Dealing with the Past

Tuzla, Bosnia and Hercegovina, 26-30 November 2002

Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) organised a seminar in Tuzla on the subject of truth and reconciliation and dealing with the past. 23 representatives of NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro participated in the event.

The participants were people who had worked with or were known to QPSW in the past and who had carried out invaluable work in the areas of peace-building and non-violence. However, most of them had little experience of working on issues of truth and reconciliation and dealing with the past. The aim of the seminar was therefore to introduce them to the topic and to help them to begin to explore how they might like to involve themselves in this area of work in the future.

The seminar was the first event to take place within QPSW's new programme on truth, reconciliation and dealing with the past in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. It therefore had a symbolic significance in marking a new start for QPSW's work in the region and in highlighting QPSW's new programme to its potential partners.

The seminar was led by Roberta Bacic, who currently works for War Resisters International, London, and has worked as an activist and researcher on issues of truth and reconciliation and human rights violations for over 20 years. Roberta spent many years campaigning for the rights of victims in her native Chile and also worked for the Chilean Truth Commission.

The seminar consisted of a series of lectures and working groups on truth and reconciliation. Roberta addressed the topics of why we should deal with the past, how we can deal with it, the methods we can use, and the roles we can play as individuals. Roberta based much of her presentation upon her own experience of the setting up and operation of the Truth Commission in Chile. Participants looked at issues such as the provision of support for victims, the taking of testimonies and storytelling as well as how to work with those who have formerly been viewed as 'the enemy'.

During the seminar, participants also had the opportunity to view an exhibition of photographs that Roberta had organised. The photographs depicted many of the ordinary people with whom Roberta had worked in Chile and she was able to use these photos to present some of the stories behind her truth and reconciliation work in the country.

The Quakers

Who are the Quakers? Quakers is a nickname for The Religious Society of Friends - or just 'Friends' for short - the early Quakers used to shake or 'quake' with spiritual excitement. We began 350 years ago in the middle of the English Civil War, when there was a great deal of religious turmoil in England. From the beginning Quakers have been a dissenting group, particularly against political authorities that also claim authority over the human heart and religion. We have always been concerned with the divine element in the human spirit, so we have a form of trying to find that divine element in ourselves and others. In order to do this we have avoided having a hierarchy of priests. Because we say that the divine spirit exists in everyone, we have an egalitarian way of worshiping. Even 300 years ago, women, children and men had an equal voice in the Society. We meet in a very informal setting, in silence, and wait to be moved by the Spirit. If someone feels themselves moved by the Spirit, they may feel moved to speak. That comes from deep within. We are more impressed by what comes directly from the depths of the sincere heart than by the authority of scriptures, though we may also use scriptures, just as we use the written record of our own accumulated spiritual experience down the centuries, as an undogmatic guide. We are in our origins Christian, but from the beginning have been open to inspiration from all faiths and none, because we believe in the divine manifestation in the human heart.

We also have a commitment to trying to resolve disputes and wars as we believe that the experience of the true spirit within us leads us to peace. We have a central group of practices, which we call testimonies. Simplicity, peace and social justice are the central testimonies. There is also a commitment to honesty in our dealings with ourselves and other people. Throughout our history, Quakers have been concerned to live their faith in a practical way. In the 20th century we have particularly been concerned with attempts to intervene in war in a practical way to help relieve suffering and hatred. Even as far back as the Crimean War, Quakers tried to stop the outbreak of the war by talking with the Russian Tsar, albeit unsuccessfully.

Coming to the present day, Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) is a small department of this Society of Friends, and is specifically concerned with work for peace and social justice, internationally and in the United Kingdom. We work on the ground in different locations and also work on long-term international issues at the United Nations. We have an office at the United Nations in Geneva where we meet with diplomats to try to influence the long-term political agenda in human rights, working specifically on trying to stop theuse of children as soldiers, on disarmament and the demand for small arms. We work in international economic institutions to try to help people in the developing world develop greater bargaining power on issues such as the unfair structure of global terms of trade.

We also work in Africa - in South Africa and Uganda, where there is a vicious war in the north (we have representatives there). We have worked in the past in Northern Ireland and in Russia and for 20 years in the civil war in Sri Lanka, and work is now continued by independent local NGOs in all of these areas of the world based on what we have started. We are now looking at new work in South Asia. We work in the Middle East, with a new programme of sending observers to Palestine and Israel. There we are working co-operatively and ecumenically with British and European Churches to expand the work and its effectiveness.

We became involved here in this region in 1991 (although we also had contacts in previous generations). As the wars were beginning, we contacted people in the Centre for Anti-War Action, Belgrade and in ARKH (Anti-War Campaign, Croatia). We made small financial contributions to help them buy equipment. Over the past decade our work has shifted more and more towards the Balkans, as we have made more contacts and developed long-term relationships. We sent volunteers to help with anti-war activity in Serbia and Croatia. We also sent volunteers to work with refugees arriving in Croatia in large numbers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. We were not able to do much else in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 1995-96. We had been very involved in supporting the Pakrac project in Croatia. In 1995 some people from Pakrac came to Gornji Vakuf to look at the possibility of an international and locally run joint project in post-war reconstruction. We became heavily involvedin funding both those projects and through the growth of that we visited in March 1996. From that base we began to make contact throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Out of that came our office in Sarajevo undertaking our programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the summer of 1998 until this year. This was about identifying the most progressive NGOs in the region, those who were concerned in one way or another to build a culture of peace, and to work with them on building their capacity to operate for the long term. Part of that has been to assist groups, through our training programme, in looking at their philosophy of local peacebuilding and how they put that into practice. We have always wanted to work with and through local people as much as possible, and to operate in the local language. We now have a completely local staff. And for instance Mladen Majetic [in the audience] has worked as a consultant for us for the last two years, putting these ideas into practice.

Why are we now turning to concentrate particularly on dealing with the past? The short answer is that this is what local people have been advising us to do. We held a consultation in Osijek in October 2001, in which we gathered together our long-term allies in peacemaking here in the region. We asked them if there was any value in us continuing to work in this area and if so, what sort of a role they thought we might have. The main response that we got was that there were many foreign groups that worked on NGO capacity-building but that there was a big gap in working on processes of truth, reconciliation and dealing with the past. People were definitely beginning to talk about it, though with a great deal of nervousness and caution, and as you know, in summer last year, there was this big conference in which Kostunica began his big process of 'Truth and Reconciliation'. We had also heard of attempts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to work towards a truth and reconciliation commission. But the people gathered in Osijek told us that they wanted to be involved in processes that involved local people and those who had suffered directly. There was a great deal of suspicion about the political agendas, compromised nature and the bias of state-sponsored truth and reconciliation processes. People told us that if we were going to work on dealing with the past, it needed to be a really authentic process, which made a real and positive difference to the lives of people on the ground. That's essentially what we mean by dealing with the past.

As I am not an expert, I do not want to say too much about the concept and content of 'dealing with the past' except to say that for me it is the opposite of not dealing with the past, of avoidance. I know what avoidance feels like and looks like; if I continue to deny the difficulties of what I've been involved in in my life, including the fights I've been in, the consequence is that I am tight within myself. I cannot really move and I have a lack of bodily, emotional, spiritual and practical freedom. So that's what I think a programme of dealing with the past will try to do; it will try to deal with that tightness at an individual and social level, to help people to work on relieving their own tightness and 'stuckness'. By doing this together, perhaps we can make a contribution towards life and growth in this region.

We don't as yet have a clearly worked out idea as to how to develop this. But this is consistent with our way of working here over the past ten years. I don't want to say that we are totally ignorant, but our attitude has always been that if we come in claiming to know more than we do, we will come in as 'colonialists' and 'imperialists'. That's why we spend so much of our time talking and listening in order to get a sense of the reality of the situation that we want to help with. But we cannot do anything to help to relieve the situation of other people without their own movement and motivation. There is an old saying that if you dig yourself into a hole, then only you can dig yourself out of it. So at the end of the day we see our role as one of solidarity, to help people to take responsibility for their own emancipation and to work towards their own growth as individuals and in society and in the political sphere. What we want to achieve is that people take that responsibility and develop their own programmes throughout the region. This is not just NGOs, which have become an industry in their own right; the primary purpose is the involvement of people at the grass roots, to get them to work on the processes of denial and holding on. By helping them confront the pain in their experiences, we hope they are assisted to let in some light and some air. As Quakers we think that doing this type of work is really addressed at the future, because we think that denial and failing to deal with the past most definitely leads to future conflict. So we see this kind of engagement with local groups and people as a contribution to peace in the region.

Alan Pleydell

Dealing with the Past

Introduction

Roberta Bacic

I will give a short introduction to my own work on dealing with the past. The experiences are here to be used as a mirror - what can be used, what are the links, what are the feelings that are common? A war here, a dictatorship in Chile and a war in Iraq all have the same consequences for the individual. It will be the individual in the social context who will have to see how to deal with this.

I am reading a book, 'Speak You Also', that was written 50 years after the concentration camp in Auschwitz. It has a sentence that says that "those who survive, like me, have found a way of dealing with it, even if dealing means denial." 'Dealing' means to live in a better condition in which we don't feel that we have to suffer to survive. We have to enjoy life and for that we have to know who we are. The past I have lived is connected to a globalisation that is not only economic in its nature; we have also seen the globalisation of the issue of human rights violations. People survive wars and have to move on. Some countries repress and then others will be in solidarity. Many will repress and show solidarity at the same time. My father was Yugoslav. He had been Austro-Hungarian and then, after fleeing to Chile after World War II, he became Chilean. Hedied three weeks before the war started here. I can imagine that it would have been very difficult for him to identify with a new nationality. He understood nothing about politics, but he understood about life. My father was from Opatija my mother from Austria. My father was a Catholic and my mother was a good Jew. They met in a refugee camp. They decided to make a new life for themselves in Chile and to forget the past. Their only daughter had to be Chilean, live in peace and not know anything about the past. That worked very well for a couple of years, but life is social connections, and to be a good Chilean meant to be at a good school, be a good student and then be involved in the social processes of Chile. The school belonged to the university, and aimed to produce radical people who wanted to change society. Clearly you had to deal with the past, and this was the past of injustice all over the world, and you had to try to change the world in order that there could be more justice.

