TERRORISM - SECURITY THREAT IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION

Author(s): Cătălin Peptan / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2019

THE AUTHOR DEALS WITH THE ISSUE OF TERRORISM, AS A GLOBAL THREAT, PERCEIVED DIFFERENTLY AT THE SOCIETAL LEVEL, DEPENDING ON THE LEVEL OF CULTURE, POLITICAL OR SOCIAL LIFE. IN THE FIRST PART OF THE THEMATIC PAPER, THE TERM TERRORISM IS DEFINED BY A THREE COMPLEMENTARY APPROACH, NAMELY THE ACADEMIC APPROACH, INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH / STATE DISCOURSE AND PUBLIC DISCOURSE. IN THE SECOND PART OF THE PAPER, THE AUTHOR EXPLAINS HOW THE PHENOMENON OF GLOBALIZATION, WITH ITS VARIOUS EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, MILITARY, SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, CULTURAL OR RELIGIOUS NATURE, HAS INFLUENCED TERRORISM, GIVING IT AN INTERNATIONAL VALENCY. ALSO, THE AUTHOR ATTEMPTS TO INCLUDE IN A SPECIFIC TYPOLOGY THE "NEW TERRORISM", INCLUDING THE MOTIVATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS OF THE MODERN TERRORIST, IN THE ANTITHESIS OF "CLASSICAL TERRORISM", ALTHOUGH THE PROFILE OF WHAT WE CLASSICALLY CONSIDER TO BE A TERRORIST ATTACK BECOMES IN THE LAST TIME HARDER TO DEFINE, AND AT THE SAME TIME THE TYPOLOGY OF A TERRORIST IS EVEN HARDER TO UNDERSTAND.

Genezy upadków

Author(s): Julia Harasimowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 19/2020

THE UNSEEN FACES OF THE COMMUNIST NOMENCLATURE. ELEMENTS OF ORAL HISTORY (II)

Author(s): Vlad Ovidiu Cioacă / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

This article concentrates on the topic of communist nomenclature from the perspective of oral history. The approach is located at the intersection of three epistemic fields: historiography, sociology and social psychology. To begin with, we will sketch the historical context considered and we will take from the sociology of politics a series of theoretical frameworks to define the communist nomenclature. We considered it imperative to consult the ”key witnesses” of the exponents of targeted socio-political category, who provided us with ”first-hand” information about the reality they lived and built. We have identified two prominent members of the local structures of the Romanian Communist Party and conducted ”life story” interviews. We aimed to capture the way and the extent to which the subjects remember the events from their own biography that took place during the communist period and how these memories gained new meanings over time. We have also tried to get new details about the functioning of the party apparatus and the ”backstage” of power before 1989. The limits of the research represent the very small size of the investigated group, which consists of only two subjects, and the limitations of any interpretive approach in the category of ”life story”: selective memory, cognitive distortions, inability to separate personal truth from factual truth, etc. At the same time, we will try to supplement their testimonies with the memory of their victims regarding the communist nomenclature. However, we believe that the present research brings to light new perspectives to approach the old nomenclature, which can generate working hypotheses for large-scale research, based mainly on the analysis of social documents. The value of the interviews consists in the fact that the subjects were part of the communist repression forces, being also a confession of the acts committed against those who opposed the communization of the country, ”of the bandits”. It is the moment when, after 50 years of communism, the executioners really meet their victims, acknowledging the immense harm caused to society.

