar titled The Power of Cooperation, where the representatives of associations, the local government and schools had an oppor- tunity to express the problems they had recognised in their local community and devise activities that would be useful for the wider community. Upon the completi- on of the seminar, numerous initiatives have been started in the community. One of the fi rst initiatives was the establishment of the ecological association Eco Centre Dalj in April 2005, which has 20 members, mostly youngsters. They started their work with a community action – collecting old batteries - in a way that pro- vided an opportunity for connecting and opening communication among local residents15. 500 – 700 local residents took part in this action. The volunteers also launched a big action for tidying up the promenade on the bank of the Danube and a large number of local residents joined this action. The most important accomplishment is certainly the founding of the Volunteer Centre Dalj (VCD). The local administration supported the setting up of the VCD and has provided the VCD with work premises. Members of the Council for the

15 Development of Voluntarism in Dalj - representatives of the local government (the Members of the association mayor of Dalj and his deputy), the headmaster of the secondary school, a primary created a box for collecting old batteries, which started school teacher, representatives of two associations and entrepreneurs from the off from one part of the place community – demonstrated a high level of motivation and understanding of the to another. After the batteries importance of volunteer work. had been collected in one house, the task of the people After the formal registration at the end of 2006, the Council members were rena- from that house was to go med into the VCD’s Managing Board. their neighbour’s house and explain what that action was Dedication and motivation of volunteers in the VCD resulted in the following acti- all about. vities and accomplishments (this is not an exhaustive list):

76 Community Development

Launching of the bulletin “Dalj’s News”, which contains information about the work and activities of VCD and suggestions of citizens about how to solve some problems in the community The Unemployed Incubator was set up. They managed to make connec- tions between around 20 unemployed persons and local entrepreneurs. Considering a high unemployment rate in the community (70%), one co- mmunity organiser initiated a range of activities, which were aimed at re- searching entrepreneurial capacities of Dalj, such as rural tourism, organic agriculture, the Unemployed Incubator etc. They started a cooperation with the local police station on the problems of youth delinquency Considering the fact that there are a lot of elderly and infi rm persons in Dalj without systematic and organised care, the VCD started an initiative for opening a gerontological service. The realisation of this initiative is un- derway.

Beli Manastir

Systematic and continuous support provided for the Association of Roma Friends- hip – Luna, which is actively working on the inclusion of the Roma community in the life of the city of Beli Manastir, resulted in numerous activities. All the activities were conducted with support and participation of volunteers. 700 persons, mostly youngsters, took part in the activities. Here are the activities and accomplishments in 2005 and 2006: Volunteers have been helping children with learning in within the fra- mework of the extended day programme in primary schools. In cooperation with the Red Cross Osijek, they organised a fi ve-day Winter School for 35 children and youngsters from socially handicapped families. In cooperation with the association Roma Heart, they organised a sum- mer camp for socially handicapped children. The aim of these activities was to establish relationships between Roma children and the children of other ethnic groups in Baranja. The Youth Folk Group has been meeting regularly (twice a week) with the aim of preserving Roma culture. The Offi ce for National Minorities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia provided them with national costumes and instruments. Apart from Roma dances, their dance progra- mme included also the Croatian, Serbian and Hungarian dances. A group of around 30 children and youngsters, aged between 9 and 18 years, engaged in acting, reciting, poetry and singing, arranged diff erent cultural events in their community (for example, in the Home for Elderly and Infi rm Persons, they organised two events: one for the Easter Holidays and one for the International Day of Older Persons). We encouraged the associations located in the Community Centre Beli Manastir to take part in an initiative for the development of voluntarism.

77 Community Development

In cooperation with the Volunteer Centre Osijek, we agreed with the asso- ciations PGDI, BRICC and Oasis on the overall guidelines for cooperation and the role of each organisation involved. A member of the association Oasis was chosen to be the coordinator of this joint initiative for the deve- lopment of voluntarism. They established cooperation with the Roma Cultural Centre, which is active in Hungary (Baranya region). The programme framework of the co- operation encompasses the following areas: culture and language, social and legal issues, employment and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, they organised: several sports events; trainings on nonvi- olent communication and mediation; English language lessons (with the help of international volunteers from the I-to-I organisation); creati- ve workshops; computer workshops; support groups for Roma women; workshops on voluntarism; they celebrated the International Roma Day, to which folk and musical groups from Croatia, Serbia and Hungary con- tributed, and which was attended by more than 300 persons.