Those in government in Chile tried socialism through democracy. The first socialist government to be elected in the world was in Chile. President Allende belonged to the Socialist party and represented a coalition of left wing parties. He tried three times and after 12 years we had a socialist government chosen by the majority in Chile. The government had great solidarity and support from the outside world,where many people werelooking at this experiment that was part of a whole process of radical change in the Americas.

The process belonged to the whole nation, because it belonged to the people who were very happy about it and who were threatened by it. There was a complete change in the economic situation and a shift in power. For people like me it seemed marvellous; there were people reading in the street, an atmosphere of more movement in the country, and in every district and community there were lots of cultural events. But we had no time to see how the others were feeling. Somehow the military coup happened in a moment; on 11th September 1973 - a Tuesday - a military putsch destroyed and bombarded the congress and the palace of government. In just one minute, the present became the past and you had to stand up and try to survive.

The process that I will try to describe during this seminar is the process of living and suffering with the people who experienced the military coup. I worked for 25 years with the relatives of the disappeared; I experienced how these people dealt with the past and how society looked at that process and how we connect to that world.

I want my experience to be connected to and relevant to your own experiences. Here are some statistics for the results of the truth commission in Chile, showing the number of people that qualified as victims:

Total denunciations investigated by the state

	Total no. of denunciations received
National Commission of Truth and Reconciliation	3,550
National Corporation of Reparation and Reconciliation	1,200
Total	4,750

Victims declared by the State

Classified as deaths and disappearances	National Commission of Truth and Reconciliation	National Corporation of Reparation and Reconciliation	Total
Deaths	1,319	776	2,095
Disappearances	979	123	1,102
Total	2,298	899	3,197

Classified as affected by the violation of human rights or political violence

	National Commission of Truth and Reconciliation	National Corporation of Reparation and Reconciliation	Total
Violation of human rights	2,130	644	2,774
Political violence	168	255	423
Total	2,298	899	3,197

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To give someone thequalification or status of 'victim' is to rebuild his or her whole life. Recovering their lives also had consequences, such as the need for a law that would give compensation. Such changes were implemented because groups like you pushed for change; nothing is just given to us. What a truth commission provides is what the people have struggled for, that which the governments cannot deny them any more; whatever we get is also a reflection of our struggle, and the use we make of it will also depend on us.

In Chile, we had 3,197 victims of political repression that ended in disappearance or execution. The Chilean Truth Commission only dealt with that; no survivors were included. They are not in the statistics, but they still had to give the testimonies. I worked as a researcher for the follow-up to the Truth Commission - the National Corporation of Reparation and Reconciliation. There I took testimonies from the survivors; that meant going through the history and the facts. The presence of the survivors was key to our work; the testimonies and information that was compiled by the NGOs during the repression was basic. We inherited 17 years of files from NGOs and religious groups. The government could have done almost nothing without this history. What had been compiled was part of reality and of history.

The compensation has helped people to build a different kind of future, but with many complexities. I am personally upset about many things - that is why I left Chile. I acknowledge that the amount of truth unearthed and the number of initiatives launched was immense, but I despair at the lack of energy put into 'doing', and deciding what to do with the information we got. We have the reports and the laws, but if the grassroots and society don't move, nothing changes.

The statistics show 2,774 violations of human rights. Some people will say that the numbers are not very huge, but the important thing is that these things happened, the fact that they were allowed to happen and that we did not stop it. This is just what has been acknowledged publicly; these numbers are not reality.

To create a truth commission you have to deal with perpetrators as well as victims and survivors, so, whatever else it may fail to do, a truth commission succeeds in bringing different actors together. There is no way to escape. It is important to think about how we bring actors together. Its also important to remember that whatever we do is better than nothing. We have to do it now, no-one will do it for us. The energy we use to criticise existing processes is energy lost for creating. Verbalising our ideas and discussing them is important in itself.

This introduction is meant to challenge us to look at what we expect to do, what we expect from our governments, what we are willing to contribute to and what are we willing to complement with our own experience. I won't be able to cover everything, but I will try to provide people with resources that will help them to answer the questions they have. Strategies will be something for them to develop once they go back home.

Conciliation, rather than reconciliation, is sometimes the first step that is needed in the process of dealing with the past. Conciliation focuses upon how to live with the situation; sometimes it does not necessarily lead to reconciliation. It will, however, let people live together. From my own experience, reconciliation is a word I am very afraid of - it is something extra that someone demands of me. First they repress me and I have to deal with that, then they ask me to reconcile and that's a responsibility. I have a video of a person who will not reconcile, but who does not present a problem for society as he lives peacefully. If he reconciles, he feels he will deny himself.

Concerning the topic of gender, you will notice that the main characters in my exhibition are women. I am not a feminist, but I work very much on gender issues as it is mostly the women who have husbands and children who have disappeared.

In regards to the Chilean process, I will share with you what we have done, what we could do and what we still have to do. I used to be impatient and felt that everything needed to be done straight away; four years of being away from Chile has given me a deeper perspective. Whilst I was there I saw only what still needed to be done, now I have a much better overview of what has already been achieved. I never thought that the palace of government would be rebuilt; now it is. There is a statue of President Allende standing in front of the palace; this was not imaginable before, and is the product of the pressure that NGOs and grassroots organisations have exerted. The country is still divided but it has achieved something. The Truth Commission acknowledged that the President's death was a consequence of what happened.

Dealing with the past means facing the past and working out what to do with it. It is interesting that there is no word for 'dealing' in some languages. 'Dealing' means learning to live with it, coping, and struggling. It has to do with our personal and social life, in connection to the things that have happened to us, things that we did not provoke and did not chose. In other areas of life sometimes we know that what we do has consequences and we know that we have to deal with them, but this is different as it requires us to deal with something that we have not initiated, but rather was initiated by other human beings, on purpose. Often we expect that human beings will deal with each other in a humane way. When we try to deal with the trauma caused by other people, it is different to trying to deal with the trauma of a natural catastrophe. The reconciliation process is absolutely different. Chile has so many volcanoes that often erupt and destroy towns, but everyone sees those who suffer as respected, honourable victims. There will be a government response, people will be given somewhere to live and helped to rebuild their homes. They will get international help and aid very easily. They are not judged for it, or evaluated as to their suitability to receive help.

I am almost certain that if there had not been a dictatorship in Chile, I would not be with you, I would have carried on teaching philosophy. The events that happen change us and force us to make choices. These choices have consequences. As an academic, I was fascinated by teachings about suicide, as I was interested in Camus. When working at the Truth Commission, I discovered that some people had committed suicide during the extremes of repression. Committing suicide gave them the possibility to become victims. They could not tolerate torture, disappearances or lack of justice. In a catholic country like Chile, a person who commits suicide has no rights, but in this extreme case, there was a deeper understanding of the situation.

In war, similar things happen. We have to expand our understanding of war. It is not a war between two people, but also has consequences for whole societies. We read that the war on terrorism is against Saddam Hussein, but it is not only against him. If he dies, he will die knowing that he has chosen this way, he has taken his own responsibility. But what happens to the innocent victims, those who have not chosen war?

Reasons to Deal with the Past

1. To give dignity to those who have suffered - they have the right to be respected. If we do not confront what has happened to them, we argue that they do not matter and perpetuate the victimisation. If we say that only the future is important, it doesn't help us to deal with the past or to be part of the present. Perpetrators have to be aware of their actions and take responsibility for them. There are of course implications for the people who do choose to deal with the past; it can take over their whole life, but it can also help them to understand their own rights.
2. To acknowledge that law is important - everyone must be subject to the law, otherwise there is no way of rebuilding society. I often had to interview criminals - they had a lot to say. One asked me why the military was able to kill people, yet he was not allowed to steal a cow in order to feed his family. He was in jail, yet the ones who killed his father walked happily in the street. The law has to apply equally to everyone. Think about the impact of the Pinochet case; look at web site: www.memoriaviva.com (in Spanish); it has a section called 'Initiative 503', with pictures that show the activities of the Chilean community during the 503 days when Pinochet was in London. Even though he is not in prison (he was declared mentally unfit), the pressure that has been exerted means that he cannot be declared innocent, only incapable of continuing the process; this was a big change. As a response to this impunity, we have created a project that will plant a tree for each victim. This can be seen on: www.ecomemoria.com (English and Spanish). The Truth Commission in Chile could not judge Pinochet, but the names of the victims are now honoured, so the process of justice has been continued. On 2nd February a tree was planted in the memory of a disappeared woman who was pregnant; her partner was present at the planting. He now has a place to go to say hello to her. He said that day at the planting of the tree in Brill England, that sometimes when he was in London he smelt her perfume and heard her voice and turned around. Now he knows that that won't happen, as he has a tree to go to where he can find her. There are also three trees planted at the Peace Pagoda in Milton Keynes, England, in the memory of three indigenous brothers from the mountains in the south of Chile. You can also find songs on the web site. The idea is to celebrate life and community.
3. To deter future abuses - by bringing attention to what happened, people will realise that in the future it will be more difficult to just make people disappear. Creating the project has brought together those who say they will not forgive and those who say they will forgive, and those who will and won't reconcile.

We still have lots of discussions and frictions but we now have a space to come together to deal with this. We are taking responsibility for avoiding the same things happening again. It is important to recognise the political context in which we are operating and to do what we can within that; this is a much-needed reality check. We have to build from where we are now.

Also see: wri-irg.org/dealpast.htm. There is a 'dealing with the past' link and a bibliography, as well as other information related to this topic.

