MIP representatives participate in panel discussion and launch of publication relating to the Siege of Sarajevo

On 15 September 2022, representative of the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP), Youth Outreach Coordinator Ms. Anisa Sućeska, participated in a panel discussion and the launch of a publication entitled The Siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, which was produced by the Sarajevo Canton Memorial Fund and the Post-Conflict Research Center.

The publication features facts that were judicially established by the ICTY, the Mechanism, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, and the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and which relate to the campaign of sniping and shelling of the civilian population of Sarajevo, as well as the crimes committed in Sarajevo's municipalities.

Ms. Suceska discussed some of these facts, together with the legacy of the ICTY and the Mechanism in terms of the Siege of Sarajevo. She also emphasised the importance of accepting and using judicially established facts, as they are the starting point for peace and are crucial in the fight against revisionism and denial.

In addition, Ms. Suceska spoke about the work of MIP, focusing on its activities involving young people and their understanding of the facts and events of the 1990s conflicts, as established by the ICTY and the Mechanism.

The other participants in the panel were Mr. Ahmed Kulanić, Director of the Sarajevo Canton Memorial Fund; Mr. Šaćir Filandra and Mr. Amer Osmić, Professors at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo; Mr. Fikret Grabovica, President of the Association of Parents of Murdered Children of Sarajevo; and Ms. Erna Mačkić, Researcher at the Post-Conflict Research Center. Along with the MIP representative, they presented and discussed the new publication, as well as the importance of judicially established facts in the peace and reconciliation process.

The MIP’s participation in the panel discussion formed part of the Programme’s efforts to support projects and events organised by civil society organisations that are active in the field of transitional justice in the region of the former Yugoslavia.

The aim of the MIP is to improve the knowledge and understanding of citizens and communities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia about the crimes committed during the conflicts of the 1990s, based on ICTY and Mechanism cases. The MIP is funded by the European Union.