PROGRAM OF DOCUMENTA – CENTRE FOR DEALING WITH THE PAST

In their endeavor to initiate the process of dealing with the past and the establishment of a factual truth about the war and contribution to shifting discussions from the level of disputes over facts (number of fatalities and similar) toward a dialogue on interpretations, the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights Osijek, Centre for Peace Studies, Civic Council for Human Rights and the Croatian Helsinki Committee decided to found Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past (hereinafter: Documenta). The key reason for this is the experience of suppression and falsification of war crimes and other war incidents between 1941–2000 and which affected the newer history of both Yugoslavia and post-Yugoslavian countries.

Documenta’s main programs:

1. Public dialogue and public policies on dealing with the past

Intensifying and deepening of public dialogue on dealing with the past, public and legal initiatives related to documenting facts on war events, war crime proceedings, and compensations to victims of war crimes, history teaching and commemorative culture.

1.1 Dealing with the past

1.2 Coalition for Regional commission on truth-telling and truth-seeking

1.3 Commemorative culture

1.4 History teaching

2. Documenting

Systematic gathering of documentation on war events, personal memories and activities of human rights organizations 

2.1 Documenting human losses

2.2 Recording personal memories on war (oral history)

2.3 Preserving documentation on peace and human rights organizations

3. Improvement of judicial praxis and standards

Systematic monitoring of war crime trial procedures in Croatia and advocating better victim-witnesses support

3.1 Monitoring of war crime trial procedures

3.2 Monitoring procedures for compensations through court proceedings

In the realization of its goals, Documenta cooperates with the organizations of the initiators, organizations of families of missing persons, other civil initiatives, governmental institutions, international institutions and organizations, institutions of state and local self-governments, scientific-scholarly institutions, religious communities, media, and other interested parties.

In cooperation with the Humanitarian Law Center from Belgrade, and the Research and Documentation Centre from Sarajevo, Documenta is preparing the following regional projects:

- development of a compatible database on war incidents, on those involved in wars, victims, survivors and possible perpetrators

- putting together regional lists of those missing and killed,  with personal information and brief information on the circumstances of the disappearance of all persons missing in the wars from 1990

The Humanitarian Law Center from Belgrade, the Research and Documentation Centre from Sarajevo and the preparatory committee for the founding of Documenta from Zagreb signed a protocol on cooperation in Sarajevo, 6 April 2004.

Together with more than 200 organizations Documenta has established Coalition for regional commission on truth-telling and truth-seeking on war crimes and serious violations of human rights in former Yugoslavia (RECOM) October 29 2008 in Prishtine.

In Documenta’s Board are Srđan Dvornik, Zoran Pusić, Goranka Lalić, Katarina Kruhonja, Pero Jurišin. President of Board is Zoran Pusić. Documenta’s Director is Vesna Teršelič.