Światy przeżywane (Lebenswelt) polskich robotników przymusowych 1939-1945

Author(s): Robert Traba / Language(s): Polish Issue: 29/2021

Review of: Katarzyna Woniak, Zwangswelten. Emotions- und Alltagsgeschichte polnischer ‘Zivilarbeiter’ in Berlin 1939-1945, Paderborn: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh (Brill-Gruppe) 2020 (Reihe: FOKUS. Neue Studien zur Geschichte Polens und Osteuropas, Band 2), ss. 424

The role of gender in genocide

Author(s): Amila Husić / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

Genocide - the crime above all crimes - is the act of deliberately and systematically destroying a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race. However, other identities of members of the victimized group, in addition to those already stated, also play a role in the targeted victimization, as well as the perpetration of genocide. One of those key identities is gender as one of the primary social constructs with which all people identify, in various forms. This article explores the role of the gender of victims of genocide, considering it an important element, especially in the indirect identification of genocidal intent. The paper also explores the phenomenon of 'gendercide' and specific forms of genocide against women, such as rape as a form of genocidal act, and other manifestations of systematic and comprehensive sexual violence committed with the genocidal intent. In light of the genocide in the Srebrenica area, in addition to the obvious Bosniak or Muslim identity, as the key element of genocide, it is undeniable that the victims shared another common identity - gender. The killing of members of the group, as the first actus reus of genocide as defined in the Genocide Convention, in the Srebrenica area in July 1995, was mostly aimed at men of combat age, in an attempt to wipe out the Bosniak ethnic community by physically eliminating their male members. Other actions from the conventional definition of this crime were largely directed and performed against the female members of the targeted community. In addition, this also examines the forcible transfer of members of a group (with genocidal intent) as an act of genocide. Although less obvious than other elements of ethnicity, gender plays an important role in ethnic identity. Gender categorization in acts of genocide is not an exclusive feature of the Srebrenica genocide, rather a common feature in other genocide cases.

Pursuit for Justice: Voices and Perceptions on Justice of Victims of Genocide

Author(s): Marijana Toma / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

The genocide in Srebrenica stands out as a unique crime committed during the wars in former Yugoslavia, above all because it is the only one international legal bodies have defined as genocide but also because it is the final culmination of all operations undertaken against the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina from April 1992 onwards. This paper examines the perceptions of survivors and victims of genocide on justice in particular in the moment when the revision of established facts has gained momentum in recent years.

European Approach to (Mis) Understanding of the Genocide against Bosniaks

Author(s): Rasim Muratović / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2020

Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one in a series of genocides in the recent history of world civilization in the bloody mirror of ideological pogrom and state-organized evil, with which politics, science and philosophy are still unable or unwilling to radically deal with in a humanly meaningful and life-promising way. The common phrase “never to be repeated”, this contextual-declarative mantra, inevitable during the increasingly rare antifascist anniversaries and ceremonies, thus appears as an expression of moral hypocrisy, political inconsistency and irresponsibility of world powers. Thanks to this inconsistency and this irresponsibility, the specter of Auschwitz resurrected, even in the same historical second, quite undisturbed in (to make the paradox bigger) the UN security zone of Srebrenica, in July 1995. The common-sense question is: what has been done and committed in unprotected - unsafe zones throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina? The answer is, of course, nothing that has already been shown in both image and tone around the world. Rarely have any previous perpetrators of genocide announced and committed their crimes as triumphantly as the one in Srebrenica. None of the earlier perpetrators in the long history of genocide is as proud of that civilizational shame as the perpetrators of the genocide in Srebrenica do. Despite the obviousness and court rulings, genocide is persistently, publicly and with impunity denied and affirmed. The genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica, even after the court verdicts, does not mean to some what it should mean humanely and independently of any verdict: the reason for unquestionable condemnation and outrage! But not! They relativize guilt and hypocritically hint at justifying reasons for the cowardly passivity and restraint of the international community during and after the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide against Bosniaks. The genocide of Bosniaks, like everything that happened in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995, was a rehearsal for asking falsely worrying questions later and a rehearsal for the establishment of a new international order in the 21st century. Even though it all happened in almost one day, we still had to wait years to realize that the genocide in the UN security zone of Srebrenica, in July 1995, was not committed suddenly and without the knowledge of the most powerful in the world. The blood of innocent residents of Srebrenica and Bosniaks in general has not only soiled the hands of Chetnik killers, but equally those who sat in all, especially European capitals. Does this civilization live and reside in anything other than fear, injustice and tyranny? Is that her way of life? Are these her best achievements? Is civilization as uncivilized as it was then, looking motionless at Srebrenica, but also at Sarajevo, Foča, Višegrad, Zvornik, Vlasenica, Bijeljina, Brčko, Prijedor, Ključ, Sanski Most? Twentyfive years after the genocide committed in Srebrenica, in the territory of the United Nations safe zone, in July 1995, the consequences of the crime of genocide among survivors are evident, manifesting themselves in important aspects of human and social existence, individual and social life. Twenty-five years after the genocide committed in the territory of the United Nations safe zone in Srebrenica in July 1995, it is of special importance to strengthen and support those who survived the genocide. Aware of the systematically nurtured darkness that would hide the truth of genocide during the so-called “civil war” in Bosnia, despite all efforts to suppress it in a lobbying manner, the real truth about the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina lives on in the works of analytically serious researchers. They think for themselves, use the logic and language of historical facts, and stand up against evil and side with the victim (in the legal sense of the word) and their right to historical and human justice. It gives hope. “Judging by the evil that the grandchildren of homo sapiens committed in the 20th century, we have nothing to hope for after 2000. Judging by the hope that faith in God teaches us, even after 2000, there will be many people who will die a natural death.”