Vukovar

20 young people from Vukovar initiated the establishment of the association Ra- inbow, with the aim of building relationships among youngsters through organi- sing concerts, creative workshops, editing a youth magazine, web pages for the youth and humanitarian activities. The local authorities of Borovo recognised the value of this group’s work and provided it with premises in the newly renovated building of the local administrative offi ce. The local administration is paying the overhead expenses and will not be charging them rent. The group conducted, independently or in cooperation with other associations from Vukovar, the following activities: In cooperation with the Europe House Vukovar, they organised a lectu- re and the presentation of the book The Fourth World War and Another World Is Possible In cooperation with the Association of Women, Vukovar, they conducted the workshop Violence Against Women in the framework of the promoti- on of nonviolence and human rights protection. On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, they organised a concert that gathered a large number of young people; bands from Vukovar, Našice and Zagreb performed at the concert. They established cooperation with young people from Serbia through the implementation of the project “… And It Flows Without Borders…”. The main purpose was to connect young people from Vukovar (Croatia) and Bačka Palanka Municipality (Serbia) and to open dialogue, promote tolerance, build trust and new friendships among young people of di- ff erent nationalities. 26 youngsters, aged between 17 and 25 years old, from Vukovar, Bač, Bačka Palanka, Mladenovo, Borovo, Tovariševo, Bačko

78 Community Development

Novo Selo and Bratunac (Bosnia and Herzegovina), took part in the fi rst workshop in Serbia. They conducted numerous other activities, like for example: photo wor- kshops in which the task was to take a photo of things or events that symbolize peace (later on, they put on an exhibition of these photograp- hs); creative workshops (designing ornaments and greeting cards); young journalists participated in the making of one issue of the magazine The Scream (The main topic of that issue was peacebuilding. The magazine targets secondary-school pupils and is distributed in the secondary scho- ols in Vukovar).

Berak

The association Luč from Berak, supported by volunteers, continues with their work in the community. Out of the activities that took place in 2005 and 2006, we single out the following: After conducting a thematic contest titled “Good People in Times of Evil”, which was entered by 300 authors from 5 counties from Slavonia Baranja, they organised the Poetry Meetings (on the occasion of the International Family Day and the International Conscientious Objectors’ Day) on which selected poems were presented. The purpose of this event, which was attended by 180 participants, was to encourage a diff erent view of war events, and to send a message of peace. The signifi cance of this event be- comes even more evident when one considers the tremendous human and material losses which the inhabitants of Berak suff ered during the recent war. They organised a three-day workshop titled “The Poets of Peace”, aiming at raising consciousness of the role of poets in peacebuilding. 17 people participated in this workshop. The main topics were: being in peace with oneself, being in peace with others, prejudices and stereotypes. They published two books: 1. “The Poets of Peace”, collected poems; and 2. “Stories from Berak”, published in English for the fi rst time.

Okučani

The association Rainbow has been very successful in their work in Okučani and this was also recognised by their wider community. The volunteers from the asso- ciation Rainbow conducted numerous activities from which we can single out the following as the most important ones: Restoration of the Community Centre in Cage (a settlement within the Okučani municipality) by Rainbow’s volunteers and supported by the association MI from Split and representatives of local authorities. In a two- month period, Okučani got a Community Centre that can accommodate 32 persons.

79 Community Development

They continued with undertaking actions directed towards environment preservation and they embellished their town with 3500 seedlings. As a sign of support for one member of the association, whose daughter had been left bedridden after a car crash, they initiated a humanitarian action to collect funds to help this twenty-three-year-old girl. The work of the community organisers and peace activists Ana Matijević from Te- nja, Danijela Beretin from Vukovar and Dragice Aleksa from Berak, whose work the Centre for Peace has been supporting for several years, will be presented in a book that deals with the work of female peace activists from entire Croatia. The book is being prepared by the Centre for Peace Studies.

