No Oblivion – Victim Support Europe

Project name: NO-OBLIVION – Promoting Universal Jurisdiction while Evoking the Crimes Committed within the Former Yugoslavia

Through a victim-centred and jurisprudential lens, the NO-OBLIVION project looks back at the conflicts of the former Yugoslavia to preserve the lessons learnt in the aftermath of this war and ultimately safeguard a European legacy of respect for human rights, rule of law and peace.

It aims to share the experience lived by former Yugoslavia-affected communities and promote the developed body of law, therein furthering the shared values of respect for the rule of law, human rights, and accountability. Moreover, by bringing awareness to the legislative and legal landmarks of the Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the project seeks to promote greater consciousness of International Criminal Law (ICL) and, therein promote the use of the mechanism of Universal Jurisdiction.

Funding programme

EU funded
Call: CERV-2023-CITIZENS-REM — European Remembrance

Objectives of the project

The NO-OBLIVION project will look back at the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia through the lens of the ICTY jurisprudence in a twofold effort of (1) ensuring greater awareness of European history and lessons learnt therein and (2) promoting the study of ICL and the mechanism of universal jurisdiction, ultimately laying down the groundwork for redress and accountability to current and future conflicts. Maine objectives are:

Promote greater intergenerational awareness of the atrocities committed in the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia;
Ensure the perpetuation of social justice and redress for the victims of the Yugoslavian conflicts and the coming generations;
Capacitate judges, prosecutors, and lawyers to act in an efficient and human-centric manner, especially when in contact with International Criminal Law and Universal Jurisdiction;
Promote the rule of law, human and fundamental rights towards more democratic societies devoid of extremism and authoritarianism.

Specific Objectives

Ensure younger generations are aware of the shared common European past;
Educate on the relevance of protecting democracy and fundamental rights by exploring the lessons learnt with Yugoslavia and the ICTY;
Preserve the shared and individual memories of victims in a respectful and reparative manner;
Cultivate and disseminate the cultural past of the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia;
Lay the groundwork for enhancing the mechanism of universal jurisdiction;
Strengthen the knowledge of justice professionals and young graduates and undergraduates in what concerns international crimes and universal jurisdiction;
Provide an accurate account of the atrocities caused in the pursuance of extremist and authoritarian ideals;
Advance a victim and human-centric approach to the judicial system.

Activities under the project

Network building (creation and development of Former Yugoslavia Memorializing Database and NO-OBLIVIAN Youth Delegates network);
8 Multigenerational Talks in form of bilateral interviews, livestreamed, amounting to eight 20-minute-long podcast episodes (32 speakers – reach 268 online viewers/listeners);
Call for Papers after witch 15 peer reviewed papers will be compiled in Memory Lane Journal (MLJ) and presented at the Memory Lane Online Conference which will mark the completion and publication of the MLJ and gather 25 speakers and 300 participants from 15 countries;
Creation of Justice Professional Network – composed of judges, prosecutors and lawyers practicing in the relevant fields of law;
Survey design and dissemination to determine the level of knowledge and competence of practitioners regarding basic notions of International Criminal Law and Universal Jurisdiction;
Selection and Analyse Case-Law (20 ICTY, ICJ and national judicial cases selected, analysed, and summarized), crate Case-law Practical Booklet and its publication at the online launching event (300 Participants from 15 + countries)
Organisation of 9 national in-situ Universal Jurisdiction Roundtables with 108 participants (12 per roundtable)
Creation Universal Jurisdiction Virtual Guiding Tree (comprehensive interactive infographic) and organisation of Guiding Tree Explanatory Webinar;
Lunching of first Call-4-Artists and organisation Online Art Exhibition;
Create an open-source NO-OBLIVION Documentary Directory (aggregates movies and documentaries depicting the former Yugoslavian conflict and role of ICTY) and organise 2 virtual livestream screening events (NO-OBLIVION Documentary Livestream);
Lunch second Call-4- Artists (awareness-based event that will promote the sharing of folk Balkan and former Yugoslavian culture) and organisation of Reviving Balkan Arts Festival;
Dissemination Toolkit and NO-OBLIVION Webpage – a dissemination toolkit will be produced at the beginning of the project, comprising of the project’s logo, website, documentation templates and a roll-up.
Quoting Yugoslavia Street Poster Campaign – a dissemination endeavour characterised by the distribution of flyers and posters within the cities where the partners are located
Remembering Yugoslavia in “Shorts” – create and regularly update the NO-OBLIVION social media accounts (Tik-Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook) thus ensuring a wide intergenerational reach.
Featured in 2 issues of the Magazine Justice Trends, IPS’ premium publication in the field of justice

Expected outcomes

Former Yugoslavia Memorializing Database established (integrating 10 victims, witnesses and/or their descendants);
NO-OBLIVION Youth Delegates Network created (comprised of 15 Law, International Relations, Criminology, History and Sociology graduates or undergraduates, aged between 18 30 years old);
Multigenerational Talks broadcasted, recorded, and published (8 multigenerational talks, amounting to eight 20 minute-long podcast episodes integrating 32 speakers reaching 268 online viewers/listeners, amounting to 300 participants from 15+ countries);
Call for papers launched and papers selected for Memory Lane Journal (provide young citizens with a forum to express opinions and ideas, further promoting a development of communication, critical thinking and analytical skills);
Memory Lane Journal (MLJ) crated and lunched (1/2 day event gathering at least 300 Participants from 15 plus countries);
Memory Lane Online Conference held and report produced (Selected works from MLJ will be presented and/or discussed in a 1-day-long online European conference);
Justice Professional Network mapped (composed of judges, prosecutors and lawyers practising in the relevant fields of law) and Survey Report produced (to determine the level of knowledge and competence of practitioners regarding basic notions of International Criminal Law and Universal Jurisdiction);
Case-law Practical Booklet created (comprehensive jurisprudence practical booklet gathering and analysing the relevant jurisprudence from the ICTY, ICJ, and national judiciary, and drawing important conclusions);
Universal Jurisdiction Through Practical Roundtables (9 national in-situ roundtables held garnering 108 participants over the span of 9 countries – 1 roundtable per partner);
Universal Jurisdiction Virtual Guiding Tree (VGT) created (comprehensive interactive infographic created and translated into the official languages of the partner countries) and Guiding Tree Webinar held to present and explain VGT (online webinar gathering approx. 300 online attendees over 15+ countries);
Online Art Exhibition held – collection of art pieces and engagement of approximately 300+ European wide viewers through exhibition;
Documentary Directory created and documentarians livestreamed – Long and short-form videos gathered and identified, online compendium created and made available on the NO-Oblivion Website;
Reviving Balkan Arts Festival held in Croatia gathering 300 participants from 15+ countries;
Dissemination and sustainability plan created, NO-OBLIVION Visual Identity Toolkit developed, Quoting Yugoslavia Street Poster Campaign conducted, Posts and Shorts Social Media Campaign finalized.

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DISCLAIMER: Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.