A Letter to the People of Stolac

It was a great honour to be invited to attend the recent Helsinki Committee sponsored International Conference on Human Rights and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Stolac, and to address the conference on what Stolac means to me as a former soldier and member of the International Community. My feelings are well documented in the film "Operation Panther" which was shown at the conference and in the two articles that I have written on Stolac; namely "Stolac - a town imprinted on my heart"(July 2002) and "On the crimes in Stolac"(October 2003). Both these articles were made available to all attending. In my address to the conference, I emphasised that the crimes against humanity, the Dayton peace agreement, the failure of the judicial system, and the failure to recognise human rights issues concerning returnees, all favour the perpetrators of the crimes in the war and those who still retain the upper hand in Stolac today, and who play a waiting game. People can return but they must remain silent. They have nowhere to turn to for justice or to have their legitimate human rights demands answered - apart from leaving! They are afraid to challenge the fragile 'status quo' that is weighted towards those that perpetrated the war crimes and persecuted those that are returning. In reality the effects of the war in Stolac municipality have been preserved to a greater extent, and returnees - having been forced to leave through deliberate ethnic cleansing - must tolerate this 'accepted norm'. In conclusion: Justice must be seen to be done - for without it true reconciliation, mutual respect and lasting peace will remain an illusion; and Human rights issues need to be properly addressed if society is to integrate on an equal basis, with a common goal of achieving unity in diversity and real peace.

During the course of the conference I was to meet Mr Safet Halilovic, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We discussed "The Stolac case"and the substance of our discussion has been well reported in last Saturday's editions of 'Oslobodenja' and 'Dnevni avaz'. The Minister concluded our meeting by presenting me with the 'Kunin Ban' medal for services in the cause of justice. I felt very humbled.

"The Stolac case" remains the test case of the reform of the judicial system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Justice is one of the most essential and fundamental human rights. Once those guilty of the appalling crimes against humanity that were perpetrated in Stolac municipality are brought to trial, everything else concerning human rights inequalities will be that much easier to address. This is a question of political will to drive through judicial reform and of courage at all levels to implement it.

My warmest greetings to you all

Hector Gullan
27 April 2004