Through Dialogue towards Future

Aiming at establishing cooperation among diff erent stakeholders, the Centre for Peace conducted in 2005 a series of education sessions for representatives of the local government and political parties and citizens of Osijek. Through seminars and workshops on democracy and the EU integration (confl ict management; me- diation; participatory planning of the future of the city; direct election of a mayor; participation of citizens in the work of the local and regional government; Croatia and the European integration), the participants recognised the need for more ac- tive involvement of citizens in the work of the local government and, at the indivi- dual level, they raised their awareness about the active role of every individual in the processes of democratisation and civil society development. After the seminar, the participants presented their project ideas developed during the seminar to the Municipal Board of the City of Osijek. During 2005 and 2006, there was a special web page on the City of Osijek’s internet portal on which citizens had a chance to participate in the planning of the desirable future of their city.

Interculturality and Youth (camps and summer holidays)

During the last 10 years, and with support from the organisation Kommi- ttee für Grundrechte und Demokratie from Germany and our member Spa- senija Moro, we have been implementing an activity called “A Break from War”, which comprises the planning, preparation and implementation of summer camps for children. In 2005, at the summer camp in Neum, 200 young people took part in workshops, whose main aim was to develop tolerance and trust among participating young people from Osijek (Croa- tia), Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Sombor (Serbia). In 2005, we also organised a celebration on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of this activity, during which all leaders were presented with letters of thanks for their voluntary contribution to the implementation of this activity. In 2005 and 2006, on the initiative of the humanitarian association Hilf- swerk der Evangelischen Kirchen Schweiz (HIKS) from Switzerland and the

80 Community Development

foundation Kinderdorf Pestalozzi, we organised meetings of children from Osijek (Croatia) and Sombor (Serbia) in the Children’s Village Pestalozzi in Trogen, Switzerland. The purpose of this summer camps was to establish relationships and develop trust among young people from these two ci- ties through participation in workshops on which they learnt about the diversity and similarity of their needs, interests and cultures. In 2005 and 2006, a total of 80 children took part in the summer camps: 40 children from Osijek and 40 from Sombor. The association Ravangrad from Sombor supported the implementation of this project.

81 Civil Society Development

CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT Development of voluntarism Establishment of the regional Voluntary Centre Osijek Preceded by months of preparations, the Voluntary Centre Osijek (VCO) was fo- unded on the International Day of Volunteers, on 05 December 2005. Preparations and theoretical organisation of the programme of activities of the Voluntary Centre were carried out in co-operation with the Council for Development of Voluntary Sector, which strongly supported the idea. The seat of the Voluntary Centre Osijek is in rented facilities (address: I. Mažuranića 3) that are completely equipped with all the necessary equipment. One person is employed full-time, while some ten regular volunteers assist in the offi ce and in organisation of various events. On the 2006 International Day of Volunteers, the Voluntary Centre Osijek celebra- ted its fi rst anniversary of successful operation as an independent organisation, holding a celebration where annual prizes were awarded to volunteers in several categories (meritorious individuals, organisations, companies). In partnership with PRONI and Zeleni Osijek (Green Osijek), a partner project na- med Development of Voluntary Work in Slavonia and Baranja was created (fi nan- cially supported by the AED with USAID’s funds). One of the crucial aims of the project is a further development of the Voluntary Centre. So far, the following has been achieved: A system of a volunteers’ stock-exchange offi ce was established (supply and demand for volunteers and organisations that wish to have volunteers wor- king together with their staff ) which contains information on 122 volunteers; The Voluntary Centre web site was created (www.osvolonteri.com); A voluntary sector – Youth Information Service was established in co-opera- tion with the PRONI association, and in co-operation with the Green Osijek association regarding voluntary activities in ecology issues; Two voluntary actions, which involved around 30 volunteers, were carried out (the project holder – Green Osijek); Workshops on voluntary work were held at secondary schools in Đakovo, Osi- jek and Beli Manastir (the project holder – PRONI); A round-table discussion was held where the voluntary work in institutions was discussed; A survey on voluntary work contributed by civic population in the regions of the Republic of Croatia was carried out in co-operation with the MI (We); SMART; and Most (Bridge) associations. Comparative fi ndings of the survey will be published in May 2007. The associations MI; SMART; MOST, and the Voluntary Centre Osijek have agreed upon the mission, aims and activities of the national network for deve- lopment of voluntary sector; Voluntary Centre Osijek provides advisory support to associations and indivi- duals in the fi eld of organisational development and voluntary sector.