Some Legal Issues in the Dispute Between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, for Violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Author(s): Sakib Softić / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2020

This paper deals with issues related to the legal dispute between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia related to the violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The dispute attracted a lot of media attention. Much has been said and written about it, but by the media and politicians. Lawyers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have ignored this legal issue. It is true that the dispute lasted a long time, and that a huge amount of evidence was used and that the legal practice of other legal traditions prevailed. Additionally, the dispute was not conducted in our mother tongue. But, is all this together a sufficient justification for ignoring one such historical legal event? In this text, the author tries to briefly describe and explain the basic issues that were the subject of the dispute. To describe and explain how Bosnia and Herzegovina sought to prove its own claims of what it succeeded in and what it did not in addition to taking its own legal views on the subject legal issues.

Forced Disappearances of Bosniaks in Srebrenica, The United Nations Safe Zone

Author(s): Meldijana Arnaut Haseljić / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2020

The aggression on the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in a commission of a crime against humanity and international law, as well as committing the most severe form of crime – genocide. In the UN safe zone of Srebrenica were committed crimes against Bosniaks which is according to the mass, scope and number of victims of unprecedented scale in the recent history. The population of Srebrenica was exposed to starvation, wounding, mutilation, and then deportation, forced expulsion, forced disappearance, capture, rape, and individual and mass murder. After the mass capture performed as part of the Operation Krivaja 95, mass killings followed after which the bodies of the dead were buried in mass graves at hidden locations. For years, families search for missing persons, preserving in their efforts to find sites of primary or secondary mass graves that cover the remains of their family members. The existence of mass graves confirms the efforts to conceal and destroy both the traces and the extent of the crimes committed, and their disclosure allows missing persons to obtain their identity and a decent burial.

Uloga Srpske demokratske stranke u okupaciji Višegrada 1992. godine i počinjenju zločina nad Bošnjacima

Author(s): Ermin Kuka / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 50/2021

The Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed on July 12, 1990. Dr. Radovan Karadžić was elected its president. The party was formed with the full support and control of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and its leader, Slobodan Milošević. The program of activities of the Serbian Democratic Party, since its founding, has been based, among other things, on Greater Serbia program documents, starting with “Drawings” by Ilija Garašanin from 1844, to the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) from 1986. This was shown the following year after the founding of the party, when the Assembly of the FR of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991 started a debate on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina within truncated Yugoslavia. The SDS accepted the political option of explicitly rejecting the idea of independent development of the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina. That party was of the opinion that Bosnia and Herzegovina was only one administrative-territorial unit, and not a state. The activities of the SDS from its founding until the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 confirm the fact that it was the implementer in the field of what was conceived by the Greater Serbia ideology and politics, and its leaders were in Belgrade. The SDS was a mobilizer and organizer on the ground. SDS military formations, aided by the Yugoslav People’s Army, took part in open aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in calling for and inciting the commission of numerous crimes against humanity and international law against non-Serbs in all occupied and besieged towns and cities. The political and military activities of the SDS were aimed at breaking up Bosnian society from within. Such action resulted in the commission of the greatest crimes on the soil of Europe after the Second World War. In that sense, the entire Podrinje, and thus Višegrad, has been marked by the SDS as a strategically important place. This fact is proved by the adopted so-called Decision on strategic goals of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SDS Višegrad documentary material confirms the thesis of intentional, planned, systemic and organized action on the creation of ethnically pure Serb areas in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Politička i nacionalna polarizacija u Bosni i Hercegovini: Projekti “regionalizacije” 1991. godine

Author(s): Jasmin Medić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 50/2021

After the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) with the help of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in 1991, contrary to the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), declared the Serbian Autonomous Region (SAO) Krajina in Croatia. SDS BiH started the process of establishing Serbian autonomous regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the same (illegal) way - first by declaring municipal communities, and then by the policy of ‘regionalization’. According to the model of Serbian autonomous regions, two Croatian communities have been proclaimed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author analyzes the process of declaring illegal autonomous regions and communities which, through the unilateral territorial reorganization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be the introduction to the establishment of the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 1992 and the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna in August 1993.

Общественото отношение към децата в специализирани институции и влиянието му върху насилието помежду им

Author(s): Sevina Genova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2014

The paper presents results from an empirical research, conducted among children in residential care. Aim of the study is to identify the influence of public attitudes on the relationship between children placed at the institution. Societal attitudes towards children at residential care can be considered in terms of two opposing positions. On one hand - compassion and pity, ongoing donations, on the other – non-acceptance, rejection, labeling. In both cases, the attitude towards those children is not adequate and could generates violence.

Ценностна обусловеност на индивидуалните цели за поведенческа промяна при младежи със социални девиации

Author(s): Teodorina Milusheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2013

The following paper examines how the ability for goal setting is associated with the specific value-profile of young adults with social deviations. Presumably plain, specific and realistic goals are an effective mechanism and strategy for action and help the individual in addition to achieve motivated and intentional behavioral change. The study was conducted in social work institutions for young adults with deviant behavior – shelters and transitional programs, therapeutic communities and rehabilitation programs. The analysis outlines motivational and value-profile differences between the groups. Respondents also differ in terms of ability for specific, relevant and attainable goal setting regarding behavior change. The ability for goal setting is positively correlated to social deviation awareness, stages of change and motivational profile of youngsters.

„Podnijeti nepodnošljivo“: kapitulacija Japana 1945. godine

Author(s): Dinko Odak / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2017

From the spring of 1945, Japan intensified efforts for termination of war. One one hand, diplomatic activity was aimed at Moscow, trying to buy the Soviet mediation through a sizeable concessions on the Asian mainland, that would effectively nullify all of Japan’s gains from 1904-5 war with Russia, and on the other hand, military prepared for the decisive battle that would drain the American will for war and make them accept negotiated peace. The lowest common denominator for both combinations was the preservation of Soviet neutrality and Japanese pursued it with all means available. As far as the USA is concerned, in the time of the Conference in Yalta, they were convinced that the Soviet intervention is essential for successful continuation and termination of the war. Between Yalta and Potsdam circumstances changed drastically and it was felt that the Soviet engagement is no longer essential, but due to General Marshall’s wishes, Truman dared not to renege Roosevelt’s invitation to Stalin to join the war against Japan. However, he tried to stall the Soviet entrance and to force Japan to surrender before that happens, by all means available. One of those was the newly developed atom bomb, tested with success during the Potsdam Conference. As the result, the Allies issued the Potsdam Proclamation as an ultimatum to Japan, before the rain of destructions is brought upon it. Unfortunately, Japanese saw it as a mere propaganda and chose to ignore it, so the US military proceeded with the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese leadership wasn’t too impressed with the bomb. To them, it was just two more cities lost, atop already more than sixty scorched ones! Only after the Soviet attack on the Kwantung Army, and it’s speedy defeat, did they accept that the situation is hopeless and that the capitulation is the only course of action still open. Aided by Hirohito’s “sacred decision“ they finally surrendered.

