The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina is trying new ways to work with local communities to stem prejudice and hate. Mission activities were featured in latest edition of OSCE's Security Community Magazine here.
A group of ‘Super Citizens' in Bosnia have formed to fight back against hate and prejudice.
During the Bosnian War, more than 8,000 citizens of Bosnia were victims to an ethnic cleansing genocide, primarily focused at Muslims. It was the worst the world has witnessed since World War II. While the war has been over for 20 years, people in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) continue to fight for equality and against hate-motivated crimes.
These individuals are known as Supergrađanke, or Super Citizens. They focus their powers on promoting positive examples of cohesion from citizens of mixed ethnic and religious backgrounds. The group includes 20 “Coalitions Against Hate,” comprised of 120 organizations, including war veterans, women’s associations, youth, people with disabilities, eco-associations, schools, and social welfare centers.
The group was founded by the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe Mission to BiH. Their specific intent is to create a civilized society where all are treated as equals by reforming education and protecting the civil rights of those inside its borders.
“Our goal is to strengthen this movement, increase number of people who will join or support it in order to prevent incidents and future escalation of conflicts, and to properly respond to incidents so victims would not feel alone,” said Sladjana Milunovic of OSCE.
Members of these coalitions have faced open threats for what they do, ranging from verbal threats to physical attacks. Fortunately, there have only been a handful of these incidents.
Today, hate crimes in BiH are primarily motivated by nationality, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Frequent targets include returnees or their properties, religious or sacred facilities, sexual minorities, and Roma.
Uniting to Combat Hate
This week, the OSCE is hosting a workshop to begin a larger-scale campaign to promote tolerance and acceptance in BiH. After the workshop, four webinars will be hosted to continue plans for three presentations in large cities for citizens, local authorities, and the media.
Last year, during the International Week of Tolerance in November, the Coalitions Against Hate hosted more than 200 activities in BiH, including public condemnations of hate crimes. One breakthrough was the reading of a message against hate at all stadiums in the BiH Premier League.
“This is important because football in this country too often serves to channel hate, not sport values,” Milunovic said.
The coalitions also help to restore hate-ravage areas by visiting attacked religious sites, removing offensive graffiti, organizing street actions, and leading workshops on combating prejudice, stereotypes, prejudice, and hate speech.
The group has built a crowd-sourced map, which allows citizens to not only report incidents, graffiti, and hate speech, but also promote positive activities: projects of other organizations, cohesive activities, and safe spaces for those at risk.
The OSCE is working to put individual coalitions in touch with local authorities to produce joint Community Cohesion Action Plans to prevent and respond to these hate incidents. As there is some reluctance for local authorities to take the issue seriously, the OSCE has begun publishing a monthly visualization of hate crimes and response to them known as Hate Monitor.
Show Your Support of Super Citizens
You can send an international show of support to the Super Citizens in BiH.
Post a message on the Super Citizens Facebook site or leave a comment in the comments section below.
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