Different Kinds of Truth

• "But what about truth - and whose truth?"
• The South African Commission for Truth and Reconciliation identified four different notions of truth. In fact these are all different manifestations of the same truth. The text in the grey box below is taken from the South African Truth Commission report.

Factual or Forensic Truth

The familiar legal or scientific notion of bringing to light factual, corroborated evidence, or obtaining accurate information through reliable (impartial, objective) procedures, featured prominently in the Commission's findings process.

The Act required the Commission "prepare a comprehensive report which sets out its activities and findings, based onfactual and objective information and evidence collected or received by it or placed at its disposal". In pursuing the factual truth, the Act required the examination of two essential areas.

The first of these related to findings on an individual level. The Commission was required to make findings on particular incidents and in respect of specific people. In other words, what happened to whom, where, when and how, and who was involved? In order to fulfil this aspect of its mandate, it adopted an extensive verification and corroboration policy to make sure that findings were based on accurate and factual information.

The second area related to findings on the contexts, causes and patters of violations. In this respect, the Commission was required to report on the broader patters underlying gross violations of human rights and to explore the causes of such violations. To do this, it had to analyse, interpret and draw inferences from the information it received. In this regard, it became necessary for the Commission to adopt a social scientist's approach - making use of the information contained in its database and from a range of secondary sources. However, all truth commissions have their limitations. In the words of Michael Ignatieff:

All that a truth commission can achieve is to reduce the number of lies that can be circulated in public discourse. In Argentina, its work has made it impossible to claim, for example, that the military did not throw half-dead victims in the sea from helicopters. In Chile, it is no longer permissible to assert in public that the Pinochet regime did not dispatch thousands of entirely innocent people…

Applying Ignatieff's notion of reducing the number of lies, one can say that the information in the hands of the Commission made it impossible to claim, for example, that: the practice of torture by state security forces was not systematic and widespread; that only a few 'rotten eggs' or 'bad apples' committed gross violations of human rights; that the state was not directly and indirectly involved in 'black-on-black violence; that the chemical and biological warfare programme was only of a defensive nature; that slogans by sections of the liberation movement did not contribute to the killings of 'settlers' or farmers; and that the accounts of gross human rights violations in the African National Congress (ANC) camps were the consequence of state information. Thus, disinformation about the past that had been accepted as truth by some members of society lost much of its credibility.

Participants' Comments

Factual truth is truth made up of numbers or facts that we are able to find in the field, legal or scientific regulations. We have to be aware that facts can easily be manipulated. When we have the facts, it is sometimes very difficult to present them. The presentation can depend on who gives the facts, and whether the person's status or position affects the interpretation. People have become used to believing different institutions and trusting their facts. In the Balkans, society is not very ready to accept many of the facts about the past decade. The facts are being hidden in different ways and it is possible that lies are being presented through some official channels, such as truth commissions. It is important that the members of bodies dealing with the past are really willing to find out the real truth.

A number of freezer trucks containing corpses from Kosovo were discovered in Serbia; it was extremely important that the new Serbian government admitted the existence of these trucks. However, more facts are still needed about this case.

The forensic truth has immense importance but it is often difficult to establish. The role of journalists is to exercise a professional curiosity; this can often lead to the discovery of forensic truth. In a case from Vojvodina, there were for many years unconfirmed rumours about graves that originated from the Second World War. A journalist investigated the case for herself and found the graves and their origins, which turned out those of Germans from 1945, who were the victims of retaliation after World War 2. History repeats itself: there are parallels between the destinies of local Germans (Volksdeutsche) in Serbia in 1945 and the Serbs in 'Krajina' in 1995.

In Chile the Truth Commission was in operation whilst Pinochet was commander of the troops, so it did not seem the best moment. We must use the possibilities that arise: the best moment never comes.

José Beltran was an indigenous man, whose case I followed from 1975-1995. The forensic truth in his case is as follows: Beltran was sitting having dinner with his family, a policeman opened the door and came in, the family knew him, the policeman said he would bring the man back in half an hour. This was the only forensic truth in this case until 1995. Plus there was the additional fact that he had not come back, but some would say that this is not proof of anything, he could have escaped to Argentina.

The Truth Commission was constituted in 1990. In order to prove that a person had existed, the Commission had to look for a birth certificate; it was not enough for the mother to say that her son had disappeared. They also had to look for a death certificate. In the case of José Beltran there was no death certificate. This meant that he was not legally buried anywhere in Chile. Through the Truth Commission, one person testified that in the cemetery of the town there were two tombs with 'NN' (No Name) inscribed on them, and that these people had been buried on 15th October 1973. The tribunal was asked to take out the remains of the people. The Truth Commission knew of four people who had disappeared on 14th October. The narrative truth of the witness who had seen the graves added to the social truth that people of the area had disappeared at the hands of the police. This was not enough for the commission. Five forensic anthropologists worked for 3.5 months with the remains and determined that one set belonged to José Beltran. The process of forensic identification gave another forensic truth. The tribunal then put the remains in a coffin. Some indigenous people walked with the coffin from the tribunal to the home to deliver the coffin to the family. This is a positive example that can give others hope.

Personal or Narrative Truth

At a hearing of the Commission in Port Elizabeth on 21 May 1996, Archbishop Tutu said:

This Commission is said to listen to everyone. It is therefore important that everyone be given a chance to say his or her truth as he or she sees it…

By telling their stories, both victims and perpetrators gave meaning to the multi-layered experiences of the South African story. These personal truths were communicated to the broader public by the media.

In the (South) African context, where value continues to be attached to oral tradition, the process of story telling was particularly important. Indeed, this aspect is a distinctive and unique feature of the legislation governing the Commission, setting it apart from the mandate of truth commissions elsewhere. The Act specifically recognised the healing potential of telling stories. The stories told to the Commission were not presented as arguments or claims in a court of law. Rather they provided unique insights into the pain of South Africa's past, often touching the hearts of all that heard them.

By providing the environment in which victims could tell their own stories in their own languages, the Commission not only helped to uncover existing facts about past abuses, but also assisted in the creation of a 'narrative truth'. In so doing, it sought to contribute to the process of reconciliation by ensuring that the truth about the past included the validation of the individual subjective experiences of people who had previously been silenced or voiceless.

The Commission sought too, to capture the widest possible record of people's perceptions, stories, myths and experiences. It chose in the words of Antjie Krog, a South African writer and poet, "the road…of restoring memory and humanity". It is what Oxford University historian, Timothy Garten Ash, sees as "the most promising" way - a way that offers "history lessons" as an alternative to political trials, uncovering what happened and identifying lessons for the future. As such, the Commission sought to recover parts of the national memory that had hitherto been officially ignored.

It is impossible to capture the detail and complexity of all of this in a report. The transcripts of the hearings, individual statements, a mountain of press clippings and video material are all part of an invaluable record which the Commission handed over to the National Archives for public access. This record will form a part of the national memory for generations yet to come. In this report, the Commission has tried, through a range of detailed 'window cases' and selections from the testimonies of many victims, to capture some part of the richness of the individual accounts heard before it.

This is the truth that one lives. One of the personal and narrative stories in the case of José Beltran was the story that Pedro Beltran (José's brother) told the Truth Commission. He said that his brother was a trade unionist and was respected by many but also hated by many. He was trying to find a reason, an explanation for the inexplicable, for what had happened. The mother had another narrative truth: her good son, who was always trying to do the best for the community, was having dinner with the family when the police, who were their neighbours, came and took him; in the past they had trusted the police, that is why they did not rebel. There were actually 17 narrative truths in this particular case. Sometimes they can be proved, sometimes not. Narrative truth is the way you tell the story, how you lived it.

Social Truth

While narrative truth was central to the work of the South African Commission, especially to the hearings of the Human Rights Violations Committee, it was in its search for social truth that the closest connection between the Commission's process and its goal was to be found.

Judge Albie Sachs, a prominent participant in the debates preceding the establishment of the Commission, and now a Constitutional Court judge, made a useful distinction between what he called 'microscope truth' and 'dialogue truth'. "The first", he said, "is factual, verifiable and can be documented and proved. Dialogue truth, on the other hand, is social truth, the truth of experience that is established through interaction, discussion and debate."

In recognising the importance of social or dialogue truth, the Commission acknowledged the importance of participation and transparency. Its goal was to try to transcend the divisions of the past by listening carefully to the complex motives and perspectives of all those involved. It made a conscious effort to provide an environment in which all possible views could be considered and weighed, one against the other. People from all walks of life were invited to participate in the process, including faith communities, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and political parties. The public was engaged through open hearings and the media. The Commission itself was also subjected to constant public scrutiny and critique.

It is particularly important to emphasise that establishing the truth could not be divorced from the affirmation of the dignity of human beings. Thus, not only the actual outcome or findings of an investigation counted. The process whereby the truth was reached was itself important because it was through this process that the essential norms of social relations between people were reflected. It was, furthermore, through dialogue and respect that a means of promoting transparency, democracy and participation in society was suggested as a basis for affirming human dignity and integrity.

Who is a victim and what is the truth? Who is creating victims and aggressors? Are the aggressors sometimes the victims? In Chile, we had a society in which communities broke bonds of trust because people were taken from their homes and disappeared; that's the social truth of Beltran's situation. What do we do about a society where this happens? There are processes and programmes for analysing the social truth, e.g. in South Africa it could be proved that apartheid was a common practice and that it was not a practice that was approved of in the country or internationally.

Participants' Comments

A discussion was held on topic what is truth generally, and whether it is possible to find the truth. Participants agreed that everybody has right on truth and that everybody (on both the individual and collective level) has to tell their own truth. There is need to talk, to share knowledge and experiences, as it is only way to reach any agreement and to be at peace with ourselves and others (both people and nations).

Social truth was felt by participants to be in some way applicable in their countries, although they felt that more emphasis is placed on factual truth and the use of the legal system to deal with those who committed crimes.

A recognition of and agreement on truth can be achieved through dialogue and discussion.

