Supervisor of Brcko, Dr Raffi Gregorian, issued today a Supervisory Order on monuments that facilitates the legalisation of existing – and the erection of new – monuments to fallen members of the former warring armies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a new memorial to all civilian victims of the 1992 to 1995 and 1939 to 1945 wars in Brcko.
There has been a Brcko Law on Monuments and Symbols since 2003, but its full implementation has been controversial ever since. The Supervisor therefore decided to help associations and political parties settle this issue before Supervision ends, and to consider requests s to resolve the issue by way of a Supervisory Order.
The Supervisor felt encouraged by the spirit of agreements reached in early November 2009 amongst political parties and then by the veterans’ associations, but also of the many discussions held with the associations of missing persons and their unanimous desire to resolve the issue based on mutual respect, tolerance and equality of people in Brcko.
The Order confirms previously agreed upon locations for the monument to fallen members of the ARBiH in front of the Grand Hotel Posavina, for the monument to fallen members of the HVO in front of the Old City Hall (“Vjecnica”), and for the monument to civilian victims of war behind the “Vjecnica”.
As agreed upon with District authorities, the Order also provides that the funds needed for all monuments and landscaping will be secured in the District budget for 2010 from unspent capital funds from 2006. The allocation of funds will serve equal treatment of all interested parties, but had to take into consideration that all District tax payers have already contributed considerable funds to the monument in front of Hotel Jelena as compensation for the previous illegal expropriation of land on which that monument is located and will remain.
This Supervisory Order lifts also the ban on the erection of monuments imposed by the Supervisory Order of March 23, 2007 and paves the way for the veterans’ associations to pursue their projects following administrative procedures.
The monument for all Brcko civilian victims of wars will be a project of the District Government and will be initiated soon through a public design contest seeking the best design proposals. Upon selection, the chosen best design will be implemented through a further public competition.
“I was very much impressed by the desire of all parties involved in discussions over many months to resolve the issue in an amicable fashion. It is remarkable that the agreement they reached will see monuments to the three former warring armies all located within 200 meters of each other; yet another indication of the special nature of the Brcko District” the Supervisor said.