Surviving the Peace

Peter Lippman

Description

Surviving the Peace is a monumental feat of ground-level reporting describing two decades of postwar life in Bosnia, specifically among those fighting for refugee rights of return. Unique in its breadth and profoundly humanitarian in its focus, Surviving the Peace situates digestible explanations of the region's bewilderingly complex recent history among interviews, conversations, and tableaus from the lives of everyday Bosnians attempting to make sense of what passes for normal in a postwar society.

Essential reading for students of the former Yugoslavia and anyone interested in postwar or post-genocide studies, Surviving the Peace is an instant classic of long-form reporting, an impossible accomplishment without a lifetime of dedication to a place and people.

Sujets

• Refugees
• Human Rights
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 15 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826522634
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

SURVIVING THE PEACE
Peter Lippman
Surviving the Peace
THE STRUGGLE FOR POSTWAR RECOVERY IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY PRESS
Nashville
© 2019 by Vanderbilt University Press
Nashville, Tennessee 37235
All rights reserved
First printing 2019
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lippman, Peter, 1952– author.
Title: Surviving the peace : the struggle for postwar recovery in Bosnia-Herzegovina / Peter Lippman.
Description: Nashville, Tennessee : Vanderbilt University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019009076 (print) | LCCN 2019014183 (ebook) | ISBN 9780826522634 (ebook) | ISBN 9780826522610 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Bosnia and Herzegovina—History—1992– | Bosnia and Herzegovina—Social conditions. | Bosnia and Herzegovina—Politics and government—1992– | Peace-building—Bosnia and Herzegovina. | Human rights—Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Classification: LCC DR1750 (ebook) | LCC DR1750 .L57 2019 (print) | DDC 949.74203—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019009076
To my parents, Leopold and Eleanor Lippman
Contents
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE FOR BOSNIAN-CROATIAN-SERBIAN WORDS
GLOSSARY
MAP
INTRODUCTION. THE WAR AND THE CAMPAIGNS FOR RECOVERY
PART I: AFTERMATH OF WAR
1. Postwar Bosnia: A New National Disorder
PART II: OVERVIEW OF THE RETURN MOVEMENT
2. Introduction to Refugee Return
3. Obstacles to Return and Breakthroughs in the Late 1990s
4. Return to Mostar and Other Parts of Herzegovina
PART III: RETURN TO SREBRENICA AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR RECOVERY
5. Postwar Srebrenica
6. Truth and Justice—Another Version of Activism
7. Justice in the Courts
8. Reporting History: Reckoning versus Denial
9. Return and Recovery, Continued: A “New Normal” in Srebrenica
10. The Economic Life of Postwar Srebrenica
11. Life in Sućeska: Serbs of Srebrenica
12. Elections, Repression, and Resistance
PART IV: PRIJEDOR: GENOCIDE, RETURN, AND APARTHEID
13. War and Postwar Events in Prijedor Municipality
14. Corruption in the Republika Srpska and Prijedor
15. War Crimes Prosecution and Justice in Prijedor
16. Grassroots Activism for Justice in Prijedor
17. The Missing, Kevljani, Survival, Emigration
PART V: ATROCITY REVISIONISM
18. Denial of War Crimes at Srebrenica and Prijedor
EPILOGUE: THE CONDITION OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA AND HOPES FOR ACTIVISM
NOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
IN APPRECIATION: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES AND HELPERS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pronunciation Guide for Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian Words
Consonants. Most consonants are similar to those in English, except for the following modifications:
c ts č hard ch ć soft ch like the t in the British “tune” đ dj in “edge” or the d in schedule (American pronunciation) dž hard j as in “joke” j y as in “yes” r rolled r ; syllabic r is like the ur in “hurt,” but very short š sh ž zh
Vowels. There are five simple vowels and no diphthongs:
a ah as in “father,” and sometimes u as in “cup” e e as in “egg,” and sometimes ey as in “neigh” i long ee as in “seek” o pure, rounded o as in “oh” u rounded oo as in “fool”
Glossary
ABBREVIATIONS
ARBiH . Army of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina
BiH . Bosnia-Herzegovina
DISS. Democratic Initiative of Sarajevo Serbs
DM . Deutschmark
DNS . Democratic People’s Alliance; Prijedor-based party of Marko Pavić, Serb nationalist and collaborator with Milorad Dodik
EU . European Union
HDZ . Croatian Democratic Union
HVO . Croatian Defense Council (Bosnian Croat army)
ICC . International Criminal Court
ICG . International Crisis Group
ICJ . International Court of Justice (World Court)
ICMP . International Commission for Missing Persons
ICRC . International Committee of the Red Cross
ICTY . International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
IFOR . (UN wartime) Implementation Force
IPTF . (UN) International Police Task Force
IWPR . Institute for War and Peace Reporting
JNA . Yugoslav People’s Army
