| Selin Başer Özgen Department of Crimes against Humanity, International Institute for Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, İstanbul University (Türkiye) [selinbaser@istanbul.edu.tr], ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1267-6254 Melek Aylin Özoflu Department of Crimes against Humanity, International Institute for Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, İstanbul University (Türkiye) [melek.ozoflu@istanbul.edu.tr], ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9403-6957 Apak Kerem Altıntop Department of Genocide, International Institute for Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, İstanbul University (Türkiye) [kerem.a@istanbul.edu.tr], ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6854-1378 | Download https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20963351 |
Abstract:In the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) played a pivotal role in the development of international criminal law, delivering landmark judgments and establishing individual criminal responsibility for atrocity crimes. These judicial processes addressed certain demands for accountability and, for some victims, contributed to a sense of justice. Yet legal adjudication was only one dimension of the post-genocide landscape. This paper examines the relationship between international criminal justice and community-led healing processes in post-Srebrenica Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). While the ICTY pursued accountability through formal legal mechanisms, affected communities simultaneously developed their own practices of remembrance, mourning, and social repair, often outside institutional frameworks. Drawing on the Srebrenica case, the paper asks how these parallel processes have been positioned within collective memory, and which forms of justice and healing have occupied a more sustained role in shaping post-genocide social recovery. The paper argues that while ICTY judgments were crucial in establishing legal truth and combating denial, they were not sufficient to address the broader needs of social healing. Grassroots initiatives, commemorative practices, and everyday acts of remembrance played a more sustained role in shaping how justice and reconciliation were experienced at the societal level. By comparing international criminal adjudication with local healing practices, the paper highlights the limits of legal justice and underscores the importance of community-driven processes in post-genocide societal reconciliation.
Keywords: Srebrenica genocide; Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH); transitional justice; collective memory.
- Declaration by Authors
- Ethical Approval: Approved
- Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.