BOSNIA: EMBASSY RATCHETS UP ENGAGEMENT IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000529 SIPDIS EUR/SCE FOR HYLAND, FOOKS, MCGUIRE; NSC FOR HELGERSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: EMBASSY RATCHETS UP ENGAGEMENT IN TROUBLED SREBRENICA REF: A. (A) SARAJEVO 507 ¶B. (B) SARAJEVO 226 Classified By: Ambassador Charles English, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On an April 23 visit to Srebrenica, Ambassador English pushed local leaders to put aside their political differences for the sake of citizens of a municipality still struggling to come to terms with the 1995 genocide which took place there. Bickering over government jobs, and the involvement of Sarajevo- and Banja Luka-based political and religious leaders has compounded the problem. Srebrenicans voiced strong concern for assistance to returnees, the search for missing persons, and job creation. The global economic crisis has begun to have a direct impact on the local economy, but we continue to focus on the need for further development, and have found promise among young job-seekers, often disinterested in past ethnic grievances in comparison to current financial well-being. End summary. A Tragic Town, a Political Mire -------------- ¶2. (C) Since the 2007 ICJ genocide verdict put Srebrenica back on the political map, Sarajevo- and Banja Luka-based politicians have often made use of the municipality as a stage from which to address their constituents' larger ethnicity-based concerns. One example of this is the push by SDA higher-ups to install Camil Durakovic in the municipal administration. Durakovic, now Deputy Mayor, was once the organizer of a "tent city" in Sarajevo of protesters seeking Srebrenica's secession from Republika Srpska (RS). Local political actors have also played a role in such machinations (such as attempts by both current Mayor Osman Suljic and former Mayor Abdurrahman Malkic to pass a "denial of genocide law" on the local level). High-level visitors to Srebrenica, whether religious or political, come to "score points" and burnish their images as "good Bosniaks." Local leaders often willingly play in this game, and all too often local developments are classic "two steps forward, one step back" in nature. ¶3. (C) Political point-scoring devolves occasionally to the point of petulance. So far in 2009, Municipal Assembly Speaker Radomir Pavlovic (SNSD) has on three occasions led his party (nominally governing in local coalition with Bosniak-majority SDA and SBiH) in walk-outs of the council. He regularly levels claims of Bosniaks "lording it over Serbs" by virtue of a voting majority they enjoy thanks to laws allowing for Bosniaks who were formerly residents of the municipality to vote there (and, he invariably notes, these laws were pushed by the U.S. Embassy, making us in his eyes partial to Bosniaks),and reiterated such to the Ambassador on April 23. In fact, Suljic's office appointed four Serbs to key positions in the administration, and all municipal commissions are composed of five-member boards (two SDA, two SNSD, and one SBiH) in strict conformity with the governing coalition agreement, Suljic told us. "My Guy Isn't Good Enough" -------------- ¶4. (C) In addition to these more general complaints, Pavlovic walked out of the municipal council more than a month ago over his claim that the municipality's health service was being badly run, and claimed 400,000 KM was missing from its budget. Pavlovic demanded the dismissal of the health service's director, who himself is a Serb and an SNSD member. This marks the third occasion in six years when Pavlovic demanded the removal of an SNSD official he himself put in the job. Suljic, claiming a desire to avoid appearing as a Bosniak mayor dismissing Serbs, refused to use his powers to remove the health service director. However, he called for an investigation by competent auditors from the RS Ministry of Finance, and if Pavlovic's claims were found to be valid, he would support the dismissal. (Note: While Suljic's desire to avoid being depicted by RS politicians as a Bosniak mayor run amok is a valid one, he also likely wishes to avoid taking responsibility in what he knows is an internecine Serb fight. End Note.) Families Praise Support, Want Faster Identifications... -------------- -------------- SARAJEVO 00000529 002 OF 003 ¶5. (SBU) Issues which local leaders wrestle over rarely mirror the highest concerns of those they represent. In a large-group meeting the same day, Ambassador English met with representatives of the numerous victims' families' associations to discuss their concerns regarding refugee/returnee issues, missing persons, and Srebrenica politics. The associations, which are divided along the lines of political party loyalties (and thus often hindered in arriving at a group position),share a common concern for the well-being of returnees to Eastern