KM . Konvertabilna marka (convertible mark); Bosnian currency, worth about US$0.60–US$0.70
MICT . Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, successor to the ICTY; now International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT)
NIOD . Dutch Institute for War Documentation (Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie)
OHR . Office of the High Representative
OSCE . Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
PLIP. Property Law Implementation Plan
RRTF. Return and Reconstruction Task Force
RS . Republika Srpska; Serb-controlled entity in postwar Bosnia
SDA . Party of Democratic Action; leading Muslim nationalist party
SDC . Supreme Defense Council of Serbia
SDP . Social Democratic Party; nonnationalist but dominated by secular Muslims
SDS . Serb Democratic Party; Serb nationalist party that led the Serb separatist movement during the war
SFOR . (UN) Stabilization Force
SIPA . State Investigation and Protection Agency; state-level police body
SNSD . Party of Independent Social Democrats; Bosnian Serb nationalist party led by Milorad Dodik
SRRP . Srebrenica Regional Recovery Programme
SRS . Serbian Radical Party
UNDP . United Nations Development Programme
UNHCR . UN High Command for Refugees
UNPROFOR . (Wartime) UN Protection Force
VRS . (Wartime) Army of the Republika Srpska
VOCABULARY AND PROMINENT NAMES
Bosniak . Bosnian Muslim.
Chetnik . World War II Serb royalists and ultranationalists who ultimately collaborated with Nazis to fight Tito’s Partisans; their movement was revived in the 1990s.
Dayton agreement . Peace agreement resulting from negotiations overseen by the United States at Dayton, Ohio, signed in Paris in December 1995. Contains annexes covering refugee return; including the Bosnian constitution; and establishing the OHR and other postwar institutions.
Dragan Čović . Leader of the HDZ, Croat nationalist party.
Mirsad Duratović . Concentration camp survivor, politician, and human rights activist in Prijedor.
Federation . With the Republika Srpska, one of the two entities making up Bosnia-Herzegovina. Formed in 1993 and controlled by Bosnian Croats and Muslims.
Herzegovina . Southern region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, geographically and ethnographically distinct from Bosnia.
Alija Izetbegović (1925–2003). Founder and first president of SDA, Bosnian Muslim nationalist party. Leader of Bosnian government and commander of the ARBiH during the war.
Bakir Izetbegović . Leader of the SDA in the 2010s, son of Alija Izetbegović.
kafana . Coffeehouse, restaurant, drinking place, social venue.
Radovan Karadžić . Serb nationalist founder and wartime leader of the SDS, convicted of genocide and other war crimes.
Željko Komšić . Bosnian Croat, leader of the nonnationalist Democratic Front.
Krajina . Northwest region of Bosnia-Herzegovina (part of both entities), overlapping into Croatia.
Ratko Mladić . Commander in chief of the Bosnian Serb army (VRS); convicted of genocide and other war crimes (pending appeal in 2019).
Hasan Nuhanović . Wartime translator for UNPROFOR in the Srebrenica enclave, author, and activist.
Podrinje . Eastern Bosnia along the Drina River.
pozitivci . People who think and act positively.
Republika Srpska . With the Federation, one of two entities making up Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ustasha . World War II ultranationalist Croats who collaborated with Nazis in ruling Croatia and part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Their movement was revived in the 1990s.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1997. Map by US Central Intelligence Agency, courtesy of Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Libraries
Introduction
THE WAR AND THE CAMPAIGNS FOR RECOVERY
YUGOSLAVIA SEEMED LIKE A FINE PLACE TO LIVE WHEN I moved there in 1981. People had work without being overworked. There was time to spend with family and neighbors. With a Yugoslav passport it was possible to travel east and west with minimal visa requirements, and people generally had the income and vacation time to do so. They went abroad, and they were happy to return home.
But dark forces lurked behind this apparently pleasant scene, and just a few years later the Yugoslav federation was in a state of violent disintegration. The thousand-year history of Bosnia was thus punctuated in a most dreadful way by the 1992–1995 war, which changed the face of the country forever. By far, the most extensive bloodshed took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Many books have been written about that war, but the history of Bosnia did not end in 1995. A struggle is ongoing in Bosnia-Herzegovina, waged by ordinary people against great odds—a struggle for freedom of movement, for equal opportunity in the pursuit of a decent life under peaceful conditions, for a government free of corruption, for the restoration of good relations among the diverse ethnicities, and for justice.
This book is a portrayal of postwar life in Bosnia. It is meant to be more in-depth than the occasional newspaper article and more accessible than the scholarly writing currently available. It is the result of more than two decades of close observation of grassroots human rights campaigns and the struggle for recovery in B