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Dealing with the Past in Post-war Croatia: Perceptions, Problems, and Perspectives

Authored by: Tamara Banjeglav

Categories: Statebuilding
Sub-Categories: Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Transitional Justice
Country: Croatia
Region: Europe and Eurasia
Year: 2012
Citation: Banjeglav, Tamara. "Dealing with the Past in Post-war Croatia: Perceptions, Problems, and Perspectives." In Transitional Justice and Civil Society in the Balkans, edited by Olivera Simic and Zala Volcic. New York: Springer, 2012.

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Executive Summary

This chapter analyzes results of research on attitudes of the Croatian public about dealing with the past and the perception of victims of the 1991–1995 war, conducted by a civil society organization Documenta—Centre for Dealing with the Past from Zagreb, the aim of which is to develop social and individual processes of dealing with the past. The chapter opens up a discussion on the meaning of these results for the process of dealing with the past in Croatia. Moreover, it gives an overview of developments and improvements that have occurred since the time when the research was conducted. Furthermore, it discusses transitional justice mechanisms which foster reconciliation in post-war Croatia, such as war crimes trials, regional commission for truth-telling, public apologies, and memorialization practices, and also gives a brief overview of the latest events in these fields, as well as an assessment of their role in post-conflict reconciliation and dealing with the past. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future actions that need to take place in Croatia in the upcoming period in order to foster reconciliation and speed up the process of dealing with the past.