A letter of (Dr) Carole Hodge

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A letter of (Dr) Carole Hodge to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, in reply to theirs, in relation to the events in Visegrad.

Dr Carole Hodge is the meber of the International Expert Team of the Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada

Dear Mr McCaughey,

Thank you for your letter of 27 January last, written jointly with the Charge d’Affaires in Sarajevo, Ms Jo Lomas, and I note all you say.

You rightly point out that ‘[i]t is incumbent upon leaders at all levels to ensure the rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constituent peoples’ as enshrined within the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that ‘the right of refugees to return to their homes is a central commitment of the Dayton Peace Agreement’. There are two issues here, however. One is that the RS leadership has repeatedly declared independence of that entity to be a national goal, and has consistently thwarted the development of central Bosnian institutions, in violation of the terms of the Dayton Agreement. Secondly, refugees’ attempts to return home to RS since 1995, and to enjoy equal rights with Serbs without threat to their safety, have generally been denied within RS. You will be aware, for instance, that a very small percentage of Bosniaks have returned to Visegrad, and those mostly to outlying areas. Bearing this in mind, do you consider it sufficient merely ‘to remind Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leaders of their responsibilities’ under Dayton? This kind of terminology echoes European policy which conducted peace talks during the Bosnian war within a framework which equalized between the sides. It is a response greeted by Bosnian Serb leaders with cynicism, even disdain. In more concrete terms, it means that measures to distance RS from the government in Sarajevo are proceeding unimpeded, with potentially serious consequences for regional peace in the longer term. Milorad Dodik’s decision establishing the Council for the Protection of the Republika Srpska’s Constitutional Order is a recent case in point. It is incumbent on the UK, therefore, as witness to the Dayton Agreement, and as a major European power with influence in the region, to act decisively to halt the rapid deterioration in relations between the communities in Bosnia.

Turning more specifically to the Visegrad situation, you state that actions such as the removal of ‘genocide’ at Straziste ‘do not help reconciliation in Visegrad or in Bosnia and Herzegovina’. Yet I am given to understand that the OHR facilitated the ‘locally agreed settlement’. If this is indeed the case, it means that an international institution has facilitated an agreement between, on the one side, victim families of some of the most heinous crimes against humanity since World War II and, on the other, the authorities of a parastate founded on those crimes. Is the Straziste action – which took place in a private cemetery – a measure towards ‘ensuring the rights of victims of war crimes’? Or, indeed, towards ‘effective and transparent justice”? Perhaps you can assure me, however – in the spirit of transparency – that no such deal was brokered by the OHR with the RS authorities?

Visegrad is of particular significance, as you will know, due to its showcasing by the RS, and the connections with Ivo Andric, Emir Kusturica, etc. which are attracting increasing numbers of visitors, including from abroad. It would consequently be vital to the RS authorities that the entity’s role in Visegrad’s more recent, inglorious history be concealed from tourists. So, while the crisis may have been averted temporarily, any further attempt by victims’ families to record publicly the nature of the conflict is likely to be blocked, which will inevitably lead to rising tensions.

In light of all this, the sentiments expressed in your letter appear to bear regrettably little relation to developments on the ground.

What, for instance, does the British government consider to be the motivation of the RS authorities behind the erasure of ‘genocide’ on the Straziste memorial, and the planned demolition of the house at Pionirska Street?

I look forward to a more detailed response to the points raised.

Yours sincerely,

(Dr) Carole Hodge