Thirty Years after Srebrenica

Thirty year after the war, survivors continue to rebuild their lives while carrying painful memories, which have already been passed down to generations born in the Netherlands, far removed in time but closely connected through shared trauma. Simultaneously, Dutch society continues to reckon with the legacy of its own involvement in the genocide and its aftermath. 

The traumas experienced by both communities shape the narratives through which the past is understood—sometimes diverging into distinct paths, and at other times converging in bold and creative ways. From international and domestic court proceedings to educational initiatives, transgenerational trauma, memorial practices, and cultural engagement, the legacy of the Srebrenica genocide continues to shape political, social, and cultural life in the Netherlands. 

About the speakers 

Alma Mustafić is an educational scientist and lecturer-researcher in the ‘Access to Justice’ research group at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. She teaches about the Srebrenica genocide, which she survived in 1995. Her father, who worked for Dutchbat, was killed. Holding the Dutch state accountable, she won her case before the Supreme Court in 2013. Mustafić’s work focuses on human rights education and genocide awareness, combining teaching, research, and the arts. With Boy Jonkergouw, she co-created the theater production Dangerous Names, exploring the perspectives of both survivors and Dutchbat veterans. In recognition of her societal impact, she was named Freedom Ambassador in 2023 and Utrecht’s first Human Rights Ambassador in 2024. This year, she is working on a large-scale multimedia project titled The Eleven Voices of Srebrenica, marking 30 years since the genocide.  

Hariz Halilovich is a Professor of Global Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne. He is the author of the award-winning monograph Places of Pain: Forced Displacement, Popular Memory and Trans-local Identities in Bosnian War-torn Communities (Berghahn Books, 2013) and Writing After Srebrenica (Buybook, 2017). A native of Srebrenica and a survivor of the Bosnian war, he was displaced in the 1990s and has since lived in Bosnia, Germany, and Australia. His research focuses on war-related trauma, memory and diaspora communities, and he regularly collaborates with survivor groups and cultural institutions across Europe, the United States, Australia and beyond.  

Sabina Tanovic is an architect, scholar, and independent researcher specializing in commemorative architecture. Based in the Netherlands since 2008, she earned her PhD in architectural history from Delft University of Technology, where she is currently teaching a course on architecture and colonialism. Her work, including the book Designing Memory: The Architecture of Commemoration in Europe, 1914 to the Present (Cambridge University Press, 2019), examines contemporary European memorial practices through an interdisciplinary lens, investigating the intricate relationships between memory politics, grief psychology, and preservation of difficult heritage sites.

Lidija Zelovic is a documentary maker, script writer, and producer. She is creating documentary films on the topics that are close to her life. She started as an independent movie maker in the aftermath of her home country’s civil war, to then move on to work at international media companies such as BBC and Channel4 as a researcher and field/executive producer. Since then, she is directing author films. Her latest film, Home Game, exposes the duality that all migrants live with – what is ‘home’ – while she draws attention to social and political developments in the Netherlands that she recognizes from her fractured homeland, Yugoslavia. 

Gert Kampman is Head of the Central and South East Europe Division at the Europe Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. His division covers 17 countries, including  the Western Balkans countries. Kampman holds this position since 2020 and has previously worked a.o. at the Stabilisation & Humanitarian Affairs, the Security Policy and the Middle East Departments at the Ministry, and Dutch diplomatic missions in North Macedonia, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  

Petar Finci (moderator) is a researcher at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, working on a pilot project to establish an open-access database pertaining to archival collections that contain information relevant to the research of 1990 wars in the former Yugoslavia. Before that, he worked for the International Committee of Red Cross on finding information about the fate and whereabouts of some 11,000 people still missing from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia. Between 2002 and 2017, Finci worked in different roles at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including research and documentary film-making.

Vladimir Petrovic (moderator) researches mass political violence and strategies of confrontation with its legacy. He completed graduate studies in contemporary history at Belgrade University, comparative history at Central European University and postdoctoral studies in transitional justice at NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam where he currently works.