On Thursday, 4 April 2019, in cooperation with the City of Niš Disabled Veterans Association and the Peacebuilders Association from Kruševac, representatives of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade and a group of veterans from the region, former members of the RBiH Army, HVO, VRS, HV, VJ and JNA, visited Niš and sites of memory in the city and took part in the commemoration for victims of the NATO bombing in Aleksinac on Friday, 5 April 2019.
As a social group, war veterans, often those who fought on opposite sides in the war, have a high degree of credibility and capacity for peacebuilding, both in their own communities and in the region as a whole. Their direct and often brutal personal experience of war can become a strong motivating factor for becoming actively involved in peacebuilding. This was what brought together the mixed group of war veterans, who were joined by members of the Centre for Nonviolent Action on 4 April 2019, to pay their respects to the victims and lay flowers at memorials to citizens of Niš killed in the bombing (Niš was bombed for 29 days, which resulted in 26 civilians killed and 60 severely wounded), civilians and soldiers, from the 1991-1999 period. This not just sent a message, but also provided a model example of what can and should be done in terms of reconciliation in the region.
“We sat down together at the same table. There were misgivings at first, but from day to day, we grew to trust each other. I would like to use this opportunity to send a message to the politicians that we want to and we can live together,” said Hamdija Karić, a war veteran from Vitez in central Bosnia, a former member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding that “thanks to the Centre for Nonviolent Action that brings together war veterans from the region, we have done what no politician in the Balkans has managed to do.”
Dražen Horvat from Croatia, a former member of the Croatian Army pointed out that “the hardest moments are when you come to a site of an atrocity and face the horrors of war. That feeling is incredibly intense. People often forget this and allow hatred to take over, but I think the most important thing is to show compassion both for the suffering of your own people and for others.” Horvat added that the joint visits of war veterans can serve as an example to show that the conflicts that had erupted and the reasons behind them can be overcome and that we can start moving towards reconciliation.
Aleksandar Sokolović from Kruševac, a member of the Peacebuilders Association and a veteran from 1999, described feeling heartened by the fact that Bosniaks and Croats accepted the invitation to come to Niš.
The hosts also took the group to visit the Army Museum and Memorial Room at the Serbian Army building.
The group also visited Islam-aga’s Mosque in downtown Niš. The chairman of the jamaat committee, effendi Ragib Dobreva briefly presented the history of the mosque and the life of the Islamic community in Niš. The mosque had been set on fire in the night of 17 March 2004 by hooligans reacting to the destruction of churches and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija.
The veterans visited the City Hall where they were received by Niš City Councillor Mirko Zečević on behalf of the mayor. In pleasant conversation and a good atmosphere, Mr Zečević expressed his pleasure with the visit and added he was very pleased to receive a group that works towards reconciliation among all our peoples.
After the meeting, the war veterans visited cultural and historical heritage sites in the City of Niš, the site of the Second World War Concentration Camp “12th February” at the Red Cross and the Skull Tower.
Since 2008, the Centre for Nonviolent Action, with offices in Sarajevo and Belgrade, has been organising visits by groups of war veterans from Croatia, Serbia and BiH to sites of atrocities against civilians and soldiers committed in the recent war and to official commemorations honouring victims, organised by local and state authorities and victims associations.
On Friday, 5 April 2019, the Centre for Nonviolent Action and the group of war veterans attended the commemoration to victims of the NATO bombing in Aleksinac, they paid their respects to the victims and laid a wreath at the memorial to citizens of Aleksinac killed in the bombing. During the NATO bombing of SRY, the town of Aleksinac was bombed twice. The worst of the bombing took place on 5 April 1999, when 11 citizens were killed and 50 were wounded. Some 700 residential buildings were destroyed, as well as health clinics and commercial buildings. Aleksinac was bombed again in the night between 27 and 28 May 1999. Three people were killed in this bombing.
Following the commemoration at the Aleksinac Culture Centre, a meeting was held with the representatives of the Aleksinac Veterans Movement. The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Mayor of Aleksinac Čedomir Rakić.
Under the organisation of the Centre for Nonviolent Action, veterans from the region have attended commemorations in BiH in Gornji Vakuf, at Site 715 and in Stog (Vozuća) near Zavidovići, in Novi Grad/Bosanski Novi, Sanski Most (Hrastova glavica), Sijekovac near Brod, Laništa near Brčko, Trusina near Konjic, Stupni Do near Vareš, and in Serbia in Grdelička klisura near Leskovac, Varvarin near Kruševac, Aleksinac, as well as in Croatia in Pakrac, Varivode and Gošić in Kistanje Municipality near Knin.