vrijdag, september 20, 2002
Hardline Serb nationalists have repeatedly disrupted an exhibition of photographs from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. They say the touring show by U.S. photographer Ron Haviv, which chronicles the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, displays anti-Serb bias. One of the organizers in the central town of Cacak was beaten up two months ago. Supporters of ex-Bosnian Serb leader and genocide suspect Radovan Karadzic later prevented it from opening in the town of Kragujevac.
The show covers a decade of bloodshed from the Serb capture of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991 to Belgrade's crackdown on Kosovo Albanians and last year's conflict in Macedonia. Protesters shouted nationalist slogans at the recent opening in Novi Sad, where police were called in to prevent trouble. The northern city was the last stop for "Blood and Honey: A Balkan war journal," which is due to close on Friday. Haviv's work has been published in journals like Newsweek and Time. Photographs in the show include emaciated Muslim prisoners held in a Serb detention camp during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
Many visitors complained the collection was a one-sided show of mostly non-Serb victims. They expressed their outrage on comment sheets provided by organizers. "Where were you when your country waged war in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq?" read one remark next to a photograph from the Bosnian Serb siege of Sarajevo. "Your country killed millions in the name of democracy.Where are the pictures from NATO's bombing?" asked another, referring to the U.S.-led air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 to halt Serbian repression in Kosovo under ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
Rights activists say the hostile reception during the show's six-month tour highlights the difficulties in Serbia in confronting the truth about war crimes during the rule of Milosevic, now on trial at The Hague. Many Serbs reject the view widely held in the West that Milosevic's Serbia was the main culprit in the death of Yugoslavia, with Serb forces behind many atrocities.
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, last month criticized the authorities for not taking stronger action against extremists trying to disrupt the exhibition, sponsored by a U.S. non-governmental organization, Freedom House. "The problem stems from the government's reluctance to seriously confront the issue of war crimes against non-Serbs in the former Yugoslavia," it said in a statement.
One of the exhibition's most disturbing pictures shows a paramilitary soldier under the command of feared Serb warlord Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic about to kick the body of a Muslim woman shot dead in the Bosnian town of Bijeljina in 1992. "Serbian heroes," said a comment scribbled underneath. But others expressed disgust. "Pictures of war criminals," one wrote. "Those guys are walking in our streets today."
Bron: Reuters.
The show covers a decade of bloodshed from the Serb capture of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991 to Belgrade's crackdown on Kosovo Albanians and last year's conflict in Macedonia. Protesters shouted nationalist slogans at the recent opening in Novi Sad, where police were called in to prevent trouble. The northern city was the last stop for "Blood and Honey: A Balkan war journal," which is due to close on Friday. Haviv's work has been published in journals like Newsweek and Time. Photographs in the show include emaciated Muslim prisoners held in a Serb detention camp during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
Many visitors complained the collection was a one-sided show of mostly non-Serb victims. They expressed their outrage on comment sheets provided by organizers. "Where were you when your country waged war in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq?" read one remark next to a photograph from the Bosnian Serb siege of Sarajevo. "Your country killed millions in the name of democracy.Where are the pictures from NATO's bombing?" asked another, referring to the U.S.-led air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 to halt Serbian repression in Kosovo under ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
Rights activists say the hostile reception during the show's six-month tour highlights the difficulties in Serbia in confronting the truth about war crimes during the rule of Milosevic, now on trial at The Hague. Many Serbs reject the view widely held in the West that Milosevic's Serbia was the main culprit in the death of Yugoslavia, with Serb forces behind many atrocities.
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, last month criticized the authorities for not taking stronger action against extremists trying to disrupt the exhibition, sponsored by a U.S. non-governmental organization, Freedom House. "The problem stems from the government's reluctance to seriously confront the issue of war crimes against non-Serbs in the former Yugoslavia," it said in a statement.
One of the exhibition's most disturbing pictures shows a paramilitary soldier under the command of feared Serb warlord Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic about to kick the body of a Muslim woman shot dead in the Bosnian town of Bijeljina in 1992. "Serbian heroes," said a comment scribbled underneath. But others expressed disgust. "Pictures of war criminals," one wrote. "Those guys are walking in our streets today."
Bron: Reuters.
# posted by Jan-Edward : 23:34
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