82 Civil Society Development

National Conference on Voluntarism In 2005, the Incubator for Associations was The MOST (Bridge) association has organised the Second National Conference on regularly attended by 12 Voluntarism.. Centre for Peace Osijek, together with the SMART organisation (Ri- associations. 8 associa- jeka) and MI association (Split), has participated as a partner in preparations of the tions were involved into the project of a one-year conference programme, providing logistics support, promoting the conference systematic and struc- and providing encouragement and support to the participants. tural advisory support to development of Regional Forum of NGOs associations. After joint planning and advisory As a member of the Forum of NGOs, the Centre for Peace has initiated a process support, two associati- of strengthening and re-defi ning of the Forum’s scope of work and its activities. ons received funds from Approximately 15 representatives of the NGOs from the region (Osijek, Beli Ma- the National Foundation in order to implement nastir, Vukovar, Slavonski Brod, Virovitica) joined the strengthening process of the their fi rst projects. With Forum. our support, an asso- The following documents were prepared: strategic plan of the Forum, ru- ciation for providing les and procedures of making decisions, system of internal and external support to elderly and communication, and system of monitoring and evaluation. The promoti- disabled persons was onal material (web site www.forumudruga.org, notepads, mugs, T-shirts) established, which was with the Forum’s logo was created in order to make the Forum more visi- the fi rst association of that sort in the Osijek ble in the public. region. The Founding Assembly was held and the Forum was offi cially registered (September 2007). In 2005, there was a to- tal of 190 enquiries and We participated in the Forum's work groups for local development strate- visits by various asso- gy and the civil society regional development. ciations which needed Local authorities at the town level and the county level have signed the help and support to be Declarations on co-operation with civil society organisations. Mechani- provided to their work, sms were provided for implementation of regulations defi ned in the Dec- around 70 requests for larations: the Civil Society Development Board was founded at the level advisory services were responded and provi- of the City of Osijek; at the level of the Osijek-Baranja County, the Council ded to the requesting for Civic Initiatives was established. In co-operation with the Forum, the parties. (in 2006, this Board established at the City of Osijek level, has held a public discussion activity is carried out by on mechanism of a transparent co-funding of associations located in the the VCO). jurisdiction of the City of Osijek from the local budget funds, and similar issues were also discussed at the County level. Representatives of the Fo- rum were appointed to each of these authorities, and the representative of the Centre for Peace was appointed to the Council for Civic Initiatives.

Support to establishment and development of the local community foundation

The process of establishment of the local community foundation was intensifi ed in 2006 in line with the recommendations given by Dorothy Reynolds, consultant from the United States. We held discussions with fi ve leading entrepreneurs from Osijek in order to include them into the process of establishment of the foundati-

83 Civil Society Development

on. All of them expressed their interest and gave support to the idea but declined to act as founders (they are obliged by law to long-term liabilities and presentation of their expenditures in company’s books for a long period of time, unlike the do- nations which are presented in company’s books only for the particular year when the donation was made). Along with the Centre for Peace, the OGI – Organisations of Civic Initiatives from Osijek, and Grafi ka company from Osijek expressed their interest to act as the founders.16

Support Centre’s Network

A well-developed infrastructure and high-quality expert services are essential pre- requisites for the development of civil society. Since 2000, our attempts at the regi- onal level have resulted in establishment of support programmes, participation in 16 Until the completion of the development of the regional forum of NGOs, creation of the partnership decla- this report, the Request for establishment of the ration on co-operation between civic and public sectors, and active participation Foundation was submit- in the authorities which represent the implementation mechanisms of the declara- ted to the Central Offi ce tion. Through the process in which the Voluntary Centre Osijek gained independen- for Administration (on 10 ce and continued a longtime practice of providing technical and advisory support April 2007). The founders to NGOs by setting up the structure for recognition and development of voluntari- of the „Slagalica“ („Jig- saw-puzzle“) Founda- sm in Slavonia and Baranja thus creating a new basis/ support centre. tion for Local Com- munity Development As a next step in the development of civil society infrastructure, the idea on support are the Centre for Peace, centres’ network was supposed to be realised. The idea is currently being imple- Nonviolence and Human mented through the activities of a newly-established Voluntary Centre Osijek, whi- Rights and the Organisa- ch in partnership with PRONI Centre for Social Education and tion of Civic Initiatives, with a total founding PGDI Beli Manastir are commencing the implementation of the programme of str- property in the amount of engthening capacities of civil society organisations in the region. Working closely 23,000.00 kunas. The fi rst public announcement of together, these organisations will contribute to the recognition and realization of the establishment of the the idea of the Centre for Peace on linking the organisations which individually Foundation will be issued have specifi c competencies and merging them into the programme entireties whi- at the Centre for Peace ch would eff ectively respond to various requirements in the fi eld of strengthening 15th-anniversary celebra- capacities of civil society organisations in Slavonia and Baranja. tion. The celebration of announcement of the Foundation, along with presentation of its Man- agement Board members and Programme of Work, is planned to take place after the completion of the formal registration procedure (most prob- ably during the summer of 2007).

