Legal and Media Narratives of War Crime Trials and Shaping of National Identity in Croatia and Serbia
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IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca Lucca, Italy What’s the story? Legal and media narratives of war crime trials and shaping of national identity in Croatia and Serbia PhD Program in Political Systems and Institutional Change XXIV Cycle By Ana Ljubojević 2013 Reviewers Page The dissertation of Ana Ljubojević is approved. Programme Coordinator: prof. Giovanni Orsina, LUISS Supervisor(s): prof. Luca Mezzetti, University of Bologna Tutor(s): Maria Elena Cavallaro, IMT Lucca The dissertation of Ana Ljubojević has been reviewed by: Dr. Ana Dević, Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. Vjeran Pavlaković, University of Rijeka, Croatia Prof. Klaus Bachmann, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca 2013 List of “thank you oh so very much” CROATIA FHP crew (especially Stana, Vlada) Ana B. Jelena Fothia crew (especially Ksendža Ivana, Maja, Marija, Michael H. Mirna, Morić) Mum Tomica Nathalie Vujkan ITALY UK Fondić Giovannicipollamarin Goldsmiths crew IMT (especially Aula D Mikica crew) SSEES crew (especially Lauretta Ana R., Anna, Dario, Lorbec Giorgos, Marc, Oliwia, Luca A. Thomas) M2 Maria Pesante WORLDWIDE Michael R. Ozzy Professors (Ana D., Dejan Simo Dj., Dejan J., Luca M., Storty Maria Elena, Vjeran) Study buddies (JMT, SERBIA Kriszta, Mišo, Rođa, Tammy, Petrica) Apple Pets (Bundo, El Do, Čić Wanda) Elektroribice (Jeja, Maja, Tajči, Tamariša) Tables of contents INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1 1. CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................4 1.1 THE NOTION OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE............................................7 1.1.1. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN CROATIA AND SERBIA.....9 1.2. DISSOLUTION OF YUGOSLAVIA............................................................26 1.3. NARRATIVE OF IDENTITY – MAIN CONCEPTS.................................38 1.4. LAW AND LITERATURE............................................................................49 1.4.1. SELECTION OF MEMORY MATERIAL...............................50 1.4.2. LAW AND HISTORY................................................................53 2. CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY.................58 2.1. ARGUMENT OF THE THESIS....................................................................58 2.2. METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK – CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................62 2.2.1. ANALYSING NEWSPAPERS AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS........................................................................................68 2.2.2. FRAME ANALYSIS....................................................................71 2.2.3. DATA SET....................................................................................74 3. CHAPTER 3. MASTER NARRATIVE ABOUT THE WAR IN CROATIA AND SERBIA – AN INSTITUTIONAL VIEW..............................................76 3.1. CROATIAN AND SERBIAN MASTER NARRATIVE ABOUT THE WAR.........................................................................................................................77 3.2. INSTITUTIONALISED NARRATIVES ABOUT THE WAR.................82 3.2.1. CROATIA.....................................................................................82 3.2.2. SERBIA..........................................................................................85 3.2.3. APOLOGIES AND REGIONAL COOPERATION..............87 4. CHAPTER4. ICTY AND CHARISMA............................................................88 4.1. ICTY AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHARISMA....................................102 5. CHAPTER 5. DOMESTIC COURTS VS. INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS.......................................................................................................125 5.1. READJUSTMENT ‘ICTY – DOMESTIC COURTS’................................126 5.2. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.............................................................128 5.2.1. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – HISTORICAL OVERVIEW...........................................................................................130 vii 5.3. RULE 11BIS AND COMPLETION STRATEGY....................................142 5.3.1. SERBIA.......................................................................................144 5.3.2. CROATIA...................................................................................147 5.3.3. REGIONAL COOPERATION AND BEYOND..................151 5.4. COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY...............................................................153 5.5. READJUSTIMENT – CRIMINAL CODES..............................................160 6. CHAPTER 6. “OVČARA” TRIAL.................................................................162 6.1. MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE TRIAL IN SERBIA AND CROATIA.165 7. CHAPTER 7. “MEDAK POCKET” TRIAL.................................................177 7.1. MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE TRIAL IN SERBIA AND CROATIA.182 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................196 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................201 viii Vita and publications VITA September 6, 1981 Born, Novi Sad, Serbia 2006 MA Degree in French Language and Literature University of Novi Sad, Serbia 2007 MA Degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention University of Bologna, Italy 2008 Translator ICTY, The Hague, The Netherlands Journalist Osservatorio sui Balcani, Rovereto, Italy 2009 - 2013 PhD in Political Systems and Institutional Change IMT Lucca, Italy 2010 – 2011 Visiting Research Student Centre for the Study of the Balkans, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK 2011 Visiting Researcher Humanitarian Law Center Belgrade, Serbia PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS 1. Book chapter in: Political Myths in Former Yugoslavia and Successor States - A Shared Narrative, ISBN 9789089790668 Editors: Darko Gavrilović, Sigidunum University, Novi Sad, Serbia Vjekoslav Perica, University of Rijeka, Croatia 2. Article: Tomorrow people, where is your past? Transitional justice mechanisms and dealing with past in Serbia and Croatia, International Journal of Rule of Law, Transitional Justice and Human Rights, ISSN 2232-7541, vol.1 December 2010 ix 3. Book review: Ljubojevic, A (2012) Sounds of the Borderland. Popular Music, War and Nationalism in Croatia since 1991., Slovo , 24 (2) 4. Newspaper articles for Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso (http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/Autori/%28author%29/Ana%20Ljubo jevi%C4%87) 5. Newspaper article for BIRN (Balkan Investigative Report Network) (http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/justice-on-thin-ice-in-the- balkans) 6. Article: What’s the story? Transitional justice and historical narratives in Serbia and Croatia Polticka misao: Croatian Political Science Review ISSN: 0032-3241 FORTHCOMING 7. Article: What is my charisma? Political leaders and charisma construction in post-Yugoslav Serbia, Working papers, Centre for South East European Studies, University of Graz, ISSN 2221-643X SEMINARS 1. February 2010 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague, The Netherlands - ‘Political Myths in Former Yugoslavia and Successor States’ 2. March 2011 Centre for the Study of the Balkans, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK - 'Is Peace not Just Enough? Transitional Justice and Dealing with the Past in Croatia and Serbia 3. December 2012 Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia – History in crisis: Transitional Justice and Creation of Historical Narratives in Croatia and Serbia CONFERENCES ECPR Joins Sessions, Muenster, Germany, 2010 ECPR Graduate Conference Dublin, Ireland, 2010 LSE Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism, London, UK, 2010 ASN Annual Convention, Columbia University, New York, 2011 International Political Science Association (IPSA) XXII World Congress of Political Science, Madrid 2012 Graduate conference UCL SSEES, 2012 x Abstract This thesis analyses the impact of legal and media representations of war crime trials on master narratives of the war and identity in Croatia and Serbia. Our research is situated on the interception of scientific fields of transitional justice, media studies and studies on nationalism. We explore the relationship between official narratives of the war, legal narratives of war crime trials and the way that the media conveys both the narratives and reports on these trials. The research addresses issues concerning war crime trials, collective memories and (re)construction of national identity, national narratives and the war in the former Yugoslavia. Taking Brooks and Gewritz’s methodological approach, we used Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse law not as set of rules and policies, but as a source of narratives. Furthermore, law is given a dimension of “cultural discourse through which social narratives are structured and suppressed”. Assuming that the media in contemporary societies have huge influence on shaping knowledge about history and shared historical narratives, this research analyses local media reports on domestic war crimes trials. This research explores how media represent and report about historical narratives established by local courts in Serbia and Croatia. Subsequently, those representations are compared to background, non-legal elements, i.e. historical facts found in judgments rendered at the ICTY. We approached the problematique by analysing trial transcripts and media reports