Healing and Restorative Truth

The preceding discussion rejects the popular assumption that there are only two options to be considered when talking about truth - namely factual, objective information or subjective opinions. There is also 'healing' truth, the kind of truth that places facts and what they mean within the context of human relationships - both among citizens and between the state and its citizens. This kind of truth was central to the Commission.

The Act required that the Commission look back to the past and forward to the future. In this sense it was required to help establish a truth that would contribute to the reparation of the damage inflicted in the past and to the prevention of the recurrence of serious abuses in the future. It was not enough simply to determine what had happened. Truth as factual, objective information cannot be divorced from the way in which the information is acquired; nor can such information be separated from the purpose it is required to serve.

It is in this context that the role of 'acknowledgement' must be emphasised. Acknowledgement refers to placing information that is (or becomes) known on public, national record. It is not merely the actual knowledge about past human rights violations that counts; often the basic facts about what happened are already known, at least by those who were affected. What is critical is that these facts be fully and publicly acknowledged. Acknowledgement is an affirmation that a person's pain is real and worthy of attention. It is thus central to the restoration of the dignity of victims.

Participants' Discussion

This focuses upon how to get recognition for the truth and how to get people to acknowledge the truth. How much does this kind of truth provide healing for the community or the individual? Is the society here ready for healing and restorative truth? Restorative truth is often connected with the issues of collective and individual guilt; if someone takes guilt on behalf of the people he is marked as a traitor. How much and what can NGOs do in promoting healing and restorative truth?

One of the participants presented the case of a family whose son had been killed in a car accident. The court case was still pending years after the event, with the perpetrator finding numerous ways to avoid going to court. For the parents what is important is that they hear the perpetrator admit her guilt. Her denial of responsibility prolongs the suffering. For as long as the perpetrators continue to deny their guilt, the victims will continue to suffer.

A number of important questions were raised: How do you encourage people to talk and how do you prepare people to listen? Is there one truth or many truths? What kind of healing are we talking about? Do we wish to see the restoration of the victims or the perpetrators? Do we need to heal ourselves or heal the system?

Factual truth has to be out in the public in order to be healing or restorative. We have recently seen an example whereby the Dutch government has examined the role of the Dutch troops in Srebrenica. While this was successful in establishing the factual truth for the Dutch, it offered no restorative truth for the victims of Srebrenica, as all the activity and discussion took place in Holland.

Srebrenica is one of the hardest issues for Bosnia and Herzegovina. NGOs have not yet found the strength to gather and examine different types of truth in Srebrenica. Nobody wants to take individual responsibility; it is probably only acknowledgement that is needed in order to help start the healing process.

Women in Black organised for a group of 29 women from Serbia to go to an official mourning ceremony for Srebrenica. However, they were turned back by the police and were not allowed to demonstrate their acknowledgement of what happened at Srebrenica. Such acknowledgement would have been viewed as treason.

People are afraid to say that they are responsible; they worry about how others will react. Even if they do have an understanding of who did what, they know that they will be seen as a traitor if they stand up and express it.

Perhaps it is part of the Balkan history that there is no concept of individual accountability. People here are not used to feeling accountable. Instead there is a culture of blame. One participant felt that the very existence of the Hague Tribunal prevents people from developing responsibility themselves; they don't feel the need to do it any more. Another participant argued that the existence of the Hague Tribunal helps to open up the possibility of discussing what happened and admitting responsibility. Perhaps The Hague feels a gap; Karadzic and a mother from Srebrenica are not going to get together and discuss what happened! Biljana Plavsic admitted her guilt; this is a positive result of the Hague Tribunal and could contribute to healing or restorative truth.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not yet ready to deal with restorative truth. It is still grappling with the issue of different truths on different sides. There is still fundamental disagreement about core issues such as whether what Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced was civil war or aggression. There firstly needs to be a minimum consensus about what is the truth. The political parties that won the recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina all include politicians who have been indicted by the Hague. It is very unlikely, therefore, that these parties will do anything to encourage the discovery of the truth.

Some participants felt that it was actually becoming harder to work on the issue of dealing with the past, as there is a backlash against NGOs working on these issues. NGOs have to create an atmosphere for truth; it is impossible to work on healing and restorative truth until this happens.

For Beltran, the healing and restorative truth was the evidence of the collective burial. The people who gave narrative stories were healed by being acknowledged in their telling of the truth, and they got a different type of dignity.

There remains the issue of the policeman and his refusal to admit his guilt, but this is something for other groups to deal with. This raises questions about the role of judiciary and the role of the Truth Commission. The Truth Commission could only give the names of victims; however, where evidence against perpetrators had emerged, it could be placed before tribunals. Many people were prosecuted as a result of the findings of the Chilean Truth Commission. The number of prosecutions increased significantly once Pinochet was in London. However, no justice is ever enough to erase what people have suffered; if Pinochet had been in prison it would have helped, but the loss would still be there. Once people have found out the truth, their next demand and need tends to be justice. The process of doing something is in itself part of the healing.

How Do We Remember?

I want to talk about three different models of remembering: traditional justice, truth commissions and amnesia. I recommend that you read 'Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence' by Andrew Rigby, which has examples of all of these.

Amnesia

Amnesia basically means forgetting, but how can we say we will forget? The best example of using amnesia to deal with the past can be found in Spain. There is no country in the world that has ignored the past more than Spain. It is very difficult to understand how people can live with that. The Spanish civil war meant thousands of deaths, yet there was and is absolute amnesia. I lived in Spain at the time of Franco's death and found it impossible to understand what was going on. There was absolute silence about everything, but there was an alternative language, which they called 'the outburst'. Spain was lagging behind the rest of Europe economically and therefore saw that its future must lie within European fold. The main topic of discussion in Spain around this time was sex. This was a sign of sexual liberation in a very Catholic strict conservative country; 90% of the films were about sex, theatre was about sex and people talked about sex. I had no clear possibility to analyse what other options Spain had other than amnesia, as at the time Chile was in the middle of its own dictatorship; what I did realise was that the model of amnesia was not a good one to follow.

Last year there was an exhibition on the Spanish Civil War in the War Museum in London. The first thing that one saw on entering the exhibition was Pablo Neruda - a Chilean poet who received the Nobel Prize in 1972 - with the Winnipeg boat, with which he had brought people who had survived the civil war from Spain to Chile. It is strange to think of bringing people out of Spain to a country that had been colonised by the Spanish. It is clear that many of the people who had suffered left Spain, and not only for Chile. The others have stayed to become part of the European Community. It is not clear if the problems of the past have been solved in this way. If forgetting was the price of entry into the European Community, then they have succeeded. At the beginning of 2003, a piece of research will be started in Spain, looking at how the Spanish feel about their past, but I think that it is a bit too late. The cards are already on the table; the people who did not agree left and the others accepted it.

Can this really be described as a model? A model is something that you want to follow. Even if we think of Uganda, many years afterwards it had to go to 2 truth commissions. The people of Uganda coped with amnesia for many years, but then they had to do something to come to terms with the past.

Franco's monument was built with the message 'don't dig in the past - lets reconcile'. This idea of reconciliation was also accepted in Croatia by ex-president Tudjman; the idea was to have a place of reconciliation in Jacenovac, but it didn't happen. Stalin tried to do the same but did not succeed; the people destroyed his statue. This model cannot be imposed, it is up to people to decide whether to accept it or not.

The Truth Commission in Chile was the result of a decision not to follow the Spanish model. The moment that Pinochet was no longer president, he kept all the power by being commander in chief of the military and the police. But the Chilean people still managed to establish a Truth Commission as a result of the pressure of segments of civil society; it was the strength of moral commitment that pushed it through. Today 50% of the electorate still vote for the right wing parties that support Pinochet, so even now the conditions aren't perfect for dealing with the past. But the chances are always there to do what we can in the spaces that we create. It is up to us to open that space. However, it seems too late for Spain to open it now, as the paradigms are different.

Traditional justice

How can traditional justice work in normal situations? Can we trust it? Is the system efficient here? What do we achieve by trying to deal with the past through a system that we don't trust anyway?

Participants' Response:

In Croatia there is the dual problem of (i) the inefficiency of the system and (ii) the lack of political will. Sometimes there is the problem that politicians stop things happening.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there is also the issue of the High Representative and long administrative procedures, and eventually people lose their will to go on. Bosnia and Herzegovina has 13 constitutions and 4 levels of government, so try to imagine the judiciary working within this system!

Even dealing with a car accident can take 6 years. There is no court working for the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no single judiciary. To whom should one submit documents? Corruption is also a problem. The political system has a huge degree of influence on the courts. In all of the ex-Yugoslav countries, the problem is the same: the lack of efficiency is worsened by a lack of political will.

In Serbia, four representatives of a political party were killed four years ago and the case has still not been solved. The disappearance of Ivan Stambolic has also not been solved. People on the ITCY list can still move freely throughout Serbia, and the government is not complying with the ICTY's request to send Mladic to The Hague. As a consequence of the political amnesia of 1941-1945, many thousands of people in Serbia don't have any rights because their property was confiscated after 1945 and even the current politicians are not willing to return it to them.

In Chile the analysis was that the Truth Commission was better than traditional justice, which would have given the people nothing as an amnesty law had been written down by Pinochet and his people. The Truth Commission gave people a platform to contribute to the historical memory. This meant that history was not only created by those who had been in power during the dictatorship.

Truth Commissions

Priscilla Hayner's book 'Unspeakable Truths' gives a comprehensive account of all the truth commissions that had been created by 1991, including South Africa, Guatemala, Chile and others. Peru and Mexico were created after the book was published. It is worth noting that seven new Truth Commissions have been formed since 2001. When we talk of 'truth', we are not speaking of it as an absolute but rather as a process of looking at events. 90% of the activity of a Truth Commission is to listen to the people who suffered the consequences of the aggression. The experience is not only about establishing historical context, it is also about the people. Below is a list of the key ways in which truth commissions can contribute to dealing with the past:

1. They are capable of contributing to the acknowledgement of two substantial issues:
   
   
   • the institutional setting of the country in which they are set up cannot deal with the issues concerning human rights violations, so they have to create a body, separate to them, to tackle this concern.
   • the existence of a commission and the outcoming report brings about a public acknowledgement of what has been known all along by victims and perpetrators, and which has been ignored or denied by a big part of society. Once others acknowledged what you have experienced, it becomes a shared history. This is important, even if the Truth Commission doesn't help with justice. It demonstrates that the value of people is beyond everything else.
   
