SURVIVING THE PEACE The Struggle for Postwar Recovery in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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February 1, 2020
Chetnik provocations in Srebrenica, and related news

Around the beginning of January, members of the Ravna Gora Chetnik Movement (Ravnogorski Četnički Pokret) carried out provocative actions in Srebrenica and two other Bosnian cities. The organization, with operational centers both in Serbia and the Republika Srpska, is an unreformed Serb nationalist organization with fascist leanings that honors the memory of Serb war criminals Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić, and (from World War II) Draža Mihailović. For these people, who consider themselves the military arm of the Serb separatist movement, the war of the 1990s is not over, but only temporarily interrupted.

The Chetnik movement, named after WWII royalists who collaborated with the Nazis, underwent a resurgence in the period leading up to the 1990s wars of Yugoslav dissolution. It has a spiritual center in Višegrad, where there stands a statue honoring Draža Mihailović and where some of the worst atrocities of the 1990s war took place. That statue was originally erected in Brčko, but in the late 1990s international officials compelled Mihailović's admirers to remove it, whereupon it was relocated to a village near Višegrad. That location is important to the movement because it is where the Partisans arrested Mihailović in March of 1946, eventually leading to his execution.

Mihailović was executed by Tito's regime because, while his forces started out fighting the Nazis during World War II, they ended up collaborating with them to fight the Partisans—along with committing many massacres against the Muslim population living in the eastern part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mihailović was "rehabilitated" in 2015 by a court in Belgrade, Serbia.

Since its resurgence, the Ravna Gora movement has established a presence in many cities in the Republika Srpska, and the RS authorities ignore its activities unless they start verging on mayhem—and even then, only if that violence gains prominence in the public eye.

For many years the Chetniks and similar groupings have invaded Srebrenica on the most sensitive dates, especially on July 12 of each year, when they have marched through the town on the day after the annual funeral that carries out the reburial of identified remains of genocide victims that were exhumed from mass graves. On July 12 they walk through Srebrenica wearing black t-shirts with pictures of Ratko Mladić, and engage in behavior that frightens the returnee population. At times they have been banned, but not with great efficiency.

This year, Monday, January 6 was the day before Orthodox Christmas and it is customary to celebrate this date with the ceremonial transporting of what we would call a yule log (Serbian: "badnjak"). Members of the Ravna Gora organization chose to drive a caravan of cars through Srebrenica with their yule log, singing Chetnik songs and firing off weapons as they passed the memorial cemetery.

It was reported that Srebrenica's Mayor Grujičić was among the unholy celebrants of the birth of Christ. In 2016 Grujičić was the first Serb to be elected mayor of Srebrenica in the postwar period. Bosniak returnees and other "pro-Bosnia" citizens opposed Grujičić because he is a denier of the genocide, who says things like, "I can't deny the genocide, because it didn't happen." and "This will be the position for the rest of my life." He is a member of Milorad Dodik's SNSD party.

Commentators responded to the incident, saying that it was like pouring salt on the wounds of the survivors. The Bosnian state prosecution promised to "open a case" about the incident, which was prolonged as the Chetnik celebrants moved on to nearby Bratunac. They also held a celebration by the statue of Mihailović in Višegrad.

Another provocation followed soon after the Christmas outrage, when members of the organization Istočna Alternativa (Eastern Alternative) plastered posters of Ratko Mladić around Srebrenica. The posters read, "There was no genocide" and "Live and be healthy" (to Mladić)." This organization has been putting up similar posters—sometimes showing the likeness of Putin—for years. People quickly tore down the posters, and the local SNSD denied a connection with the group, saying they should "do that work in their own municipality, and not stir up trouble here." In fact, the leader of the group had been ejected from the Bratunac municipal assembly for carrying a poster of Mladić into the assembly hall.

