Initiative for RECOM: Current Events Update

March 2011

The Coalition for RECOM has 1,600 members, most of whom are human rights organizations, associations of victims, youth organizations, associations of veterans, media outlets, members of religious communities, victims’ family members and individuals involved in the active promotion of dealing with the past process. The idea to establish RECOM has already been supported by the Parliament of Montenegro, the Presidents of and Croatia, the European Commission on Human Rights, the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the Assembly of the European Parliament, the European Integrations Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council and over 2,000 individuals.

Following a three-year-long consultation process, the Coalition for RECOM adopted the Draft RECOM Statute at the Fourth Assembly of the Coalition held in Belgrade on March 26, 2011. The Assembly of the Coalition for RECOM, a delegate assembly, was attended by a total of 122 delegates from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Slovenia and Serbia.

The Draft RECOM Statute was adopted by a large majority of members. A potential blocking of the vote on the proposed Draft RECOM Statute was avoided by the last-minute adoption of an amendment submitted by the BH Journalist Association and the Association of Ex-Detainees Prijedor ’92., which calls for the inclusion of a list of criminal acts (such as genocide, murder, persecution, etc.) under the comprehensive general phrase “gross violations of human rights” which are being explored by RECOM for the purpose of establishing the facts. This is a compromise between those who believe that RECOM should establish the perpetration of genocide and other criminal acts and the very adamant position of all the legal professionals (prosecutors, judges, attorneys and human rights lawyers) who took part in the consultation process, who believe that RECOM should not attempt to legally qualify criminal acts committed during the conflicts of the 1990s.

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Promotion of the Initiative for RECOM

1. The Initiative for RECOM was promoted at a round-table discussion titled “Civic Courage” held on March 2, 2011, as part of the celebration of Anti-Fascism Day in Opatija, Croatia. The Initiative for RECOM was put into the context of societal needs and the civic courage required of activists in dealing with the darker side of our history by means of a regional debate on transitional justice mechanisms in post-Yugoslav societies.

2. The Initiative for RECOM was presented on March 3, 2011 by Documenta at the Zagrebdox International Documentary Film Festival.

3. At a gathering titled “Women... War... Violence” held on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2011 in Skoplje (Macedonia), members of the Coalition for RECOM presented the Initiative for RECOM. This gathering was dedicated to all women who were victims of the wars in the former , and at the same time expressed the needs of women who have been victims of horrifying crimes to tell their stories.

4. A consultation with civil society organizations on the Initiative for RECOM was held in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on March 22, 2011. The consultation was attended by 30 participants representing associations of erased? residents of Slovenia, combatants, non-governmental organizations and intellectuals. The participants supported the idea of establishing a regional inter-state commission for the territory of the former Yugoslavia and emphasized the fact that the regional approach is the most adequate method for researching war crimes and other gross human rights violations that occurred in the 1990s. The representatives of the erased once again stressed the significance of a regional commission which could help point to the political responsibility of government officials by researching the facts and applying the methodology of the public hearing of victims and witnesses, and at the same time provide moral satisfaction for all victims of gross violations of human rights committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. An important conclusion of this debate was that, on the basis of properly established facts, the future inter-state commission could build a foundation for future historical interpretations of the wars and the events that followed. RECOM can also influence public opinion, change the way people perceive human rights violations committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and also stand up against the manipulation of victims for political purposes.

5. At a session held on March 26, 2011 in Belgrade, delegates at the Fourth Assembly of the Coalition for RECOM adopted the report on the consultation process, the RECOM media campaign, public advocacy for RECOM, and preparations for the “One Million Signatures for RECOM” campaign. While discussing and planning the “One Million Signatures for RECOM” campaign, the delegates were able to look at the results of public opinion polls conducted by the Ipsos Public Affairs Agency in Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo on the Initiative for RECOM. The results of the poll indicate that the Initiative for RECOM was well received by citizens of all of the states where the public opinion research was conducted. The support for the establishment of RECOM was overwhelmingly high in Kosovo, where 95% of citizens were in favour of such a regional commission. It is important to mention that support for RECOM is significantly lower at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina than among the citizens of the BiH Federation, where 88% of citizens support the establishment of the regional commission. The lowest level of support for RECOM was registered in Croatia, where only 60% of citizens support the Initiative for RECOM. However, compared to the number of people who support the establishment of

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RECOM, less people are optimistic about the success of RECOM (in compiling an individualized register of victims killed or missing. Only 23% of the citizens of Croatia and 36% of the citizens of Serbia believe that RECOM will be successful, while citizens of Kosovo and the BiH Federation are more optimistic.

