“Reconciliation is not about being cozy; it is not about pretending that things were other than they were. Reconciliation based on falsehood, on not facing up to reality, is not reconciliation at all.” said Desmond Tutu once.
Because of that, despite of many years, I would say, attempts of reconciliation, Bosnia and Herzegovina still is not as it was before the war, and never will be. Our country was once considered to be the symbol of multi-ethnicity and the coexistence of different communities, the country in which there is harmony, no matter where you are from. However, today, we may live in multi-ethnic community, but harmony is not present anymore. Citizens are living lost in divisions of multi-ethnic identity deriving from their political leaders. Rather than go through genuine reconciliation, which is a prerequisite for building a stable and lasting state, they are under the guise of reconciliation playing recriminations and calculating. Perhaps reconciliation should not be between citizens, but between political forces within our country but also the region.
On our leaders is to ensure trust, to serve justice and achieve reconciliation finding that level of tolerance so that all people can live together. Justice is conected with political change, which means that or the dogmatic values of political leaders have to change, or there must be reconstruction of political sistem, and start from the begining. Dealing with te past is long and difficult process that can not be realized unless there is mutual good will to reach the goal that represents peace and non-conflict environment. Reconciliation is not to forget, and it sure is not avoiding the truth, reconciliation may follow only after there are used all mechanisms for its success. Reconciliation can not come if the institutions that have committed crimes are not reformed and if they do not open the question of the responsibility of those who have sat in these institutions in time when they committed crimes. Strengthening of international and national courts, and creating competent bodies to work on the process of transitional justice are very inportant part of the whole process. An important element is processing criminals and providing justice for the victims. However, any criminal responsibility should be individual. So why leaders of the countries consider this as national responsibility? Transitional justice is extremly important to point out the facts and truth-telling. But again, it is an individual truth, and rarely can be objective regards to masive torture, rape, killings and other crimes committed. Therefore, very important question dealing with the past is what will be needed to achieve real truth? What needs to happen in order to achieve a catharsis of one nation? More than twenty years from start of the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is trying in various ways to remember and reflect war events, with messages of peace and to never happen again, but at the same time struggeling to find the right path of reconciliation and make progress in this field, which is undermining the multi-ethnic society.
John Paul Lederach writes that reconciliation requires four things: truth, justice, mercy and peace. The problem often occurs because these four elements often contradict each other. Justice sometimes demands punishment, which does not represents mercy for criminals. The truth sometimes creates conflict, rather than creates peace. However, without these four elements genuine reconciliation can not exist. On the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina is that through legal mechanisms elect leaders who will know how to balance with these four elements. Resolving conflicts and promoting reconciliation is a difficult and slow process, which can go few steps forward, then come back to the very beginning, but it is time that civil society, trought judicial institutions and policies move forward in order to achieve a strong democratic and secure state.
Written by: Čoko Berina, Student at Faculty of Law at Sarajevo University
Rad je nastao u okviru seminara „Tranzicijska pravda – put ka miru“ koji je organizovalo Evropsko udruženje studenata prava (ELSA) Sarajevo uz podršku Mreže za izgradnju mira, 21.9.2015. godine, povodom Međunarodnog dana mira.