Czeska mniejszość na Wołyniu w latach okupacji niemieckiej (1941–1944)

Author(s): Adam Zítek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2018

World War II caused the outbreak of bloody conflicts on the grounds of nationality and ethnicity. The former Volhynian Governorate, where unimaginable acts of violence took place, became a particularly dangerous place. For almost one hundred years, these areas were inhabited by, among others, few Czechs who tried to survive various turmoil around them. Attacks on the Czech minority in Volhynia ceased with the end of World War II when the majority of Czechs decided to return to their homeland.

SOME REMARKS ON THE ISSUES OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR RAPE ON THE EXAMPLE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Author(s): Katarzyna Czeszejko-Sochacka / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2022

The civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the bloodiest armed conflicts after the end of the Second World War. Despite the passage of years, it is still a painful part of reality for a large group of the country's population. During the war, human rights were violated in the form of ethnic cleansing, murders, and so-called genocidal rapes. Women who were raped face social stigma to this day. According to conservative estimates, approx. 4000 children were born as a result of rapes. Today, the adult generation of "children of shame" experiences social ostracism in almost all spheres of life. Their situation is affected by the fact that they are not recognized as "victims of war" under the current regulations. This situation is slowly beginning to change, but it is a long-term process that requires intensified efforts not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the international arena.

Les prétextes de l’agression militaire de la Russie contre l’Ukraine

Author(s): Corneliu Liviu Popescu / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2022

Pour justifier du point de vue du Droit international son action militaire contre l’Ukraine, la Russie a avancé trois types de justifications : la légitime défense individuelle et collective ; des considérations stratégiques de sécurité visant l’élargissement de l’OTAN et l’utilisation de l’arme nucléaire ; la prévention et la répression du génocide. En réalité, il s’agit d’un recours illicite à l’emploi de la force contre un État souverain, d’un acte d’agression qui constitue un crime international, d’une violation grave des principes fondamentaux du Droit international et des autres engagements internationaux souscrits par la Russie.

Ukraine’s International Obligations to Respond to and Address Gender Challenges and Problems Caused by the War

Author(s): Svitlana Garashchenko / Language(s): English Issue: 10/2022

The article deals with the international legal regulation of the problem of human trafficking and gender-based violence exacerbated by the war. The author draws attention to the importance of women’s participation in the process of post-war reconstruction, as well as the gender differences in the impact of war on the situation of various vulnerable groups in society. Best protection against gender-based violence, and in particular trafficking in human beings, is to create a situation where there are a few victims as possible, i.e., to prevent the problem. For this purpose, it is never enough to work with victims or vulnerable groups; it is necessary to work with demand, with public opinion, create zero tolerance for such violence, to educate generations of Ukrainians who do not normalize but oppose all forms of gender-based violence, especially its horrific forms such as human trafficking.

Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Auschwitz. Monografia Człowieka

Author(s): Piotr Filipkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 17/2021

Review of: Piotr Filipkowski - Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Auschwitz. Monografia Człowieka; Oświęcim: Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau, 2021, 584 s.

Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Islands of Memory. The Landscape of the (Non)Memory of the Holocaust in Polish Education from 1989 to 2015

Author(s): Katarzyna Stecz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 17/2021

Review of: Katarzyna Stec - Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Islands of Memory. The Landscape of the (Non)Memory of the Holocaust in Polish Education from 1989 to 2015, Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press, 2020, 485 s.