Despite occupying the basement of a building, the headquarters of the NGO Women Victims of War goes completely unnoticed in a working-class neighborhood in Sarajevo. There is no plaque or sign on the front door, and a curtain covers the glass from the eyes of the curious, or of possible attackers. Inside, in a humble office, a group of brave women, some of them victims, has provided since 2003 all kinds of help to the thousands of people who suffered any type of sexual violence during the war that bled Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. .
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"They have desecrated the grave of one of the founders, and up to seven or eight times there have been attacks on our president's residence. But the town council has done nothing to protect it. In general, the association's work annoys the politicians ", explains Amela Hasecic, soul of the NGO and daughter of its historic president. From some 6,000 statements, the entity has been able to identify more than 2,700 aggressors, and more than 10,000 women raped during the war. But it is calculated that the real number of victims of this type of aggression during the warfare ranges between 20,000 and 40,000.
"In the case of the Bosnian Serb army, rape was used systematically as a weapon of war with the aim of destroying families and carrying out ethnic cleansing. Soldiers from other ethnic groups also committed these types of crimes, but by individual decisions "says Amela Hasecic, a middle-aged woman with a determined look. Her mother, Bakira Hasecic, was a victim of Serbian troops in Visegrad, and her testimony was key in one of the trials held in The Hague by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Although the founders of Women Victims of War were about thirty Bosnian women - a term used to refer to people of Muslim religion in Bosnia - Croatian and Serbian women soon joined the initiative. In a country where tensions between the three majority groups, Bosnians, Serbs and Croats, are still in full bloom, this entity offers a beautiful example of multi-ethnic cooperation. "The only division that counts is between victims and criminals," is one of the NGO's mantras.
Therapy against social stigma
The entity's tasks include collecting as much information as possible to preserve historical memory, and therefore record the statements of each new member. They also provide material, psychological and legal assistance to victims and their children. Many of the raped women decided to abort, others kept their children, but there were some who gave them up for adoption or the aggressor kept them. Some were used as sex slaves for months.
The entity has identified 62 of these lost children, and if the two parties want it, it facilitates the reunion. So far, it has done so on eight occasions. In addition, it has supported the kids with study grants and aid for professional integration. With the aim of eliminating the social stigma suffered by these young people, he collaborates with a new association called Forgotten Sons of War, created by activist Anja Jusic. She herself was born the fruit of a rape.
The grave of one of the founders has been desecrated, and up to seven or eight times there have been attacks on the residence of our president. But the town hall has done nothing
"The therapy is very important, because in a society like Bosnia, many victims have suffered a psychological death. We usually work with groups of ten people, and we meet once a week for about a year. But of course, we adapt to the need of each person, "says Besima Catic, a psychologist who has worked with this victim profile since the beginning of the war. The association also includes some 270 male victims of sexual assault, which in some cases included mutilation.
"With women, the goal is to make the feeling of guilt and shame disappear. Working with men is different. It is about making them understand that, whatever happens, they have not lost their virility. Many, the wives abandoned them "adds the psychologist, who considers it more difficult to work with the male victims because they have a harder time talking about what happened.
According to Catic, a very important moment in the healing process is the declaration in court. When the NGO has enough evidence, it files a complaint with the prosecution. So far, dozens of trials have already been held. "Just being in court and seeing the aggressor on the bench already has a healing effect. It helps to remove guilt and confirms the rapist's criminal status," says the psychologist.
Catic is also responsible for psychologically preparing women for the difficult time of having to relive the trauma in public. Thanks to the work of entities such as this, a 2008 UN Council resolution recognizes rape as "a war crime". In Bosnia, victims receive a state pension of about 250 euros per month.
Legal obstacles in the fight for justice
In 1993, the UN created the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to investigate and try the main suspects of war crimes. In total, he prosecuted 167 people and more than a hundred trials were initiated. At the end of 2017, the ICTY closed its doors having condemned some perpetrators symbol of ethnic cleansing, such as Ratko Mladic, the top Bosnian Serb military leader. Now it is the courts of the various States that have emerged from the former Yugoslavia that are responsible for continuing to carry out this work. “The ICTY dealt with the most serious cases, the“ big fish ”. The nationals are trying the middle charges, and the executioners who implemented the orders on the ground, ”explains Hikmet Karcic, a Sarajevo investigator specializing in war crimes.
According to some experts, in general, the balance of these two years is very negative. “Denialism, revisionism, and continued political support for those who committed war crimes means that states often do not want to extradite their nationals. Regional cooperation protocols have been signed, but in practice there is often more obstruction than cooperation, ”Natalya Clark, a professor at the University of Birmingam (United Kingdom), specializing in Transitional Justice in the Balkans, said a few months ago.
Karcic agrees in pointing out the lack of transnational cooperation as the main obstacle to ending impunity for the aggressors: “Many of those accused or sentenced in Bosnia and Herzegovina cross into Serbia or Croatia. They "hide" there, and hide in formalities to avoid extradition, as is the case with Novak Dukic. " Instead, he makes a more positive assessment of the specific work of the national courts in his country. “Bosnia is the state with the most open cases, several hundred. But it is true that not all courts work with the same seriousness. In the Serbian Republic of Bosnia, where the entire judicial apparatus is Serbian, he is more reluctant to open investigations, ”says this strong young man in perfect English.
Considering that many group rapes took place on the territory of the present-day Serbian Republic of Bosnia, the lack of cooperation of the judicial authorities is a serious problem. In some cases, either because of personal ties or threats, the accused are acquitted. "That is why we ask that these types of crimes be prosecuted in state courts, not in the provincial courts ... At first, we were only satisfied with harsh sentences. Now, the mere sentence, even if only a few years in prison , it already seems like a victory ", comments Hasecic with a resigned air.
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