84 Cooperation

COOPERATION We have provided support to the organisational and programme strengthening and development of national coalitions and networks. 1. As a member of the Coalition for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, we have been acting in several areas: We participated in the activities intended to reduce discriminatory prac- tices through observing and celebrating important anniversaries, such as: International Day of Struggle against Racial Discrimination (21 March), World Refugee Day (20 June), Day of Struggle against Fascism and Anti- Semitism (9 November), International Human Rights Day (10 December). For that purpose: a round-table discussion was held on „Anti-discrimina- tory laws in the Republic of Croatia“; appropriate promotion materials (T-shirts, hats) were distributed at 5 elementary schools, 3 secondary sc- hools, and 5 Osijek university faculties (1600 youngsters were included); the exhibition „Political Caricature from 1990 to 2005“ was staged, which featured the caricatures authored by Borivoj Dovniković-Bordo, Božo Ste- fanović, Hasan Fazlić, Viva Ludež-Feral Tribune and Predrag Koraksić – Co- rax; a public discussion named „Culture and the hatred speech“ was held. Along with the citizens of Osijek, these events were also attended by the representatives of the Osijek-Baranja County, the Vukovar-Srijem County, the City of Osijek, the Alliance of Independent Unions of the Osijek-Bara- nja County and Vukovar-Srijem County, electronic and printed media. Moreover, we monitored the presence of the „hatred speech“ in the local media (newspapers: „Glas Slavonije“, „Osječki dom“, „Jutarnji list“ - Slavoni- an issue). We noticed that the contents of newspaper articles that directly or indirectly referred to ethnic minorities (mostly to Serbs and Romany), were still full of prejudices and discriminatory statements that contribu- ted to the creation of negative images of minorities, instead of promoting tolerance, mutual respect and richness of variety of cultures that abide in the Republic of Croatia. The Government of the Republic of Croatia has made a proposal on reac- hing the solution to the issue of refugees and the displaced persons, whi- ch was presented at the regional conference where the representatives of the BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia agreed upon individual and joint activities that needed to be taken in order to reach a just and durable solution of the refugee issue. Through the Human Rights Coalition, we strive to infl uence the government to include the civil society organisati- ons into the work group which would be monitoring the realisation of the national plans of „Putokazi“ (Sign-posts) and „Regional matrices“. We participated in the international campaign for submission of requests for solving the housing issues of the former holders of tenancy rights. We continued to advocate for promulgation of the law on free legal coun- seling.

85 Cooperation

We contributed to the institutional development of the Coalition: a new Statute was adopted and it better regulates the relations between the Co- alition members, a new organisational structure was established, a new method of reaching decisions and management was defi ned, and a new book of Standards of Operation was set up. 2. Peace Building Network In line with its mission, the Centre for Peace has supported the development of the Peace Building Network which consists of 12 associations: Altruist – Centre for Protection of Human Rights and Civic Freedom, Split; Baranja Civic Centre, Beli Manastir; Centre for Peace Studies, Zagreb; Delfi n (Dolphin), Pakrac; Hoću kući (I want to go home), Knin; MIRamiDA centre, Grožnjan; Nansen Dialogue Cen- tre, Osijek; Human Rights Committee, Karlovac; Pax Christi, Benkovac; Women’s Association, Drniš; Vukovar Institute for Peace Research and Education, Vukovar; Centre for Peace, Osijek. In a joint eff ort with the representatives of these 12 organisations, the identity of the network was developed, strategic objectives were defi ned, the network structure was established, the methods of management, decision-making and communication were defi ned, the Founding Assembly was held. Although the scopes of work of the respective organisations diff er considerably, we deem it valuable to participate and support the development of this partner- ship. We believe that the importance and value of work on peace building in the Republic of Croatia may become more visible and more appreciated only throu- gh joining eff orts and creating the networks and partnerships in the attempts to reach the same goal – peace, solidarity, prevention of confl icts. 3. We provided support to the programme and the institutional strengthening of Documenta through our participation in the activities of its Management Bo- ard. 4. We are the co-founders of the Association of Multi-ethnic Towns of South-East Europe (June 2005, Zagreb) which was established on foundations of the Inter- ethnic Tolerance Accord dating from 2002. The Accord was signed by the mayors of Osijek, Tuzla and Novi Sad, and the representatives of NGOs (the Centre for Pe- ace- Osijek is among those NGOs). Nowadays the Association includes some 30 towns located in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.

