Initiative for RECOM – First Time in Slovenia

Ljubljana, September 10, 2010

The Regional Consultation with Journalists and Editors-in-Chief was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on September 10, 2010 and was organized by the Coalition for RECOM in conjunction with the Peace Institute. The Coalition for RECOM is a network of non-governmental organizations implementing the initiative for the creation of a regional, inter-state commission tasked with establishing and publishing the facts about all victims of wars waged in the period from 1991-2001 on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Fifty participants, mostly journalists and editors-in-chief from the entire region of the former Yugoslavia, greeted the initiative to create a Regional Commission Tasked with Establishing the Facts about All Victims of War Crimes and Other Serious Human Rights Violations Committed on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia in the period from 1991-2001 (RECOM). The media professional participants, including some very distinguished ones, offered their full support and most of them joined the Coalition for RECOM on this occasion.

Pavle Gantar, President of the Parliament of Slovenia, sent a letter of support to the Initiative for RECOM which was read at the beginning of the consultation. Tanja Miškova, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the President of the Republic of Slovenia, and Tanja Fajon, member of the European Parliament, attended the Consultation.

The role of the media and in particular, of editors-in-chief, for the success of the Initiative was stressed several times during the Consultation and the participants underlined the impact of the media on the general public as well as on political decision makers.

The participants also emphasized the need to document and denounce warmongering media and any media outlets promoting hate speech. The journalists pointed out that it was primarily the responsibility of journalists themselves to identify cases of warmongering practices and to disclose them within their own associations, but that RECOM should undertake this as one of their assignments as well.