Analyst Dragan Bursać commented that the "case" opened by prosecutors would lead to no action whatsoever, and that it was naive to believe it would make any difference. He pointed out that there is no way that such behavior would pass unpunished in Germany or other parts of Western Europe; the admirers of Himmler, Goebbels, and Hitler would not get away with glorifying their heroes—but that in Bosnia-Herzegovina, there is no law against denial of war crimes.

In fact, in mid-January members of Bosnia's upper house of Parliament proposed a law that would make denial of genocide and other war crimes punishable by jail sentences. It also proposed to criminalize the granting of awards to convicted war criminals. However, the measure failed by a vote of 6 to 9, with Serb representatives and most of the Croat ones voting against. Social-Democrat Denis Bećirović proposed an amendment that would prohibit convicted war criminals from running for office, but this was also rejected.

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Back in Srebrenica: you prefer to hope that the provocations come from outside the municipality—although there are certainly those in Srebrenica, including municipal officials, who deny genocide and honor war criminals. You also prefer to think that young people get along well across ethnic differences in the town. I have seen a lot of pleasant coexistence, and little ethnic intolerance or provocations from within the municipality. However, in the last week of January something very upsetting and risky took place right in Srebrenica, among grade-school students.

Monday, January 27 was the saint's day of the patron saint of the Serbs, St. Sava. A celebration honoring St. Sava was announced for that day in the schools—schools which used to be entirely secular and devoid of religious or ethnic decorations. Responding to this announcement, the parents of Bosniak children in the school system posted a public letter saying that they wished those who celebrated the saint's day well, but that their children were not going to attend school nor participate in the event on that day, because it was not their celebration.

So far, this looked like a relatively minor problem. But on the next day Bosnian newspapers posted a photo of nine elementary school pupils dressed in traditional Serbian folk attire (white shirts and vests) with military caps, the šajkača, on their heads. They were raising the three-finger Serb nationalist salute aloft and smiling joyfully. Someone had posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, "Chetnik brothers."

One must account for the lack of understanding of consequences on the part of these children, and perhaps for their lack of historical awareness as to what Chetnik iconography means to the survivors and Bosniak returnees in Srebrenica. But what about the elders? Someone brought these kids up and, apparently, taught them to behave in this blood-chilling way.

There ensued a disturbance in the town. A group of Bosnian parents organized a 45-minute protest demonstration in front of the elementary school on Wednesday the 28th; about 200 parents and children attended. The protest was peaceful and did not disrupt classes. The parents' group posted a request that a parents' council be formed quickly to reduce tensions, to open a dialogue, and to work to prevent such incidents in the future.

In the meantime, the children were "reprimanded,"—this, after one of them had written a text to a local priest, Aleksandar Mlađenović, asking for support. The pupil wrote, "We're not ashamed that we are Serbs and that our ancestors were Chetniks; do you support us, father?" Mlađenović responded that he supported them now and in any case.

The director of the school twisted the matter, asserting that it was being "politicized" and that the children who went to school on the day of the protest had to walk through a "gauntlet." He also said, "The children are the victims here. We must calm the situation. If there was a problem we will solve it, but not in this way [referring to the protest]...when I receive the parents' request I will see what we can do. We are always in favor of discussion and dialogue."

The most outrageous response came from Mayor Grujičić, who said that he saw nothing objectionable in a photo of children wearing traditional costumes. He complained that the idea of Chetniks was always equated with slaughterers, while in fact there are "many ways to look at Chetniks." He explained, "I don't see Chetniks as someone who just killed and slaughtered, there have been individuals in every army who have committed crimes."

If there were any hopes that Srebrenica's mayor could work as a peacemaker among the ethnicities, to reduce tensions—and I had those hopes—his latest pronouncements dispel those hopes once and for all. There is a mood of caution among the Bosniak parents, who are well aware that they reside in a Serb-controlled entity. They are also well aware of their rights and are prepared to insist on them. Let's hope that parents of both ethnicities can calm the situation.