6. The Initiative for RECOM was promoted at a conference on political culture and dialogue held on March 28, 2011 in Skoplje, Macedonia, where it was emphasized that political dialogue is an integral part of political culture and that misunderstandings which can lead to conflicts and wars occur in the absence of such a dialogue. The Rešenja magazine was also promoted at the conference, the better part of which was dedicated to the Initiative for RECOM.

7. Impunity Watch (IW), an international organization which has been continuously supporting the transitional justice process in the post-Yugoslav societies, sent a letter of support to the Coalition for RECOM on March 28, 2011, and an appeal to the Parliaments of the post-Yugoslav states to take the steps necessary for the establishment of RECOM. Impunity Watch also calls upon the National Parliaments to respect the requests of the civic organizations which obtained legitimacy in the course of the three-year long consultation process and urgently support the unique opportunity presented to them to initiate a resolute action in fighting impunity in cases of war crimes and other gross violations of human rights committed in the 1990s during the armed conflicts waged on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

8. The Democratic League of Kosovo, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (Kosovo), the “RADOM ZA BOLJITAK” National Party (BiH) and Parliamentary groups of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia offered their support to the establishment of RECOM in March 2011.

At a meeting with representatives of the Coalition for RECOM held in Priština on March 16, 2011, the President of the Democratic League of Kosovo (DLK), Isa Mustafa, pledged his full support for the work of the Coalition and future regional commission, and expressed his belief that not only the DLK but all other parliamentary parties will give their support to the Initiative once it is presented to members of the Kosovo parliament.

At a meeting held on March 18, 2011, the Vice-President of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ardijan Gjini, expressed his support for the establishment of RECOM and called upon members of the Coalition for RECOM to achieve full cooperation.

9. The President of the “RADOM ZA BOLJITAK” National Party, Mladen Ivanković Lijanović, gave his support to the establishment of RECOM at a meeting held in Sarajevo on March 28, 2011: “Nothing can be achieved without a serious dialogue which is corroborated by facts. For the sake of future generations, this problem must be approached by the use of established facts, it must be kept apart from political processes and shielded from all sorts of political manipulation. All of us at the “RADOM ZA BOLJITAK” National Party support those who advocate the truth and who strive to establish the truth by applying the principle of inter-ethnic respect and dialogue. We also salute this Initiative for its efforts to include the entire region of the former Yugoslavia in the truth-learning process”.

The establishment of RECOM was also supported by Parliamentary groups of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Democratic Party and the Parliamentary group of minority parties who represent the governing majority in the

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National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

Preparations for the “One Million Signatures for RECOM” campaign

1. As part of its final preparation for the “One Million Signatures for RECOM” campaign, the Coalition for RECOM announced volunteer opportunities in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Kosovo. Training sessions for volunteers were conducted in four towns in Serbia: Kragujevac, Valjevo, Priboj and Prijepolje.

The Youth Initiative for Human Rights of Serbia and Youth Initiative for Human Rights of Croatia, coordinators of the signature-collection campaign, have chosen partner organizations from Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia, and have created a network of organizations which will take part in the coordination of the campaign in Serbia, Croatia, BiH, Kosovo and Macedonia. The network in Slovenia is being created at this moment.

The Youth Initiative for Human Rights of Serbia and Youth Initiative for Human Rights of Croatia conducted training on running an Internet-based signature-collection campaign.

2. The Youth Initiative for Human Rights of Serbia presented the Initiative for RECOM and the One Million Signatures for RECOM campaign at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade on March 28, 2011, and at the Faculty of Philosophy in on April 1, 2011, by holding To Know It, So As Not to Repeat It public events.