86 Research

RESEARCH 1. The survey „Volunteers’ Impact on Creating Conditions for Peace and Com- munity Building in Multiethnic Communities” is being conducted in Tenja, Dalj, Vukovar, Beli Manastir and Okučani. The aim of the research is to explore changes in behaviour and attitudes with natives from mentioned communities related to: prejudices and fears towards other ethnicities; new qualities in the fi - eld of communication in multiethnic communities; communities’ priority needs; cooperation between civil and governmental sector; motivation for voluntee- ring. At the beginning of the project, we conducted the initial research in order to gather information about personal satisfaction, motivation for volunteering, previous experience and contributions, and attitude about the role of local com- munities. At the end of the project, we will compare the initial and fi nal fi ndings between the group involved in our activities and the group that was not invol- ved in our activities. 2. In 2005, in co-operation with the City of Osijek, we have conducted the research on Visibility of NGO Work and Attitude about Voluntarism in the area of the city of Osijek. The project was initiated and fi nanced by the City of Osijek with the aim to gain a better insight into current situation and requirements of the civil society. The survey included 342 citizens and was carried out by 24 volun- teers. The fi ndings of the survey are as follows: Best recognised by their work are the NGOs working on environment pro- tection, the associations resulting from the war, and associations for human rights protection; 81.1% of citizens fi nd the media to be the most powerful instrument for informing the public on NGOs’ activities; 79.70 % of citizens think that NGOs are contributing to the community development; 32.4 % of citizens have had an experience in volunteering; 40.20% of respondents expressed their readiness for volunteering in the community; Almost 90% of respondents fi nd a voluntary work to be useful for the co- mmunity. 3. In 2006, in co-operation with the associations Mi, SMART, Most, and the Volun- teers’ Centre Osijek, a research was conducted on voluntary work contributed by citizens in several regions in the Republic of Croatia. The comparative fi ndings of the survey will be published in May 2007. 4. We provided support to Documenta in conducting the survey on Public Opini- on on Dealing with the Past17. 17 Findings of the survey are available at http://www.do- cumenta.hr/dokumenti/istra- zivanje.pdf.

87 Providing training and other services to civil society sector and other sectors

PROVIDING TRAINING AND OTHER SERVICES TO CIVIL SOCIETY SECTOR AND OTHER SECTORS Education: Project cycle management according to the EU standards of co-ordinati- on of ethnic minorities in Vukovar, in co-operation with VIMIO, and carried out for the needs of HVIDR-a (Association of Croatian War Veterans); the EU funds and project cycle management for the representatives of the local administration of the City of Osijek, the Osijek-Baranja County, and the Vukovar-Srijem County, and for the representatives of the institutions; two workshops on the EU integrations and the EU funds for the NGO re- presentatives in the Republic of Serbia; Management of volunteers carried out for the retired persons' association from Kastav; Strategic planning for the Information and Legal Centre from Slavonski Brod and the „Izvor“ (Source) Women's association, Kneževi Vinogradi; Confl ict management carried out for the Zeleni Osijek (Green Osijek) Eco- logical association. The evaluation of the pilot-project named „Training for reconciliation work in edu- cational sector in Vukovar region“, the holder of the project is the Croatian Union of Schooling and Education. We have provided accommodation and internship to students and and volunteers from abroad We have organised a 15-day internship for three students (from Nepal, Cameroon, Germany), members of the Forum fuer Zivilers Friedensdienst association from Germany who came to the Centre for Peace in order to gain experience in the fi eld of peace work. For the third time, we have organised a ten-day accommodation for 30 students from the Soltun School from Norway. We have organised and realised a ten-day educational visit by the representatives of the associations from Georgia, South Osetia and Kosovo. During their educati- onal visit, experience of the Centre for Peace in peace work was conveyed to the representatives of associations, and introductory workshops on mediation, pro- gramme of listening, and civil society development were held. Support to this visit was provided by the OSCE Mission to Georgia and the Freedom House, Offi ce in Budapest. The representatives of civil society of South Osetia and Georgia expre- ssed a great interest in the Programme of listening, which motivated us to have the Programme of listening manual translated into Russian in 2006. The manual was printed and distributed in 200 copies.

