1. Reconciliation in the WB: the role of facts
CEPS
June 21, 2018

2. Reconciliation in the territory of former Yugoslavia
The current state of reconciliation  stalled, endangering regional cooperation
Glorification of war crimes and their perpetrators
Denial of genocide
Segregated education
Inflammatory discourse
Revisionism of history
Reason: the past is not being dealt with:
Slow progress in prosecution of war crimes
Regional, intergovernmental establishment of facts about victims has not taken place
Reparations are inadequate
Ethnic memorialisation
Lack of institutional reforms
History textbooks
Reconciliation in the territory of former Yugoslavia

3. Why focus on facts? Pre-condition to dealing with the past:
Facts narrow the space for manipulation
Facts prevent ethnic memorialisation
Facts are the first step for history textbooks reforms
Without facts – divided realities
A single, victim-oriented narrative safeguards any regional cooperation and bilateral relations
Why focus on facts?

4. Known facts about human losses
ICTY: The names of 12,000 victims of war crimes
ICRC: The names of 10,416 missing persons
Research and Documentation Center: The names of 96,000 people (Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others) who have lost their lives or went missing during the war in BiH
Republic of Srpska Center for Investigation of War Crimes based in Banja Luka: The names and circumstances of death of 29,070 Serbs during the war in BiH
The Croatian National Memorial Documentation Center of the Homeland War: The names 13,914 victims on the Croatian side and 7,204 on the Serb side
Association of Serbs from Croatia “Veritas”: The names of 6,625 killed Serbian victims and 1,811 missing persons
Documenta and HLC: The names and circumstances of death of 8,000 of Croats and Serbs during the war in Croatia
HLC and HLC Kosovo: The names and circumstances of death of 13,535 Albanians, Serbs, Roma and in connection with the war in Kosovo
Why is this not enough?
Known facts about human losses

5. The role of the regional fact-finding and truth-telling commission
Registars of human losses and places of confinement
Reconciliation through establishing the facts and circumstances
RECOM = Regional commission for establishment of facts about war crimes and gross human rights violations in the territory of former Yugoslavia
Coalition for RECOM – advocates for RECOM
2000+ organisations and prominent individuals
630,000 citizens support
Draft Statute of the future comission (RECOM) following 4- year long consultation process and participation of special presidential envoys
Still, the RECOM has not started its work as yet
The role of the regional fact-finding and truth-telling commission

6. RECOM Roadmap Goal: to complete the mandate of RECOM by 2025
3 assumptions for the Roadmap
The time is running out
4 countries are ready, EU recognizes the importance
The remaining countries will follow
How to get the RECOM off the ground  an Action plan proposal
Goal and 8 measures
Activities / Responsibilities / Milestones / Indicators / Risks / Mitigation measures
Recommendations – what can be done?
RECOM Roadmap

8. What can be done to set off the RECOM:
Key actors: the post-Yugoslav governments – regional ownership
Key risk: political will
How to boost the political will – advocacy
Bottom up approach:
The WB think tanks, activist organisations, media
Top-down approach:
The EU
The governments of member states
What can be done to set off the RECOM:
First rate political issue and imperative for governments (top-down)
EU – enhanced engagement and messaging
Flagship initiative 6.1 may bring RECOM to life
EU and the member states
Clear, unambiguous messages are needed. As is, our leaders get the message that all is well.
The role of the civil society

9. Without dealing with the past, regional cooperation and bilateral relations are fragile
Establishment of facts in a multilateral manner enables single, victim-oriented narrative
For the facts to have credibility in the whole region, they must be established via regional, inter-governmental effort (RECOM)
Should the post-Yugoslav leaders have the political will, RECOM could complete its mandate by 2025
Fact-finding and truth-telling must be regionally-owned, but support from the EU and the member states is decisive
Final points