VIDI Project
Transitional Punishment: Moderating Legacies of Mass Atrocities?
A Case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Czechia
"Little did I suspect that for me, as for many others, the war would never end. I would carry it within me even when I’d forgotten about it, even when it no longer came back to me in my dreams."
Ivan Klíma (1999) Judge on Trial. Translated from Czech by A.G. Brain. New York:
Vintage International, p. 71.
"A civil war, a brutal repression, apartheid: it never dies completely. The unanswered questions and the sadness these events leave behind live on in the minds of those who experienced them. They are perpetuated as a ‘phantom pain’ in the bodies of those who come later, their children and their children’s children."
Luc Huyse (2009) All things pass except the past. Belgium: Awepa, Preface.
In the depths of history, it became clear that atrocities never truly fade away. Their legacies echo through the corridors of time, shaping the lives and narratives of individuals, families, communities, and entire societies. The memories and experiences of mass violence remain vivid not only in the minds and lives of those who directly experienced them but also in the minds and lives of their children and grandchildren born well after the atrocities had ended. Indeed, Luc Huyse's insightful book title, "All things pass except the past" serves as a powerful reminder of this truth. When the past is marred by extreme violence, remaining unsettled and unsettling, it never passes into oblivion.
In the 20 th century alone, the world stood witness to mass atrocity crimes stemming from genocides, wars and repressive regimes that tore societies apart and exacted an unimaginable toll. Over 200 million lives were tragically lost, and hundreds of millions more were injured, traumatized, and left to bear the weight of shattered communities and destroyed infrastructure. The impact of these atrocities, however, appears to reach far beyond the immediate victims. Their legacies are longitudinal, multi-faceted, affecting lives, psyches, attitudes and narratives on individual, family, and community level, and may even transcend multiple generations, touching the lives of those not directly impacted. Such intergenerational transmission of legacies of atrocities has been observed across various atrocity contexts. From the Holocaust to the Rwandan genocide, from the Vietnam War to the wars in the Former Yugoslavia, and even within the shadows cast by Communist repressions, scholars from various disciplines have painted a vivid mosaic of the unwavering presence of legacies of the violent past that time cannot seem to erode. In a bid to grapple with these legacies of mass atrocities and pave the way for harmonious and prosperous future, societies have been implementing transitional punishments, such as criminal trials or lustrations. Since transitional punishments are meant to deal with legacies of mass violence, they constitute a bridge that spans the gap between the past and the present, while simultaneously molding the contours of the future. The way transitional punishments operate has real-life, tangible consequences for those directly involved, and possibly beyond.
Their (mal)functioning impacts the lives, well-being, attitudes, trust, and narratives of individuals, families, and communities who experienced atrocities, which in turn, shapes younger generations. Scholarship on transitional punishments, however, remains largely normative and aspirational. Only a very limited number of empirical studies assess what impacts transitional punishments have on the lives of individuals, families, and communities who experienced atrocities and their offspring. Recognizing the intrinsic connection between the intergenerational transmission of legacies of mass atrocities and transitional punishments, this research project takes a step forward, delving into uncharted terrain at the nexus of intergenerational transmission of legacies of mass atrocities and transitional punishments. Guided by a dedicated team, led by Barbora Holá as the Principal Investigator, along with Gabriele Chlevickaite and Maartje Weerdesteijn, we are venturing to explore and uncover how past atrocities might affect future generations and what role justice responses adopted by states in the atrocity aftermath might play in this regard. We will study this intricate issue using case studies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic, whereby the central inquiry revolves around a fundamental question:
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