A road toward national reconciliation<\/p>\n
Mochtar Buchori, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As the world commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Srbenica
\nmassacre this month, many people in the former Yugoslavia were
\nstill trying to heal the wounds of war, restore damaged
\nrelationships and reconcile their differences.<\/p>\n
Ten years after the Bosnian war finally came to an end, the
\nhostility and distrust that exists between Muslims and Christians
\nis still visible.<\/p>\n
In this difficult atmosphere, however, there are still many
\npeople who are examining their souls, scrutinizing their
\nconsciences and wondering what they could have done to have
\nstopped this atrocity from taking place.<\/p>\n
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serbs massacred more than 7,000
\nBosnian Muslims, men and boys, in the town of Srbenica. The town
\nhad been earlier declared a "safe area" by the United Nations and
\nwas protected by a Dutch UN contingent of 400 lightly armed
\nsoldiers. This small force was totally powerless in the face of a
\nformidable military led by Gen. Mladic. Requests by the Dutch
\ntroops on the ground for air support from NATO were completely
\nignored.<\/p>\n
Two important questions arise from this event. What parties
\nshould shoulder the blame for the massacre and how can
\nreconciliation be achieved?<\/p>\n
According to William H. Montgomery, the former ambassador to
\nCroatia and later to Serbia and Montenegro, there are not enough
\nadmissions of guilt and indications of remorse on the part of the
\nbig parties involved in the conflict. There has not been a single
\nstatement of apology, admission of guilt or regret from those
\noccupying leadership positions within UN Security Council, the UN
\nProtection Force, or the powerful member states within the UN, as
\nMontgomery wrote in his opinion piece "There's enough blame for
\nus all", in the International Herald Tribune (July 12).<\/p>\n
However, there is more than enough pressure on the peoples in
\nthe former Yugoslavia to admit their guilt and acknowledge their
\nmistakes. This is lamentable, since the part of the international
\ncommunity in the conflict is, in my understanding, not less than
\nthat of the Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, Albanians and the people of
\nMontenegro.<\/p>\n
There are many stories, however, telling of individuals on
\nboth sides of the conflict who acted bravely and humanely. There
\nare also stories about the humiliations suffered by members of
\nthe peacekeeping force when they were forcibly unarmed by the
\nSerbs and treated as prisoners of war.<\/p>\n
Reports of the attempts to reach reconciliation are often
\nfilled with repeated failures, disappointments, and unfulfilled
\nhopes. They are tales of efforts to conquer feelings of hatred
\nand prejudice and to build new relationships based on trust and
\nempathy.<\/p>\n
A significant achievement in this regard has been accomplished
\nby two Dutch film-makers, Eric van den Broek and Katarina Rejger,
\nwho created the "videoletters" project to promote peace and
\nunderstanding.<\/p>\n
Targeting people who were once friends but were then separated
\nby the bloody nationalist conflict, as van den Brook says, the
\nproject "is about people, and not about politics."<\/p>\n
Once a person agrees to make a videoletter it is sent to the
\nrecipient, who can choose to accept or reject it, and then, after
\nviewing the message, whether to reply. The results of the project
\nare touching and often heart-wrenching.<\/p>\n
Through these videoletters, many people were reunited. Ivana
\nNicolic, a Serb, met Senad, a Muslim boy with cerebral palsy, who
\nIvana had adopted in a hospital in Belgrade before the conflict
\nbroke out.<\/p>\n
Nenad and his friend, Rudjer, a blind boy, were inseparable in
\nBelgrade. When Rudjer's family, who are Croats, were threatened
\nby the violence, they moved to Croatia. Ten years later, Nenad
\nsend a videoletter to Rudjer and his family. Deeply touched,
\nRudjer, who is now an organ player and composer, responded and
\nincluded a brief organ recital in his reply. They are now in
\nregular contact.<\/p>\n
While not every videoletter receives a reply and many endings
\nare not so rosy, the project has been growing in popularity.<\/p>\n
Upon reading these stories I cannot help wondering why we
\ncannot try to do something similar in our country.<\/p>\n
The many conflicts that have taken place here have created
\nmany wounds and divisions in the nation. The Semanggi and the
\nTrisakti and Tanjung Priok incidents, the May 1998 riots and the
\nmany other conflicts in Poso, Ambon, West Kalimantan, Aceh and
\nPapua have created latent or outright feelings of hostility and
\nprejudice among many peoples that have not been addressed.<\/p>\n
No one involved in these events has ever publicly admitted any
\nguilt; whether it is personal responsibility or the
\nresponsibility on behalf of the group they were in.<\/p>\n
The nation cannot move forward and away from these incidents
\nunless it casts off this burden.<\/p>\n
The writer has a doctorate in education from Harvard
\nUniversity.<\/p>",
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