DAMOCLES' SWORD
(Koha Ditore, by Ombudsperson Marek Antony Nowicki)
These are eventful times in Kosovo. Just turning on the evening news
makes it difficult not to get emotionally carried away by recent
developments.
One of these events which stood out to me was the televised image of
the delegation from Prishtina entering a government building in Belgrade
moments before the first talks in over a year were to take place
addressing the issue of the thousands of missing people from the 1999
conflict.
This much anticipated meeting was the first of many more to come,
signalling to the world a desire to finally make a change, to begin
bridging some very obvious gaps, to attempt to resolve outstanding
issues, and most importantly, to conceive a future different than the
current, persisting status quo.
Yes, a lot is happening. But when you scratch below the surface,
another picture comes into focus that is quite telling as well. Although
there are clearly political movements to advance so called "progress" in
the region, the spotlight is not yet on human progress.
A great deal of anger, frustration and pain of the past thickens the
air among people here. The roots of these emotions easily stretch back
generations, punctuated in recent years by repression and armed
conflict. A collective sense of having been victimised at the hands of
an easily identified "other," usually found among a particular ethnic
group, taints almost every aspect of daily life.
As such, these volatile emotions take on a character of self-righteous
anger, targeting the "other." A sense of purpose is often distilled from
these emotions born from very wounding experiences. That sense of
purpose tends to manifest in an impassioned effort to correct the
injustice perpetrated against them, their family, and their community.
Such a compelling sense of purpose makes it possible for many to feel
good or simply justified by their indignation and outrage. Ultimately,
however, this emotional state too regularly leads to distorted thinking
and persisting animosity.
The eyes of the world are now closely scrutinizing the so-called
progress in Kosovo. Clear and cool heads, however, are needed to make
that progress meaningful and not only to serve the interest of political
agendas. While the international community buys tickets to attend the
show called "Standards evaluation" what happens once the show is over
and such Standards are seemingly met? Do the players shed their guises?
In an atmosphere of heightened emotion and popular indignation, it is
difficult to conceive that the intended aim of advancing the region will
be achieved in concrete terms. The aspect missing from this political
and economic process is the collective effort by those here to try to
acknowledge the enormous suffering endured by people in this region- in
other words, to forgive and be forgiven.
Hannah Arendt emphasized years ago that "forgiveness serves to undo the
deeds of the past whose sins hang like Damocles' sword over each new
generation". One should remember however that to forgive is not
white-washing a wrong, and doesn't mean sidestepping justice.
Perpetrators must be held accountable. But forgiveness is also important
for the victims.
Of course, it is tremendously difficult and painful to talk about
forgiveness. It is a lengthy process that must be launched despite
dominant misconceptions that it is anti-patriotic or a sign of weakness.
Nor is it an effort to bury the past and forget. In fact, forgiveness is
unavoidable if one thinks sincerely about continuing to live in Kosovo,
undisturbed and in a normal way. The Balkans is not unique with this
experience. Nearly every community in Europe, let alone human history,
is pockmarked with such hardships. In different stages of their history
these issues of forgiveness have been raised. The most ready example
that comes to mind is the French - German experience shortly after the
Second World War.
When will people here be able to look at each other directly in the
eyes? First, the conditions must be created in order for people to come
to term with their pain and anger. The recognition that, apart from
imposing collective guilt onto the "other," people must contemplate
their collective responsibility, no matter how direct or indirect their
personal involvement. The lack of justice for perpetrators of vicious
acts is certainly extremely difficult to swallow. On one side, to ask
for forgiveness from the mother whose son is still missing seems next to
impossible. On the other side, how to address the wrongs of someone
whose ancestral home is currently still illegally occupied?
When we look into the eyes of each other, it is clear that the people
of these lands are not going to float away to the other side of the
globe. In order to come to terms with this reality and profit from it,
the difficult truths must be exposed. In order to seek justice for those
truths, people must acknowledge their past involvement and contribution
to the difficult times.
How important is it to talk? De facto, if one is ready to talk about
these painful issues in front of each other, then they want to achieve
something, not only to relieve themselves emotionally, but to engage.
For this reason also, it was not a shot in the dark to have these
working
group discussions, which for the moment are only technical. The
televised image of the delegation from Prishtina in Belgrade is
important as well because people must understand that to talk to
Belgrade and Prishtina leaving behind the rut in which both obvious
parties have been
stuck for such a long time.
But the exchange must be serious in the sense in that there are no
taboo subjects. If, in the future, talks have been agreed upon then
conditions cannot be imposed which would limit the scope of the
discussion to subjects which are easy to stomach. Those involved must be
ready to listen, until the end, to the most black and inconvenient
truths. The air must be cleared between communities in order to forge
new, be they practical or political, relations.
The main challenge facing the region is how to reconcile the process
leading to a final status and the creation of true conditions for
everyone notwithstanding ethnicity to somehow have a peaceful,
undisturbed life here as I have said before. The assumption should be
that the communities involved must go through a process of forgiveness
which takes time and effort. Such a process cannot be politically
rushed. Sure this option is urgently needed and particular steps are
hurried to accommodate deadlines, but the other work is incomplete- that
of the society. People will be unprepared to implement the values that
are generally understood as the heart of these democratic principles.
Otherwise, at least, in a certain respect, all of the effort would be
akin to building a house on the unstable terrain of a sand dune.
Politicians may talk, but it is the people who really need to pave the
way. If you start, you have a chance to succeed.