Republika Srpska (RS), a focus on the need for speedier exhumation and identification of mass graves, and a dissatisfaction over their perception that the EU in general, and OHR in particular, has failed to live up to the promises made to returnees, victims' families, and the municipality of Srebrenica in particular. ...But Join Ceric in Strasbourg for Secession Call -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Also April 23, two of the highest-profile association leaders, Munira Subasic and Kata Hodzic, joined Reis Mustafa Ceric (head of the Islamic Community of BiH) in Strasbourg to thank EU Parliamentarians for the passage of a resolution recognizing the Srebrenica genocide, and designating a day of remembrance. During the visit, Ceric, in addition to thanking parliamentarians, accepted the apology of one-time UNPROFOR commander Philippe Morillon (who significantly pre-empted the UN Security Council in 1993 by designating Srebrenica as a UN safe haven, publicly promising the same families that he would "never abandon them.") Ceric took the opportunity to engage in political grandstanding, resurrecting a call for Srebrenica to be removed from the RS and made a special administrative district under the State of BiH (a renewal of the 2007 "secession" push which followed the ICJ verdict). Though the immediate reaction to the Reis' comments was muted, we expect it will not be the last we here of this politically-divisive, and ultimately destructive, proposal. U.S. Engages on Economic Development... -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Political turmoil in Srebrenica has, unfortunately, been accompanied by economic instability. The effects of the global financial crisis have had repercussions in the municipality, with a number of investors suspending or stopping activity, and several of Srebrenica's mining-related industries suffering from a downturn in purchases from processors in the region. Zinc and bauxite mines in particular, once the region's biggest employers, now have reduced work hours for staff or even made layoffs. And, to add insult (in governmental form) to economic injury, the RS government is delinquent on payment to the municipality for a portion of mining concession fees owed to the local government (for which we have taken the RS to task). Some investments remain intact, in particular in the food processing/agricultural sphere. Significant Embassy engagement to get the Skelani border crossing with Serbia opened to agricultural exports (in particular, Srebrenica's renowned berries) seems likely to soon pay off. A new hotel is also being build adjacent to the municipal government building, owned by the Sarajevo Tobacco Factory (and apparently blessed politically by Bosniak political scion Bakir Izetbegovic). And, Roman ruins near the Skelani crossing, recently exhumed, may yet prove to be a tourist draw. ...And Find Youth to Be Fertile Ground -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Perhaps the brightest spot related to Srebrenica's future economic and political stability is the role of youth. In particular, one USG-funded NGO, "Friends of Srebrenica," is funding a number of 18-35 year-old interns, both Serb and Bosniak, to work in local businesses, with a view to future employment there. A number of Srebrenica businesses have expressed interest in participation, and up to 60 interns will likely participate in the two-year, USD 85,000 program. In their April 23 meeting with Amb. English, the 17 youth already involved in the project expressed a clear interest in SARAJEVO 00000529 003 OF 003 working productively together across ethnic lines. One young women said that "although my father was killed in the genocide, my mother never encouraged me to dislike Serbs as people, but rather the political forces" the brought about the killings. Uniformly, the interns agreed that their primary concern was a desire to find permanent employment, to be able to care for themselves and their families, and to gain a sense of empowerment and purpose. Comment: The Games Must End -------------- ¶9. (C) Srebrenica leaders have willingly played political chess too many times, only to be lost as a pawn when the moment arrived. Pavlovic, as Speaker, regularly portrays both himself and Serbs generally as victims, a cruel irony in Srebrenica. His views on the misdeeds of Mayor Suljic and others are not/not shared by some other Serb leaders, notably Municipal Economic Affairs Chief Vukosavljevic, the second-place candidate for mayor in the October 2008 election. Srebrenica's tragic history, loss of population, and rural underdevelopment compound the local effect of the global economic crisis. Some positive signs may still be found, but the town is in a pretty deep hole... and religious and political leaders never seem able to look past sectarian, ethnic, or party lines to focus on a productive future. ENGLISH