   
   
   
2. Truth Commissions establish an accurate record of a country's past, clarify uncertain events and lift the lid of silence and denial of a painful period of history. We cannot blame people who existed 1000 years ago for the events of today. Normally truth commissions will produce a report on historical context, but the main focus will be on the preceding period, not on the history. Here we can stop the chain into the future.
3. They exist to respond to the needs and interests of victims. As you might know, much of their time and attention is focused on victims. Story telling becomes a very important and a substantial part of the task for which a commission has been requested. This is as regards the input given by victims and also of perpetrators. This is one of the first places where the two are brought together in the same story.
4. By uncovering what happened, a PROCESS of dealing with the past is triggered and it becomes essential that grassroots groups, as well as NGOs and state institutions, deal with it so as to project it into the future and help in the task of prevention of future violations. There is a link between the work that we do as NGOs and the institutions that set up the truth commissions. Social workers that worked during the Pinochet regime and were in the government offices had to implement the reparation measures. They had to process the information to give social and financial reparations. This meant bringing together two groups of people who used to be separated and was a very important step forward.
5. The actual stating of facts avoids the extended use of euphemisms, so a crime becomes a crime and not an abuse, torture is torture and not inadequate and unnecessary use of force, etc. Truth commissions have to state the number of deaths and detail the facts of the crime. More people pay attention to those kinds of concepts, to forensic truths.
6. The existence of the commission and its subsequent report makes the topic which was previously a topic of victims versus perpetrators, a topic of society as a whole. Those who do not belong to these two named groups (victims and perpetrators) have to take part in the discussion and take responsibility for what they ignored and did not do. When you are in the public domain, it is important to get the attention of those who have said nothing. Many people have lived ignoring what has happened, and they have to take responsibility. These are our potential allies. People are not only responsible for what they do, they are also responsible for what they do not do.
7. During and after this process there is a strong need to rebuild the social net and here active dialogue and participation of individuals and social actors becomes relevant. We have the responsibility for rebuilding social networks. Truth Commissions can help to rebuild networks. In Chile, two groups have succeeded in putting Human Rights onto the curriculum of schools and the universities.
8. In the context of what is happening all over the world, the setting up of these commissions after a war or dictatorship becomes a matter of aesthetics, it looks right to set them up and give them the importance they have in the context of a country as well as internationally. However, we should still try to use them for ethical purposes. Sometimes new money is attached to progress in human rights, so states create them for this purpose. Monitoring the creation of new commissions is therefore an important role for NGOs.
9. In the field of moral behaviour, they challenge the need of determining what is and what is not negotiable and balance, as far as possible, the ethical dilemmas versus the political constraints. We have to know as a movement what we see as non-negotiable. It tends not to be the implementation of the process, but rather that the truth has to come out. If we don't negotiate on truth we can negotiate processes, stages and strategies.
10. A few commissions have contributed to justice and accountability. Others have put forward the need to link them with processes of justice, which is a basic demand of the victims.
11. The commissions are supposed to make recommendations to overcome the problems of the past. Amongst them: design a reparation program, propose programs regarding prevention of future abuses, describe the circumstances that made events happen, etc. In Chile, NGOs more or less knew what needed to be done and they passed this information onto the truth commission. Volume 3 of the Truth Commission Report consists of recommendations on the theme of the final and most important responsibilities of the state in the events. It decided that the bodies of the disappeared were most important for the victims' associations. It recommended that there should be a body to work on this issue after the Truth Commission. NGOs that had worked on trauma wrote about the need for a healing programme within the National Health Service, for the survivors and relatives of the victims. It was also recommended that:
    
    
    • reparations be awarded to give dignity to those who had lived in an undignified way as a result of the wars, violence or dictatorship.
    • human rights be taught within the education system from nursery to university level, so as not to repeat history.
    • an educational programme be instituted for children of victims who had no chance to study because they had been marginalised from society.
    • freedom from military service for the sons of the victims.
    
    

    These were things that could not be implemented by the Truth Commission, but were recommendations given to it by the NGOs for it to pass on. The Truth Commission was too full with work taking testimonies. The report including the recommendations was handed into the President, who publicly received it. He asked for public forgiveness and sent each family a copy of the report, which helped to dignify the people. The President passed this report with its recommendations to the senate, who wrote a law that dealt with the implementation of the recommendations. This is all silent work, the work of compiling information and lobbying.

12. Truth Commissions are very well positioned to outline institutional responsibility and recommend reforms,that means they have an evaluative and prescriptive task as they can base their conclusions and recommendations on a close study of the record, while standing as an independent institution separate from the systems under review.
13. In many cases they have been thought capable of promoting reconciliation and reduce tensions resulting from past violence.
14. Truth Commissions have contributed to give victims, survivors and society as a whole, the right to truth, as confirmed in international law.

The Truth Commission in Chile was able to look at the case of Victor Jara. Jara wrote a poem whilst he was in the Chile stadium in detention. The poem was not published until 1998. His widow did not want to share it before that time out of fear of the consequences for the people who took the poem out of the prison. This fear ended in 1990 but she still needed a few years to readapt her life in order to be able to speak about it. She made the poem public in homage to him.

Chile Stadium

There are five thousand of us here

in this little part of the city.

We are five thousand.

I wonder how many we are in all,

in the cities and in the whole country?

Here alone

are ten thousand hands which plant

seeds and make the factories run.

How much humanity

exposed to hunger, cold, panic, pain,

moral pressures, terror and insanity?

Six us of us were lost

as if into starry space.

One dead, another beaten as I could

never have believed

a human being could be beaten.

The other four wanted to end their terror

one jumping into nothingness.

Another beating his head against a wall

but all with the fixed look of death.

What horror the face of fascism creates!

They carry out their plans with knife-

like precision.

Nothing matters to them.

For them blood equals medals.

slaughter is an act of heroism.

O God, is this the world that you created?

For this, your seven days of wonder and work?

Within these four walls only a number exists

which does not progress.

Which slowly will wish more and more

for death.

But suddenly my conscience awakes

and I see this tide with no heartbeat

only the pulse of machines

and the military showing their

midwives' faces full of sweetness.

Let Mexico, Cuba and the world

cry out against this atrocity!

We are ten thousand hands

which can produce nothing

How many of us in the whole country?

The blood of our companero Presidente

will strike with more strength than

bombs and machines guns!

so will our fist strike again

How hard it is to sing

When I must sing of horror.

Horror in which I am living

Horror in which I am dying.

To see myself among so much

and so many moments of infinity

in which silence and screams

are the end of my song.

What I see I have never seen

What I have felt and what I feel

Will give birth to the moment. . .

Jara's wife also wrote a book about him - 'Victor Jara: an unfinished song'. In 1999 the Chile Stadium was officially renamed "Estadio Victor Jara". Jara's wife said:

"The songs of Victor Jara and his voice singing amidst the horror, blood and torture of the Chile Stadium in Santiago, have become a symbol of the Chilean people for life and freedom to choose their own destiny. . . Victor Jara will go on singing. His voice can not be silenced. It contains the voices of those who were murdered with him and whose struggle was, and still is, his own And his songs are being sung all over the world"

The type of processes that should come out of a truth commission are those expressed in this poem. It is not only the fact - the forensic truth - that will come out, but rather the Commission will work with the whole human being, relying also on the narrative truth and helping the healing process by creating a safe space within which to speak. Part of its value is the creation of this space.

Participants' response:

Should we make the most of the systems that have developed in our countries? Some participants were very sceptical about commissions appointed by the government; they can be completely aesthetic. Donor organisations and foreign organisations like to experiment with the Balkans sometimes! As individuals and NGOs, we need to form our own systems.

Who should be appointed to work in these commissions? Some participants disagreed with the idea of paid commissions, feeling that they should be voluntary and include those who really care about finding the truth. They felt that they needed to start working with a low profile within local communities and to work on persuading donor organisations to fund this type of initiative.

Support to the Serbian Truth Commission goes via Alex Boraine, who has been appointed to monitor its operation. Boraine was formerly the co-president (along with Bishop Tutu) of the South African Commission for Truth and Reconciliation. Two important people resigned from the Commission in Autumn 2002 and were replaced by NGO people. This is a good sign; it will be interesting to see what happens.

Often those involved in human rights aren't capable of sitting at the same table as each other; this demonstrates the immaturity of civil society in the region. Nobody is bringing the different groups together to lobby in this area. It seems that people can be brought together to oppose something, but when they actually want to achieve something, it is a different matter. It's the Machiavellian idea of divide and rule. We need to try to come together on these important issues even if sometimes we find it difficult even to drink a cup of coffee together.

You have to work with existing Truth Commissions even if you are sceptical about them, as they represent the existing reality. NGOs should push forward demands regarding who they want to see working for the Commission. It is really difficult to influence who the Commissioners are as they tend to be politically appointed. Instead it is important to push for good people to do the day-to-day work within the Commission, to take the testimonies and do the research. We must be able to trust the people who are going to be responsible for doing the research and for collecting information.

In the Chilean Truth Commission's first 9 months of operation, the Commissioners decided to hire people who had never worked with human rights, and it was an absolutely a disaster. They broke down when having to deal with the testimonies. Then they had to look for people who had experience in the field. 17 NGOs and the churches placed pressure upon the Commissioners to hire people who had already taken testimonies during the dictatorship. This is our task as NGOs; we should not let our anger and disappointment lead to the freezing of the process. There is always going to be a tension between political reality and moral needs; we have to work within it.