88 Providing training and other services to civil society sector and other sectors

The implementation of intensive training on methodology of the Programme of listening is planned for the activists of peace associations from South Osetia.

Publishing We translated the book written in English by Marshall B. Rosenberg: „Non- violent Communication - A Language of Life“, and distributed it in the Republic of Croatia (most copies were distributed to schools and associa- tions dealing with the peace education). In addition to the book „Nonviolent Communication“, we also translated into Croatian the training manual on nonviolent communication written by Lucy Leu. We came up with the idea, put together the manual „Sukob@org“ (Con- fl ict@org) – Confl ict Management in the Organisation“ and published it. The manual was prepared in a joint authorship and eff ort of the external expert, psychologist J. Pregrad, and the employees of the Centre for Peace – N.Poljak and L.Šehić-Relić.

89 Financial report

FINANCIAL REPORT Income and expenditures of Centre for Peace for the period January 1, 2005 – De- cember 31, 2006 2005. 2006. Balance on January 1 1.557.170,75 kn 1.437.964,19 kn Income Diff erent Donor’s Donations 2.854.387,90 kn 2.889.412,50 kn State’s Budget Donations 698.185,45 kn 453.669,80 kn Income Generating Activities 24.166,90 kn 21.845,00 kn Membership Fees 1.490,00 kn 3.906,53 kn Other Income 20.192,08 kn 56.085,91 kn Foreign Currency Accounts Interest 21.162,87 kn 22.579,24 kn Positive Exchange Rate 28.330,09 kn 71,04 kn Income Total 3.647.915,29 kn 3.447.570,02 kn Balance + Income Total 5.225.086,04 kn 4.885.534,21 kn

Expenditures of individual projects in 2006 Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

Program Legal Aid and Counselling 620.394,30 kn 683.627,51kn Community Development Program Volunteers in Peace and Community Building 633.602,78 kn 527.479,46kn Through Dialogue Towards Future - Beli Manastir 179.231,65 kn Touch of Hope 19.747,65 kn 2.811,49kn Peace group “Lopoč” - Bilje 3.842,95 kn 12.114,52kn Youth Peace Camps 15.156,07kn During 2005 we had Culture of Nonviolence and Democracy Program 31 employees Interreligious Cooperation on Peace Building 377.662,05 kn 369.426,47kn 18 associates and Mediation for community, police and more than 457.529,55 kn 282.782,26kn 100 volunteers. administrative justice Support Program for Development of Civil

During 2006 we had Society 26 employees Program potpore-Volonterski centar 203.914,61 kn 270.015,22kn 12 associates and Nonviolent Communication and Dealing with the Confl ict 45,00 kn 156.665,40kn more than Monitoring of War Crime Trials 484.307,92 kn 608.208,57kn 100 volunteers. Platform for Peace Building 32.472,26kn Intership for Peace Activists from Georgia 92.982,85 kn In 2005 and 2006 our EU Communication with the Citizens of RC 27.000,00kn activities Steps 4.392,00 kn encompassed Operational Costs 235.180,34 kn 190.570,97kn 9900 direct benefi ciaries Administratife Personell 424.820,04 kn 385.415,97kn and 35 NGOs. Publishing 89.204,04kn Other Expenses 34.312,09 kn 16.417,65kn In the same period we Exspenditure TOTAL 3.787.121,85 kn 3.654.211,79kn hosted 7 conscientious Balance on December 31 1.437.964,19 kn 1.231.322,42 kn objectioners.

