Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje is a town divided along ethnic lines, which is also the reason why it has a dash in its name. The dash has been a line that dictates the lifestyle of most persons, limits their movement and creates a sense of uneasiness when it is crossed. Irrespective of the family one comes from or part of […]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will close its doors after 24 years, leaving behind a heritage that the countries in the region have to find a way to deal with. The Tribunal was the first international court after Nürnberg and Tokyo, which processed war crimes. During more than two decades of its work, 161 persons were […]

The break-up of Yugoslavia and the wars that were waged on its territory stopped, or at least slowed down the continuation of such research. Under the impact of nationalism as the new dominant ideology, historiography also got a new ideological value. Insisting on topics that were not given (sufficient) attention in socialism was not problematic in itself. What was problematic […]

When considering the difficult past, one should acknowledge the achievements made in the years since then, pleads Evzi Hani. Volunteer work and non-formal education programmes are good ways for young people to go on with, as he experienced by himself… Dear reader, I decided to start this article with a short story that a friend of mine who lived in […]

How has the multi-annual, traditional lifestyle become an ideal? There are stories about past times in Bosnia that used to be better, everyone lived together in peace and respected one another, people visited one another during Eid-Al-Fitr and Christmas celebrations, people used to socialise all night long and it did not matter what name one had. The only relevant determinant […]

I am one of those nervous ones. Or sensitive ones. Or both. To such an extent that sometimes I am even annoyed by things that others do not even notice. I wonder about myself sometimes, as well. In the past, I used to be annoyed by the statement that nothing was black or white. I somehow saw it as a […]

Serbia received the judgment in the case of Ratko Mladić, the greatest criminal among the criminals in the recent European history. Citizens of Serbia have received the judgment together with protagonists of genocide and war crimes currently in power, who were also most politically active during the wars and aggression of Serbia against the neighbouring countries. Their parties, careers and […]

Since yesterday, the stories about a war criminal are everywhere. And calling this person a war criminal is actually a mild qualification. While I was following trials for genocide, mass executions by a firing squad, rapes and other atrocities from the newsroom, I was asking myself thousands of questions. What is it like for a mother who is watching in […]

Author: Nidžara Ahmetašević We have waited for a long time and have finally heard the conviction of Radovan Karadžić (40-year sentence) and Ratko Mladić (life sentence). A long time, too long for some, but the moment is finally here and they have been found guilty. This judgment is a sanction for atrocities designed in the minds of these two monsters, but […]

I used to watch him frequently, hidden behind an old rag that I used to cover the window that no longer had glass. The father of the dead girl was swaying between the buildings. He was somehow transparent, light, as a cobweb. His face was grey, his eye sockets were abysmally dark. He stopped talking, eating, etc. He was simply […]

A lost childhood cannot be brought back, but what we can fix is the present and we can fight for a better future. When I travel abroad and meet new people, the first thing they ask is: – What is it now like in Bosnia and Herzegovina? The last time I did not know how to respond. It would be […]

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina happened 22 years ago, but it was followed only by the absence of arms, because the war is still here, among us, around us, and what is the worst thing, among the youth. Institutional suppression of responsibility    The overall educational system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on showing only one story, without […]