It is interesting to note that the donors who gave money for psychological reparations in Chile were the same donors who trained the torturers 20 years before in Panama. Their aim at that time had been to stop Marxism. The donor is a medium, not a goal - you have to press for what you want.

The creation of parallel commissions should be avoided. In Guatemala there were two commissions operating at the same time. One was set up by the government with the help of the UN, and with personnel hired by the UN. The other one was the 'RHEMI Report', organised by the Catholic Church. The same day that the church commission report was published, Bishop Girardi was assassinated, because the report unearthed truths that provided a start contrast to those unearthed by the government's commission. Part of society accepted one report and the other part of society accepted the other report. One was focused upon the social processes of what the society had experienced and the other was based mainly on what future agreements should be reached. In Guatemala many villages were totally destroyed. The RHEMI report wanted to express the feelings of the community and what it meant for the country to no longer have those communities that had been destroyed.

In Chile the Truth Commission came into operation when the military was in full power, so we knew that we could not expect justice from it. But we wanted the voices of the victims to be heard, even though the constitution was against us and there was an amnesty law. The four-volume report produced by the truth commission has made possible a historical analysis of why things happened. One of the points that produced the most friction within the human rights movement was that the perpetrators were not to be named. It was impossible to reach agreement on this issue, amongst associations of victims and human rights workers. But at least it's a starting document, even if some people disagree with it. There was frustration that there was no possibility to name the perpetrators, but this led to the implementation of several projects dealing with this issue (see www.mermoriaviva.com - chapter called 'responsables'). What the Commission could not say, the human rights workers could say. However, there have been no criminal cases from this. All the data on the web page is based on already researched issues that have not been contested.

Participants' Response:

In Bosnia and Herzegovina we have at least three different 'truths', one for each ethnic group. We had factual information such as names and surnames of perpetrators of crimes. Yet the government doesn't want to recognise this. How can we put pressure on these people to make them recognise their guilt? In the case of Mladic, everyone knows he's in Belgrade, and yet the government denies it. What can we do about this?

In Chile it is impossible to think that the people who were responsible for the coup would admit their guilt. They believe that what they have done is totally correct. I will show you a video of two high military personnel from Chile who have different perspectives on what happened in Chile. One of the military personnel says that the victims of the 'caravan of death' were a consequence of war. The other says there was no cost because the military had such power that they did not need to create a caravan of death; they could have implemented the new system without creating victims. It is interesting to see how these two accounts co-exist.

Participants' Response:

How do we go about analysing the recent past? In this region people are fond of analysing what happened 1,000 year ago, to show that this is just a continuation. The discussion of the past goes in the wrong direction.

There has to be regional discussion on the past, as the events of the past decade happened in a regional context and were not isolated from one another. Therefore a truth commission would need to be created on the regional level.

Some of the commissions define a period of time with which they will concern themselves. Some produce reports that look specifically at the historical causes of events. A historical analysis, produced by the Chilean Truth Commission, is available on the Internet in English.

Participants broke into groups to discuss some of the issues that had been presented. Their main conclusions are set out below:

One group of participants explored the topic of victims. They considered who the victims are, and concluded that in some way everybody was a victim. They discussed the definition of a victim and considered whether somebody could be a perpetrator and a victim at the same time; although someone may have committed a crime, it could be that somebody forced them to commit it.

The group also looked at whether it was possible to define how the war started and whose fault it was. They felt that through discussions and repetition of events it would be possible to recreate history and define the factors that led to war. This would be an important process and would have implications in terms of defining the truth. It is clear that there are different definitions and truths in each country.

In order for people to be able to explore the truth, it needs to be presented in everyday social contexts and not confined to discussion at the high political level as it is today. At this level of high politics, there is no recognition that in dealing with the past, we are dealing with ordinary human beings, not with representatives of 'right' or 'wrong' (other) nations.

The majority of people in the region are still not expressing their opinions, the result of which is that the power to decide the direction of discussion on the past lies with a small number of instigators who lead us in the wrong direction. It is the winners who create (and write) histories, but today it is not clear who is the 'winner' and who is the 'loser'; everybody lost - life, peace, countries, identities, everything they had before. Now they have to define who they are again. There is need for establishing new open systems and societies.

A second working group explored the differences between the Chilean and ex-Yugoslav situations. Chile is one country, but here we are dealing with several countries. These countries are separated by the media, which is generally not covering news in neighboring countries. The role of the international community is unclear when comparing Chilean experiences with that of the Balkans. In Chile there was a military coup, whilst in the ex-Yugoslav countries we now have democratically elected governments. One important factor to take from the Chilean experience is the insistence of financial compensation for the victims. It was felt that there might also be something to learn from the Nicaraguan experience, which seems to be closer to the experiences of the former Yugoslavia.

Everything started with digging up the bones and corpses. There are still many victims to be identified; until this process is complete, there remains a great deal of scope for manipulation of the truth. After a time, the numbers of deaths simply become statistics. There is a need to bring back the name and human face to each number. There is also a real problem of people not accepting that those who have disappeared are dead.

It is important to tell the truth. This is a precondition for work on reconciliation. In the countries of the former Yugoslavia the existing commissions for the disappeared are backing up perpetrators, in order to avoid sentencing them.

As NGOs, we need to form alliances to tackle these issues together. It is important to find a way to influence the public. There is a lack of media and public campaigns related to issues of dealing with the past. In Serbia, the only daily dealing with these issues is "Danas".

A third group of participants considered the potential for making use of truth commissions in the region. They decided that it is impossible to just group the three countries together when looking at the potential for truth commissions. In Croatia, no commission has been formed, in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is an initiative to form one, and in Serbia a truth commission already exists.

There was a feeling that in Bosnia and Herzegovina people are not ready to form a single truth commission, as they are still divided. The current initiative, led by Jakob Finci, only works at the level of the Federation. The formation process has not been transparent. There was also a feeling that the formation of a commission has been blocked by political powers. There is a resistance to implementing change. The International Community must play a role in pushing for change. There seems to be a greater will amongst NGOs to work on these issues than amongst those in power.

In Serbia it was the international community that put pressure on the government to form a truth commission. NGOs also put pressure on the government. However, there is a feeling that the existing initiative is simply a tool of the government and will do little to help establish the truth.

In Croatia there is no existing truth commission initiative. There are some trials of war criminals taking place. However, there was a general feeling that these have only happened in order that Croatia can be considered for EU membership; it is important to change the ideology behind what is happening. At the moment there is no discussion about restoring the ethnic mix in the country. There is a need to deconstruct the myth of the 'Homeland war' in Croatia; it is only Croats themselves who could do this.

The group considered whether it was possible to establish some kind of truth commission initiative at a regional level. Some problems are common to all of the post-Yugoslav countries, therefore there is a need for regional cooperation. There needs to be one joint 'theatre cast' and 'play', covering all of the post-Yugoslav countries. A single message could be presented, which could gather together a wide spectrum of groups.

However, working on a regional level sometimes raises questions of whether you are trying to re-establish Yugoslavia. Participants also wondered whether it would only be possible to work on the regional level after the processes at the national level have been completed. If a regional commission were to be created, it would need to be a local initiative, initiated by NGOs. It should deal with history, trying to re-establish the causes of the war and collecting true stories from people about how Yugoslavia broke up. It might even be useful to take into account the Second World War, where relevant. At the moment what is missing is the analysis of what preceded the conflict in the 1980s and 1990s; there is a need to collect the facts of what happened before the genocide started. It is important to find the truth for the future generations. People really believe what they hear now, so it is imperative that the truth is brought to the surface.

It would also be good to work on the regional level to influence what happens in the Commissions at the national level. For instance, if one wants to look at what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is necessary to look at the other countries in the region as well.

The momentum is there amongst NGOs to move forward on this issue. It is important to use this positively, and not to start parallel initiatives constructing new commissions. However, it is also important to ensure that the things that were agreed by the current initiatives are actually done. It would be useful to engage with existing truth commission initiatives, even if NGOs are only able to have a small influence on them. It is important to really understand what they are doing and then to try to influence their development. It was suggested that the participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina should get together to request a meeting with those who are implementing the truth commission initiative, to establish exactly what stage this has reached.

In order to make the most of the existing initiatives, it is also important for NGOs to put pressure on the authorities. Some participants felt that NGOs need to try to engage with politicians.

They need to make governments understand how serious they are about this topic; other, however, felt that it is not the authorities that should be the target group of NGOs, but rather the citizens. It was agreed that it would be useful to approach governments in the region to obtain financial support for work on this topic. Such initiatives should not only be financed by foreign donors. It is important not only from a financial viewpoint, but also in terms of engaging with the government and ensuring recognition for the work undertaken. Approaching government ministries should not be thought of in terms of asking for donations but rather as a right; the projects being undertaken are something that belong to the whole country, and are in the national interest. The problem is that the governments in the region are too scared to use taxpayers money for this purpose.

The suggestion was made that the participants from this seminar meet with the other participants from their own country for 3-4 days to think about what they can really do. This could lead to the establishment of local coalitions that formed a loose regional network. The aim of the country groups would be to bring together people from the grassroots level to talk about issues.

The Practicalities of Setting up a Truth Commission

NGOs in Chile saw it as their job to 'feed' the truth commission, because if they would not help it would not change. Looking back, the NGOs would have liked to be more prepared to face the reality and not just let the Truth Commission happen to them. They would have had more control that way.

It took 15 years of work before the Truth Commission was created. Once the Truth Commission was operational, the NGOs had to adapt their work to the reality of its existence, to help with the provision of information and especially to assist the people who had to deal with the Truth Commission, both those who wanted to work with it and those who rejected it. There was lots of uneasiness and mistrust. This was a strong impediment to moving forward with the work of the Truth Commission.

