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Memory and Justice - Online Database on Memorial Centers

Postolje spomenika u Mostaru

23 November 2009  The International Transitional Justice Center has created an online database called Memory and Justice, dedicated to memorial centers all over the world.

Among others, the database contains information about monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Memorial Center in Potocari, the Sarajevo Roses and the Bruce Lee Statue in  Mostar, which was inaugurated in 2005.

Explaining why the memorial to Bruce Lee, a US-Chinese actor, was included among the other monuments, it was said that this particular memorial was erected "in the hope that all citizens of the divided city of Mostar would see him as a hero".

Shortly after it was built, the memorial was damaged. In 2007 it was removed, following a number of vandal attacks.

The web portal on Memory and Justice, representing part of the programme on Truth and Remembrance, contains data on memorials to victims of war, AIDS and slavery, as well as monuments celebrating peace.

"Memorials...offer a kind of consolation to victims as they recognize their suffering. The web site launches an initiative for developing a pedagogic programme targeted at learning lessons from the past, which will then lead to creating conditions for preventing crimes from happening again," says an explanation posted on the web page. It was further added that the initiative can help counter cases of "ethnic or racial superiority of one group", or instances where " or crime perpetrators are celebrated".

A map, showing the precise locations of monuments, and photographs of those locations, can be found on this web page. Viewers can also take part in a discussion on the extent to which memorial centers influence society.

The selection of locations contained on the web page "has been done on the basis of active involvement of the ICTJ in those areas".

As stated by its authors, the web page is "a public space for debate and discussion on how to remember past violations of human rights so that they never happen again".

In addition to texts, photographs and other data on individual monuments, readers can find links to media articles or publications about these monuments. Some links to BIRN Justice Report articles are also posted.

The content of the database will be useful for research in the field of human rights. It will also be useful for victims and for journalists who specialize in this field. The database represents another way for ensuring that the past is not forgotten. It should be said that the number of memorial centers cited by this web page is still relatively small, but the authors are expected to continue working on the map and developing it further.

The International Center for Transitional Justice, ICTJ, works to secure compensation and to prevent grave violations of human rights; it is also active in promoting justice and peace.

The ICTJ was founded in 2001 with the aim of helping countries determine responsibility for crimes against humanity or violation of human rights. The Center is active in societies emerging from repressive governance or armed conflict.

The database can be accessed at: www.memoryandjustice.org