August 1997 Peacewatch Cover Story

Cooperation Agreements in Bosnia

The Institute of Peace recently co-sponsored two landmark meetings among Bosnia's religious leaders and justice officials.

Above: U.S. ambassador to Austria Swanee Hunt (front row, left) hosted Bosnia's religious leaders at the U.S. embassy in Vienna.

ust 10 months before the scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Bosnia, many observers remain pessimistic about prospects for peace there. Indeed, news reports do not bode well. Bosnia's leaders resist apprehending war criminals and obstruct the return of refugees, and the officially controlled media continue to fan t he flames of ethnic hatred.

Yet--despite these disturbing indicators that the peace in Bosnia is at best fragile--the U.S. Institute of Peace has recent evidence that behind the scenes, significant progress toward healing the wounds of war may be possible.

Two new cooperation agreements concluded at separate meetings co-sponsored by the Institute of Peace--a written agreement among Bosnia's religious leaders and a series of verbal agreements among its justice officials--represent significant progress toward ameliorating the hostilities that continue to divide the country's religious and ethnic commu nities.

At the meeting among leaders of Bosnia's Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Serbian Orthodox communities--held in Vienna, Austria, June 2-5--participants agreed to form an inter-religious council that will promote religious tolerance and understanding. At the meeting among Bosnia's Croat, Muslim, and Serb leaders of war crimes commissions and oth er top justice officials--held in Strasbourg, France, July 2-4--participants agreed to work together to facilitate the prosecution of war criminals. These meetings, and the resulting cooperation agreements, represent landmarks in post-war relations for the parties involved.

Nevertheless, participants in both meetings noted that normalization of relations among their communities is still a distant goal--one that is in no way assured, and one that will require much effort, patience, and healing, as well as the sustained and committed participation of the United States.

Above: Bosnia's justice officials met in Strasbourg, France.

"These meetings are the most positive developments that have happened for Bosnia since the war ended," says John Menzies, former U.S. ambassador to Bosnia and a senior fellow at the Institute of Peace. "They represent an enormous step forward."

"It's gratifying to see the results of these dialogues, which we worked on for 18 months to help arrange," says Institute executive vice president Harriet Hentges, head of the Institute's Bosnia initiative. David Little, senior scholar in religion, ethics, and human rights, worked on the meeting of religious leaders, and Neil J. K ritz, senior scholar in the rule of law, organized the meeting of justice officials.

"Much attention has been paid to the moral depravity and recalcitrance of Bosnia's wartime leaders," Hentges notes. "Participants in our recent meetings give evidence of another level of leadership in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a 'second tier' of officials that is willing to speak outside of 'party lines' and work toward a more hopeful future. I was im pressed by the genuine listening that occurred and the personal relationships that participants established."

Religious Leaders Meet

The Institute co-sponsored the meeting of religious leaders with Mercy Corps International and the U.S. ambassador to Austria, Swanee Hunt, who hosted the group at the U.S. embassy. "The spirit of the meetings was very positive," Little says. "Ambassador Hunt provided a warm atmosphere where participants were able to relax and get to know o ne another." In addition to formal talks, organizers allowed time for informal group activities and exchanges.

Participants included Mustafa Ceric, the supreme head of Bosnia's Islamic community; Jakob Finci, head of the Bosnian Jewish community; Cardinal Vinko Puljic of the Roman Catholic church; and Dusan Jovanovic, a parish priest in Sarajevo representing Metropolit Dabro-Bosnian Nikolaj Mrdja, head of Bosnia's Serbian Orthod ox Church, who was unable to attend at the last minute due to illness.

The religious leaders completed an agreement to form an inter-religious council representing the country's four major religious communities. The agreement marks the culmination of several months of planning by those communities, with encouragement and support from the meeting's co-sponsors. "All participants strongly expressed a need to avoid the partition of their country at any cost," Little says.

According to the religious leaders, the influence of religion had been weakened under the communists, and its role as a constructive force is not now as great as might be hoped. But they conceded that religious division and animosity also served to inflame the conflict, and affirmed the urgency of replacing hostility with cooperation and respect.

Justice Officials Meet

The Institute organized the meeting of Bosnia's justice officials, a "Roundtable on Justice and Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina," which was co-sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. The meeting explored ways to achieve a sense of justice that will facilitate social reconcilia tion in Bosnia, says Kritz. He assembled about 25 officials from Bosnia's three ethnic groups--including the minister of justice of Republika Srpska, key judges and prosecutors, cantonal ministers of interior, and leaders of the three respective war crimes commissions--along with senior officials from the International Criminal Tribunal and other international institutions.

"This marked the first time since the war that key officials from each of the three ethnic communities dealing with these issues agreed to meet for a dialogue," Kritz says. Despite a few difficult moments, participants reached consensus on some 12 recommendations including measures to improve the work of the tribunal and the domestic prosecution o f war crimes. The U.S. State Department has already arranged for implementation of one of these measures, which involves training local prosecutors.

Also, Kritz notes, "participants determined that having three separate war crimes commissions risks producing conflicting versions of truth and history, and agreed to form a Bosnia-wide joint truth commission. "

Follow-on Efforts

The Institute will host a series of follow-up meetings among religious leaders, starting with a colloquium on "Religion and the Future of the Former Yugoslavia" October 11-14 at the Central European University in Budapest. The event will convene an inter-faith group of academics, journalists, theologians, and clergy from Bosnia to design ways of u ndertaking practical projects that can contribute to decreasing inter-community tensions and help build a more united Bosnia, says Little. The first meeting will examine the ways people of different faiths use language to characterize each other, and how language can perpetuate group divisions and hostilities, with an aim of reducing those languag e-based divisions.

Kritz will help facilitate the formation of the joint truth commission among Bosnia's justice officials. The commission, he says, "will provide a collective forum for victims on all sides of the conflict and establish one consensus history regarding these painful matters." He also will focus on implementation of the other Strasbourg recommendation s.

Hentges notes that the Institute plans to sustain its involvement in these activities, which can help provide a more stable basis for resolving conflicts in Bosnia. However, the process remains vulnerable to disruption by political leaders who continue to resist reconciliation.

© 1997 United States Institute of Peace

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