Bozo Ljubic, a deputy in the governing
Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, described Praljak’s suicide as a heroic act. Serbia continues to be reluctant to hand over
war criminals.
Rebuilding After Dayton?
Twenty years after the start of the war in Bosnia, deep physical and psychological divisions remain throughout society.
Many Bosnian schools are ethnically segregated and the country is divided into cantons. It is rare for Bosniaks to learn
about the genocide, other than through family. Schools that were used as
killing centers were cleaned up and reopened for the next school year.
Neighbors had killed neighbors. The majority of the perpetrators went back to
the lives that they had led before the war. Corruption and distrust is rife. The
economy is struggling to provide jobs. Croats have rejected 30 agreements
seeking to reunify Mostar.
Former Yugoslavia has become ripe for plunder by international corporations
in collusion with domestic profiteers. Corrupt officials use denial,
commemorations and monuments as propaganda, glorify war criminals, use
low-intensity terror, advocate extreme nationalism and separatism,
militarism, and manipulate elections. Many are leaving or considering emigration while others have to try to navigate the
corrupt systems. With the rise of right-wing chauvinistic nationalism in the U.S. and Europe (Bosnia) domestic leaders are
no longer looking to the West for help and stability. Instead, they are turning to authoritarian regimes. President Trump’s
administration os supporting authoritarians like Dodik; the Serbs and Croats have turned to Putin; and the Bosniaks look
to Turkey, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
And yet, UNESCO money is coming in to support the Bosniaks. In once thriving Muslim villages, mosques are being rebuilt
– mostly as assertions of life. Despite the difficulty, there is a sense of hope. In 2004, the Old Bridge and much of the Old
Town of Mostar were restored with the contribution of an international scientific committee established by UNESCO.
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) has criticized President Trump’s stance, arguing for the need to shift focus away from corrupt
leaders to the Bosnian people. He has helped to keep U.S. sanctions on Dodik. Croatia no longer supporting Croat
separatists in Bosnia. The 2005 release of Scorpion film showing the executions at
Srebrenica has impacted many Serbs. There are ongoing local initiatives focusing on
the right to return, human rights activism (especially among the young), and a
variety of other grassroots initiatives. One such initiative is the Center for
Peacebuilding from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sanski Most. Building on local
tradition of activism and led by two survivors of the genocide, Vahidin Omanovic
and Mevludin Rahmanović, their mission is “To rebuild trust and foster reconciliation
among the people of Bosnia—Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, and others—as well as
support peace processes in other countries that have suffered from violent conflict.”