The first help in the work of survival during the dictatorship was organised by the Catholic and other churches in 1974. The churches, led by Cardinal Henriques challenged the military. Henriques had previously headed the movement for agrarian reform. Although it has changed a lot since its inception, it helped to create the structure. Liberation theology also had an important role to play; whilst the Cardinal was not involved in liberation theology himself, he respected the bishops and priests that worked with the poor. A solid platform was created that was willing to assist whoever was at risk. The churches were joined by political groups, and gradually support began to come in from European donors. Many professionals were arrested and tortured for this solidarity work, but almost nobody was abandoned. Saving lives was the first priority, but many churches also worked on issues such as poverty and unemployment caused by the dictatorship.

We learnt that we have to use the moment - moments of changes, crises and instability and social pressure - to start work, not put things off until the conditions have improved. The Commission started in April 1990 and the president took over in March 1990. There was a public acknowledgement of the need to deal with the past. The President announced the creation of the Commission publicly in the national stadium, which had been the principle prison for five months during the dictatorship; this was symbolic as it was seen as a public acknowledgment that something was going to be done for those who had suffered there. There was music and dance and the names of victims were displayed on the screens.

The President named 9 respectable commissioners, who were drawn from the whole spectrum of politics. Only one of the commissioners had been a victim himself; he was a very respectable man - during his exile in England he had become the General Director of Amnesty International, so he knew what he was talking about. It is important that Commissioners are non-disputable respectable people.

The Commission had a clear mandate. There was no public debate about the mandate, it was decided by the President and his assistants. It was decided that a report would be produced 9 months into the operation of the Commission, with suggestions as to how to follow up the work done. These nine months were hard work for the NGOs, who helped to develop recommendations, many of which were taken on by the Commission.

The Commission had to function as an independent body within the country's legal system; it was not a tribunal. It was situated in a building in the heart of Santiago, whilst the work in the provinces was undertaken in local government buildings. It was here that victims, survivors, authorities, perpetrators and others were interviewed. In the past, the government would never have let these issues be discussed, and now they had to offer facilities for the research. There was lots of resistance within the offices, and many of the victims were not happy about going to the offices to give their testimonies, but this was part of the process of the society coming together.

How did people know about the Commission? NGOs were not too prepared in this respect. There were, however, public announcements in the newspapers, radio, public buildings and the state bank. This helped to give it legality.

The Commission's basic funds came from the government. NGOs received funds from international organisations to carry out research and to file information. The workers from the Truth Commission were paid by the government, whilst NGO employees were paid mostly from international funds.

For each case you opened a file. The government paid for the collection of all the necessary legal documents from local authorities such as birth certificates. One of the biggest obstacles for the work in Chile was the lack of trust that many people had in the state. In other countries the problem is often a lack of trust in the commission, rather than the state. We were sometimes criticised by relatives for not getting enough information or not acting strongly enough. 80% of testimonies were from survivors and relatives. Only 20% were perpetrators.

The main role of the Commissioners is to organise the Truth Commission; for each case they had a lawyer who had to compile the information for a particular date. One week before the commission met to hear a case, the researchers had to hand in a copy of the research to the nine Commissioners. The Commissioners then posed questions to the lawyer about the evidence presented. The case would be qualified as 'victim of human rights violations', 'doesn't proceed' or 'look for more information'. Much of the evidence was based on trust in the information provided; if someone says they have been shot it is accepted. They don't have to provide evidence for everything, as long as the researcher finds their story credible and some evidence is found.

After the initial nine months of the Truth Commission's operation, 90% of Congress supported the continuation of the implementation of reparations for the next four years and the completion of the unfinished tasks of the Commission.

In my work with the Truth Commission, I interviewed many of the perpetrators of crimes, but during the process I learnt to see them as human beings. I understood their logic but did not agree with their actions. They did not recognise that what they had done was not correct. However, the Commission was not asking for repentance, it was just trying to establish the facts.

I had to go to the military tribunals, which was an overwhelming experience. I can remember the first time I went to ask for the papers of people who had denounced the cases to the military courts, to ask for an interview. I took the necessary documents with me but I was not emotionally prepared; two secret policemen were allocated to accompany me; however I decided that I did not want them to go with me, I wanted to go by public transport. I thought of all my friends who had walked into that place thinking that they were going to give a testimony and had never walked out. When I arrived at the office, there were pictures of Pinochet and heads of regiments. Mr Steur, a military lawyer, was in charge of the files and the Military Tribunal. When I saw him, everything went out of my head; he was the father of one of my pupils at school. I did not plan to have a personal connection to him, but I had to deal with it. I obtained the papers I needed, but it wasn't an easy situation.

I worked for four years in the Chilean Truth Commission and for 15 years in NGOs with victims of repression. I took around 2,000 testimonies, then I needed some space to work through it for myself. After the Commission, there was a good mental health programme for the survivors and for human rights workers. One could choose a therapist to help one deal with everything. I had worked for 17 years so I really felt the need for some therapy. All the relatives of victims and the survivors chose therapists who had had similar experiences to themselves. In the middle of tensions, we all need our allies.

Brainstorming Session

The group brainstormed various ways to approach the topic of dealing with the past:

• Reparations/ compensation
• Organise three-day sessions in each country to plan how to move forward on this issue
• Compile and record data about the past
• Promote books on the topic
• Create a website with links and information on organisations dealing with this issue in the region
• Ensure that General Mladic's name appears as a perpetrator
• Create truth commissions and publicise those commissions that already exist
• Produce a law on truth commissions
• Produce films
• Carve out a greater role for humanitarian organisations
• Launch public campaigns
• Compile information about initiatives that already exist
• Look for common interests and produce a strategy for common activities
• Base our work on foreign experiences
• Organise training and seminars on non-violence
• Contact organisations that already work on mass graves and victim issue, as they already have many lists of missing persons
• Contact inter-religious initiatives
• Take a multi-disciplinary approach to dealing with the past
• Work with the perpetrators
• Work with informal local elites
• Try to engage people who have not been involved so far
• Simultaneously work on the national and regional level
• Go out on the streets and make banners to invite local people in small places to join us
• Invite those who were forced to join the military to provide us with information
• Make a list of different cultural awareness of truths
• Home theatres and gatherings to get information indirectly
• Push as many cases as possible to the national courts
• Start a pilot project in a local community
• Organise workshops with children and youth
• Organise groups for psychological help
• Create a new subject in the school curriculum on human rights, based on Chilean experience
• Change the history books for children
• Work with teachers
• Deconstruct and re-write of history

Activities Already Implemented on the Topic of Dealing with the Past

The participants were given the opportunity to talk about some of the initiatives that they have already undertaken in this sphere. A number of people were involved in a joint project, which they described to the group.

The Centre for Non-Violent Action organised a series of public tribunes at which former soldiers from different ethnic backgrounds talked about their experience of war. A number of sessions have taken place in Serbia, including tribunes in Indjija, Kragujevac and Nis. Three former soldiers from Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina spoke at each. They talked about what made them join the war, what they experienced and how they felt about it. They also talked about their ideas to start peace processes, thus relating their past to the future.

A detailed report of each session was produced and the organisers successfully ensured that the media was involved. CNA is now working on organising the same kind of sessions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, and is currently deliberating over where such events should be held. They want to include soldiers from the regions in which the seminars are being held. They are cautious about organising the sessions in Bosnia and Herzegovina as nearly everyone was impacted by the war and it will therefore be necessary to take a different approach to that adopted in Serbia.

Goran Stojiljkovic was one of the soldiers who participated in the tribunes in Serbia. At the beginning it was difficult to find people who were willing to speak about their experiences as soldiers, but now many more are willing to participate; in Croatia about 15 people have already offered to talk publicly. It is clear that sometimes people who were fighting on different sides will not reach a common consensus, but it is still a very useful forum for discussing what happened and coming to terms with the past. The organising team is always very careful to pay attention to the views of the local community and NGOs whilst making the initial preparations for each event.

Only around 20 people came to the first seminars. Bosniaks in Sandzak knew what was happening during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina but Serbs in Serbia did not. Many people from Serbia do not want to look at what the Serb military did. Through these tribunes, participants started to feel responsible. The sessions were successful despite the small numbers of participants, as those present asked so many questions. However, there are still those who are completely blind to what happened.

One important lesson learnt was the need to deal with ultra-nationalists as well as those who are sympathetic to the work. Even though the views of the nationalists are difficult to understand, it is important to engage with them. Equally it is difficult for them to engage with peace activists. They tend to insult them and that provokes emotions that make it difficult to engage with each other.

Nationalists tried to block the session in Nis, but were disarmed by the approach of the team; Sasa and Nebojsa (both Serbs themselves) were authentic representatives of their histories. They projected their experience and their suffering very well. This event proved that the methodology was successful and can be used in future.

Gordan reported that in Kragujevac war veterans had tried to prevent the public tribune from being held, but local police had helped it to go ahead. He reiterated how important it was to explore the atmosphere in the town before such events take place and to plan security properly. In the case of Kragujevac, the organising team had a meeting with the war veterans to tell them what the project was about and gained feedback from the war veterans, giving them a safe space to vent any fears and anger about the project.

Working in NGOs, it is important to work with the grassroots and with individuals. There will always be people trying to obstruct this work, but it is always useful to try to gain the agreements of local people to a project such as this, in order to create a less hostile environment.

It is important to be sensitive to public opinion; after the NATO bombing, there were some things that one had to be careful about saying in public because of the far-right element. Women in Black had an experience where ultra-nationalists finished a speech with 'Heil Hitler'. How do you not get angry and out of control when you are listening to that? There was recently an exhibition of photos in Serbia entitled 'Blood and Honey', which focused on the role of the Serbian military in Vukovar.

It provoked a lot of reactions from the public. In some cities, the exhibition was not allowed to proceed and organiser was attacked. It is important for us to be aware that we work with dangerous people; we must ensure that peace activists are properly prepared to be able to communicate with these groups - a lack of preparation can have grave consequences.

It is important to remember that we live with the reality that there is not general support and solidarity for the issue of dealing with the past and we are therefore likely to face opposition in our work. Many of the current processes are fake, such as some of the war crimes trials that have been taking place, and this leaves people disillusioned with whole topic. We have to work out how to work within this reality.