90 Financial report

STRUCTURE OF INCOME SOURCES 2005. 2006. International Agencies, Foundations and Embassies in Croatia 89,46% 82,96% National Foundation for Development of Civil Society 9,4% 15,9% State budget including lottery funds (via various Ministries) 0,22% 0,29% Regional and local budget 0,32% 0,25% Income generating educational services 0,6% 0,6%

Following good practice an annual fi nancial audit was done for several particular projects as well as for the organization as such. Agency „Audit“ from Zagreb has provided fi nancial audit for the projectLegal Aid and Counselling according to the contract with UNHCR. Agency „Matros“ from Osijek has provided fi nancial audit for Volonteers in Peace and Community Building and Building Bridges – Interreligious cooperation in Pea- cebuilding according to the agreement with the EED – Evangelisher der Entvinkc- lungdienste and for the Centre for Peace as whole organization.

91 DONORS AND PROJECTS 2005 - 2006

Academy for Educational Fridrich Naumann Stiftung, Germany Development (funds from USAID-a) Through Dialogue towards Future Capacities Development of the Regio- nal Forum of NGOs City of Osijek The Development of Voluntarism in Centre for Peace Slavonija and Baranja Dealing with the Confl ict in an Orga- nisation manual Balkan Peace Project, Netherlands Centre for Peace Open Society Institute Croatia Dealing with the Past British Embassy to the RC Mediation for Community, Police and Komitee fuer Grundrechte und Administration of Justice Demokratie, Germany Summer peace camp C. S. Mott Foundation, USA General Purpose Grant Conference of European Churches, Switzerland ECAS Building Bridges – Interreligious Coo- Centre for Peace peration on Peace Building European Commission (EIDHR Ministry of Family, Veterans’ Aff airs programme; CARDS 2004) and Intergeneration Solidarity Monitoring of War Crime Trials Youth in the Community Paths towards Law and Justice – Legal Aid and Counselling Ministry of Foreign Aff airs and EU Integration Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst, Local Government and Institutions Germany – partners in communicating EU to Volunteers in Peace Building and Co- the citizens of Croatia mmunity Development Local Government – partner in the EU integration and development process Humanitarian Law Centre, Serbia Regional Monitoring of War Crime Tri- Ministry of Health and Social Welfare als Mozaik zajednice Footprints – Centre for Ministry of Science, Education and Reconciliation, UK Sports Touch of Hope Peer Mediation School and Voluntarism Forum Ziviler Friedendienst, Germany National Foundation for Centre for Peace Development of Civil Society General Purpose Grant Freedomhouse, USA Research „Volunteers’ Impact on Cre- Study visit programme for peace wor- ating Conditions for Peace and Com- kers from Georgia munity Building in Multiethnic Com- munities”

92 Nansen Dialogue Centre UNHCR Platform for Peace Building Legal Aid and Counselling Municipality of Bilje US Embassy to RC Peace group „Lopoč“ Dealing with the Past Non violent Communication and De- OSCE Mission to the RC aling with the Confl ict Monitoring of War Crime Trials Green Network of Vojvodina Quaqkers Peace and Service, UK Camp “Green Paths” Dealing with the Past Osijek – Baranja County Raiff eisen bank Centre for Peace Youth and Voluntarism Swedish Ecumenical Women’s Council Touch of Hope

93 CENTRE FOR PEACCE STAFF 2005. - 2006.

Administrative Staff [email protected] Executive Director: Branka Kaselj Programme Director: Nikoleta Poljak General Secretary: Jelena G. Zloić Accountant: Zvonko Kovačević

Legal Aid and Counselling [email protected] Project Managers: Ljiljana Božić Krstanović Natalija Sarić Project Offi cers – Legal Advisers: Petar Pavlović Milenko Stanić Melanija Kopić Branka Lučić Assistant: Angel Čabarkapa

Monitoring of War Crime Trials [email protected] Project Manager: Katarina Kruhonja Project Offi cers - Monitors: Veselinka Kastratović Mladen Stojanović Assistant: Ljiljana Bračun

Culture of Nonviolence [email protected] Programme Manager: Snježana Kovačević Assistant: Nena Arvaj Project Manager: Sonja Stanić [email protected]

94 Community Development [email protected] Programme Manager: Ranka Jindra Project Offi cers - Mentors: Igor Đorđević Vesna Lierman Civil Society Development Volunteers Center’s Manager Lejla Šehić Relić [email protected] Assistants: Tanja Vidaković Gal Elvira Lončar Tumir Local Community Foundation: Branka Kaselj

Platform for Peace Building: Nikolina Svalina

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