As Aleksandra Jerkov, member of the League of Social-Democrats of and Member of Parliament of the Republic of Serbia said, “Truth is the most powerful instrument of support. Therefore, it is our duty to promote the truth and to talk about it to those who will listen, but also to those who may not want to hear us. Established facts are the only way leading to the truth, and the truth is the only way leading to reconciliation”. After these events, 20 students applied to volunteer for the “One Million Signatures for RECOM” campaign.

3. The One Million Signatures for RECOM campaign was presented on March 3, 2011 at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, Croatia, as part of the “Get Involved/Uključi se” initiative of civil society organizations aimed at promoting programs that can motivate citizens to become involved in civic actions.

4. The Coalition for RECOM established relations with top-ranking organizations of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Diaspora in the United States, The Netherlands, , Australia, and , and informed them of the Initiative for RECOM. Leaders of those organizations will pass on information about the Initiative for RECOM to their members and invite them to support the establishment of RECOM.

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Media Campaign

On March 6, 2011, TV Mitrovica, Kosovo, aired a two-hour programme on RECOM titled Mostovi (Bridges). The guests on the programme were members of the Coalition for RECOM Nora Ahmetaj, Bekim Blakaj, and Avni Melenica.

On March 11, 2011, the B92 TV station from Belgrade (Serbia) aired the second show from the series “Pune ruke prošlosti/A Handful of Past” – a discussion about RECOM with Vesna Pešić, member of the National Assembly of Serbia.

On March 11, 2011, PROKUM TV from Kosovo aired an hour long interview with Nora Ahmetaj and Arsim Gerxhaliu on the Initiative for RECOM.

KOHA VISION, a TV station in Priština (Kosovo), aired a live, 45-minute interview with Bekim Blakaj on RECOM in a programme titled “Matinée”.

1. The neo-avant-garde theatrical play “Analogies”, by the Clear Brooks Family Theatre that promotes the Initiative for RECOM, was performed to audiences in Skoplje, Macedonia on March 31, and April 1, 2011.

2. Following the staging of “Analogies” in Slovenia in February 2011, the “Mladina” daily newspaper published an interview on the Initiative for RECOM with Lazar Stojanović, director of the Media Campaign for RECOM. On March 23, 2011, the Croatian TPortal published an interview with Nataša Kandić on the Initiative for RECOM.

3. Since the Coalition for RECOM opened its Facebook account Za rekom Për komra For recom on October 7, 2010, 1,220 Facebook users had expressed their support for RECOM by March 31, 2011. In March 2011, the RECOM page was viewed 76,675 times. 53% of RECOM page visitors are women. 41% of the women who visited the RECOM page are between the ages of 25 and 34. Only 4.4% of the women are over the age of 55. Most of the Facebook users who have expressed their support for RECOM are from Serbia – (623), after whom come those from Croatia (108), from BiH (115), from Montenegro (67), from Kosovo (110), from Macedonia (25), and from Slovenia (9).

From October 7, 2010 until March 31, 2011, a total of 1,054 texts, photographs, and documents were posted on the Za rekom Për komra For recom pages, which were /was viewed 333,283 times.

4. In March 2011, the www.zarekom.org site was visited 21,790 times by 4,028 visitors, who spent on average 3 minutes and 27 seconds viewing the contents. Of the total number of visitors in March, 39.32% were those who visited the site more than once. Since the re-designed www.zarekom.org site was posted, the number of viewings has increased by 256.48%, according to Google Analytics statistics

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From June 1, 2010 until March 31, 2011, a total of 12,965 users visited the site and viewed it 56,752 times. Most users visited the www.zarekom.org site through a link posted on RECOM’s Facebook page (2,348).

5. A total of 10,184 users registered at the Forum of the www.zarekom.org site in March 2011. In the same period, 36 postings and 49 topics were posted on the Forum. Also, links for the www.zarekom.org Forum were posted on 450 other forums dealing with transitional justice.

Support from countries outside the former Yugoslavia region

The Coalition for RECOM was able to identify focal groups/individuals in the , , Canada, New Zealand and the United States who agreed to be advocates of the Initiative for RECOM. At the same time, the Coalition for RECOM established contact with two very powerful international public support social networks (Avaaz-Avaaz and Racoon).

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