It is very important to ensure that projects are balanced in their approach towards the truth. It is also very important to prepare the ground before starting to implement a project. Finally we must remember that if we are accusing people of committing crimes, we have to be able to admit our own guilt too. We must not close our eyes to the crimes of our own people. We have to be honest about the truth even when the perpetrators are close to us. There should not be 'us' and 'them'. We have to focus on what we can change and define our vision carefully. Each of us should be clear what we are aiming for.

What can QPSW Do?

Participants were asked to think about the role that QPSW could potentially play in helping societies and NGOs in the region to address the issue of dealing with the past. Below are the answers received:

Website

There was much discussion about QPSW developing a website which could act as a portal to information on dealing with the past in the region. Participants would like to be able to send information to QPSW for it to be archived. A bibliography of useful articles and books could be created and an archive of newspaper articles built up. The main goal of the web site would be to act as a central point for assembling information. A lot of materials about the past decade already exist. However, this material has not been properly organised or archived.

Mailing Lists

There are a number of existing mailing lists in the region on peace and non-violence issues. We could use these to gain information about who is doing what and to collect existing materials on the topic of dealing with the past.

Seminar report

A comprehensive report on the seminar should be produced and distributed to other NGOs, as well as displayed on the website.

Annex 1: Background to the Situation in Chile

Roberta Bacic, Tuzla, November 2002

General background to understand the situation and try to find links and differences.

1. 1970-1973 Socialist government elected democratically. It is connected to liberation processes all over the world and internationally it is seen as a challenging experience that could lead to socialism by other means than armed struggle. The right panics in front of the change, fears to lose its economic and political power as well as being threatened by the idea of becoming a communist country. Deep social changes are promoted by the government, there is a great amount of popular support but friction amongst the more radical and the more conventional left create great difficulty to Allende's government on top of the ones provoked by the right. The process lasts only three and a half years.
2. 11th September 1973, all the armed forces, army, air force, navy and police perform a coup d' état, led by General Augusto Pinochet who had just become Commander in Chief one month previously and had sworn loyalty to President Allende.
3. The Chilean coup d'état is not an isolated event. Other similar ones had already happened in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina as part of USA's policy regarding the southern hemisphere aiming at stopping the 'easternisation' of this strategic part of the world and the hopeful and supportive view part of the West had towards these processes.
4. The Chilean case becomes very significant and well known all over the world due to special characteristics:
   
   
   • power was taken from a legally constituted government, it was not addressed to an armed group in power or trying to get into power,
   • human rights violations occurred to all layers of the social fabric, starting with the President and reaching indigenous people. So, they affected Ministers, professionals, trade unionists, miners, religious people, workers, women, indigenous, etc.
   • human rights violations went from disappearances with clear objectives, not done at random, executions, systematic use of torture, exile was applied to thousands of citizens, firing from jobs, and in general the Armed Forces took over the whole range of organisations and proscribed all that existed. High rank military became Rectors of Universities and took over all positions linked to the State and controlled all the communication means as well as the Judiciary system.
   
   
   
   
5. The dictatorship lasted 17 years and created its own Constitution which left the coming transitional Governments tied up and kept privileged positions for its people. It could keep control of most part of the institutions in spite of losing the plebiscite that was intended to stretch it for even longer.
6. A strong Human Rights movement organised around the victims of the systematic violation of their human rights. This movement was supported by different churches, led by the Catholic church and was also constituted by numerous NGOs which were supported by the international solidarity movement. The organisations named above acted at the level of assistance to the victims and their relatives, keeping a record of these violations, documented the petitions in courts and at international level and also helped organising against dictatorship. All this work would help during the transitional government to set up the Chilean Truth Commission.

Some hints on achievements, pending issues and tasks to be developed by civil society after the 'conflict' situation and linked to the Truth Commission.

• Dealing with human rights violations is an ethical as well as a political task. During the transitional times, when the Truth Commission was set up, reconciling the ethical requirements with the political constraints created serious dilemmas. Just to point out a few:
• The Commission's task was to investigate the 'most serious violations of human rights resulting in death and disappearances '. So, survivors of torture, exiled, people fired from work for political reasons, etc. were not considered in its study. The commission handed in a three volume report and made suggestions on reparation measures. They were incorporated by law into the state policies and included aspects such as a monthly pension to one of the parents, child/children up to the age of 21, or partner of the dead victim. It also included free university studies for the children of the victims and the possibility of being freed of obligatory military service. A special health service, which included physical and psychological assistance was promoted all over the country and specialised professionals were hired for this task. This has been the only benefit to which the survivors have had access.
• Reparations are very important because they convey an acknowledgement of the victim's dignity although they will never be able to replace the human and moral losses or the demands of justice. They cannot be considered a substitute for justice. On the other hand the policies adopted must be sustainable politically and financially and so it is quite difficult to satisfy all the demands of the ones who suffered most, even if they seem reasonable.
• The new transitional government was established by agreement, there was a process of negotiation as regards how far the commission could come and it is basic to have in mind that the 'adversary' had power, armed as it was constituted by the armed forces, legal because it had created the existing Constitution and social because there is a significant part of the civil society which supported the previous regime and has since then kept 45% of the votes for the right. Under this pattern it is important to highlight how difficult it has been to deal with the fact that General Pinochet was given the rank of Senator for life which would have bestowed on him legal immunity, which led to total impunity.
• Transition to democracy involves extricating a society from dictatorship by means of negotiation, compromise and mutual concessions as the aim is to build a democratic state in which all participants in the conflict can find a place. This is one of the most difficult aspects to deal with since for the ones who suffered most there are aspects that cannot be negotiable. It is difficult to accept that my enemy of yesterday must become my partner and that we both live in the same state. He might still be my opponent, but my opponent in peace. Negotiations are nevertheless between hostile parties. The practices learned and incorporated during dictatorship have to be overcome not only by the government, but also by civil society and there we find one of our great tasks and challenges.
• When dealing with post-conflict situations we must be aware that there is a duality between the individual victims and the nation. Both are very important and must keep linked. The victims and their relatives deserve respect and should be consulted when it comes to issues that impinge directly on them. Nonetheless it is also true that the process of moral reconstruction is in the hands of the society we have and that not always will their demands be accepted by the majority and it is not even always considered in the political agenda or as a first priority. Nonetheless it is important to have in mind that the lack of political pressure to put these issues on the agenda does not mean they are not boiling underground, waiting to erupt.
• Another important point that has been partially assessed by the Commission is the fact that it became part of the historical memory. A society cannot reconcile itself on the grounds of a divided memory. Since memory is identity, this would result in a divided identity. The report puts forth part of the truth as public, although it was already known by the victims and the perpetrators. Without truth and acknowledgement, reconciliation is not possible. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not mere words, they are conclusions of a process rooted in moral reconstruction which have to lead towards prevention and social reparation. Here civil society, by means of its own organisations, has also a basic and meaningful role.

Annex 2: List of Participants

• Zoran Krstic Centre for Antiwar Action Belgrade, Serbia
• Jelena Perkovic Osmeh (Smile) Vrbas, Serbia
• Goran Stojiljkovic Centre for the Development of Civic Conscious Babusnica, Serbia
• Aida Corovic Urbanin Novi Pazar, Serbia
• Maruska Draskovic ANIMA Kotor, Montenegro
• Xhemal Perovic PAX Ulcinj, Montenegro
• Ivana Matijevic Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Okucani, Croatia
• Human Rights, Osijek,Peace Team Okucani
• Biljana Bijelic Centre for Women War Victims Zagreb, Croatia
• Branimir Sloser ZamirNET Zagreb, Croatia
• Iva Zenzerovic Centre for Peace Studies Mlada Miramida, Zagreb, Croatia
• Adam Bilal Sunflower, Centre for grassroot relief work Gvozd, Croatia
• Predrag Mraovic Sunflower, Centre for grassroot relief work Gvozd, Croatia
• Mladen Majetic Miramida Regional Peacebuilding Exchange Zagreb, Croatia
• Gordan Bodog Centre for Peace Studies Zagreb, Croatia
• Jadranka Milicevic Zene zenama Sarajevo, BiH
• Branka Rajner Bureau for Human Rights Tuzla, BiH
• Nihad Mesic Bureau for Human Rights Tuzla, BiH
• Mojca Leban Abraham, Sarajevo, BiH
• Mirjana Gvozdenovic; Youth Centre Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, BiH
• Jovan Divjak Education Builds BiH, Sarajevo, BiH
• Adnan Hasanbegovic Centre for Nonviolent Action, Sarajevo, BiH
• Lidija Živanovic; Helsinki Citizens Assembly Banja Luka, BiH
• Marijana Dinek Bosnian Women Initiative, Sarajevo, BiH

Organising team:

• Goran Bozicevic QPSW Representative in Croatia
• Goran Bubalo QPSW Representative in Bosnia an Herzegovina
• Natasa Milenkovic QPSW Representative in Serbia and Montenegro
• Sladjana Rakonjac QPSW Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Alan Pleydell Assistant General Secretary, QPSW
• Joanna Benfield Programme Co-ordinator, QPSW

Religious Society of Friends in Britain

Friends House 173 Euston Road London NW1 2BJ

Tel:+44 20 7663 1000

Fax: +44 20 7663 1001

Web: http://www.quaker.org.uk

Quaker Peace and Social Witness

Sladjana Rakonjac and Goran Bubalo

Kralja Tvrtka 10; 71000 Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

E-mail: qpsw@bih.net.ba

Tel/Fax: +387 33 212 912

Mobile: +387 66 211 079

Goran Božićević

Skopje, Macedonia

Groznjan/Grisignana, Croatia

e-mail: qpsw@zamir.net

mobile: +389 70 76 14 76

+385 98 18 14 514

Nataša Milenković

Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

e-mail: qpsw@eunet.yu

mobile: +381 63 688 275