Dealing with the Past

Stasa Zajovic, on behalf of Women in Black from Belgrade, wrote on July 15th 2002 a letter to Serbian war veterans' and refugee organisations of Bratunca and Srebrenica, explaining why they had paid tribute to the Srebrenica massacre:

Katarina Putnik

The topic of Serbia and its political situation has been lingering in the news since the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, including the NATO bombing. Many things about this country and the region as a whole have been exposed to the world, apart from one: the truth! All sides involved, from the republics of ex- Yugoslavia to the international community, tell only their version of the conflict. This is not the way forward. If it continues, there is a dark future ahead for Serbia, as well as for many neighbouring countries.

The ceasefire between Sri Lanka Security Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has lasted now for two years though many issues have not been dealt with and tensions remain. Nevertheless people are now turning their attention from the immediate fear of direct attacks to reconstruction, rehabilitation, and resettlement of displaced and war affected communities. In addition to this some who have long-term vision want to pose questions related to the responsibility for war crimes and the remedial measures for those who under went trauma.

Roberta Bacic

WRI had already visited Sri Lanka and had been in Batticaloa in March 2003. As a follow up of this we decided to accompany the process of dealing with the past with war affected women. Rajan Iruthayanathan organised the workshop with local organisers and activists who know well the people, history and politics of the area. The women came from two villages, where almost each family has lost somebody during the war.

We wrote in our proposal:

Roberta Bacic

The past shapes the present and the future. This is even more true after war or dictatorship. How we deal with this past determines our future. Working with the relatives of victims of political repression, and having lived it personally, has led me to conclude that dealing with the past means ‘ learning to live / cope / struggle with it in the present.

The WRI Statement of Principles reminds us that “War is an avoidable form of organized violence. However, its roots go deep. WRI seeks to address these roots, including by changing processes of socialisation, and by transforming the patterns of domination that affect every aspect of life, both within society and between societies.”

by Roberta Bacic, March 2004ArticlesAssisting survivors of war and atrocity Derek Summerfield published in Development in Practice, Volume 5, number 4, 1995What are Truth Commissions? Roberta Bacic in Peace News 2438, pages 16/17Mental health and political repression viewed from a social and cultural perspective Pau Perez, Teresa Duran, Roberta Bacic in Journal of the International Society for Health and Human Rights, Volume l, number l, 1998, pages 25/34Dealing

1st visit to Batticaloa, March 19th to 21st 2003 (see report)

2nd visit to Batticaloa, January 25th to 28th 2004

Organisers:Rajan Iruthayanathan from Batticaloa, at present doing an MA in London, UK N.I. Christy, from ZOA (refugee care service) C.

(adapted from what I read on September 11th in Nuremberg)

Dear Friends

By Roberta Bacic

ConferencesTowards a better future … building healthy communities
Workshop: Memorials-The Chilean Experience
Lecture: Closing session called Steps to a Shared Future
Date: 1-3 October 2003
Venue: Stormont Hotel, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, N. IrelandWorkshops and seminarsStrengths and limitation of truth commissions: The cases of Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Guatemala

Photo-Show by Roberta Bacic
Peace Park at Villa Grimaldi
Santiago de Chile

The 13th December 1978 is a date to remember at Villa Grimaldi, Santiago. On that date, the first three people arrested by the dictatorship arrived in the Villa. Two of them were murdered; the third one survived but died of cancer after years of suffering. Before he died he managed to speak to the mother of one of the missing and give her a full account of everything he had been through.

That's the origin of the Human Rights celebration at the Villa on that day.

Facilitation: Roberta Bacic, Brandon Hamber, Elisabeth Stanley, and Andrew Rigby

Storytelling, denial and silence Dealing with the past is not an objective exercise. It is about connecting to personal truths and values in a way that eases the struggle of life in the present and enables them to be projected into the future.