Confronting the Past (Slide Show)

The NYTs ran stories today about the 15th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica, and, (in its coverage of the World Cup), South Africa's ability to reconcile after apartheid. Both stories address the role of accounting for the past, as a society creates its future in the aftermath of mass atrocity.

The NYTs claimed that South Africa's support of the Dutch team represented reconciliation with apartheid's masters. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission held hearings from 1996-1998 to investigate the violence of apartheid.

In Srebrencia, Bosnia, an estimated 7000-8000 Muslim men and boys were massacred in mid July 1995. As Serbian forces over-ran the UN- sponsored 'safe area,' Dutch troops (part of a UN Peace keeping mission) withdrew. Tens of thousands of civilians were left helpless before an armed force bent on 'cleansing' the area.

Every year, the massacre is commemorated in eastern Bosnia, although in different fashions by Muslims and Serbs. A UN-sponsored war crimes court at the Hague is prosecuting those most responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Below please find photos from my field work in these areas. All of the photos were taken by others, noted in the presentation.


Photos #1-11 are images of hearings I attended of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in RSA in 1997. I shot the slides of the TRC posters and promotional material, the photographs in the hearings were provided by the TRC.

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Sarajevo---photo by Ana Petrovic, circa 2006.
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13) Grave at Pilice collective farm near Srebrenica, Bosnia, 1996---photo by Gilles Peress, Magnum Photos.



Photos 14- 19 by Ana Petrovic, Bosnian Muslim commemoration and burial of Srebrenica victims, July 2006.

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Photos 20-33 by Peter Frey, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, The Hague, The Netherlands 2006.

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Final-ly!

The Netherlands and Spain play for the Championship Sunday, July 11th.*

We are for the Orange in my house---even if you lack the actual agency to be 'for' a team. If, for instance, you can hardly distinguish between Iberia and the Low Countries, between Picasso and Van Gogh, between Sneijder and Villa, (if, for instance, you are a dog) --in my house you root for Holland.

He enjoyed the dress up at first:


But then he started to sulk, when he realized we were going to move him all around the house, like a chess piece, shooting photos:








And add props---further affronts to his dignity:









Enjoy the game. For me, the World Cup really ended when The Netherlands beat Brazil.

*As I predicted after the December 2009 drawing of the pots in Cape Town, and organization of the groups and fixtures.

Octopus and Fifa predicted Spanish Victory

Apparently an octopus has guessed correctly on most World Cup matches, including today's Spanish defeat of Germany.

Remember--serious people, grown-ups, have organized this:

dropping the ball

I give up--- I'm just too satisfied from the Dutch victory today to write anything about geography, or the social-construction of rank, or gender apartheid or neoliberal soccer stars.

For now, enjoy the evening, watch a little Tour de France and look forward to Sunday.

This is Holland's year---Uruguay can keep 1930:

Shock and Awe

The quarterfinals have me stunned.

The roster for the upcoming semi-finals is somewhat to be expected: three of the four teams were top-ranked coming into the tournament. The way that it happened, however, was full of surprises, drama and intense ethical debates.

Friday, I was elated with the Dutch victory over Brazil, and enjoyed every minute of the game. My adrenaline was perhaps too high to handle the Uruguay v. Ghana drama later that day.

Saturday, I could hardly watch as Germany pummeled Argentina. Paraguay and Spain traded frantic penalty kicks. It felt like the ball, the ref's calls, the entire game, could go either way. It wasn't until Spain scored in the final seven minutes that I felt myself begin to calm down.

Eight teams entered the quarterfinal and four teams are left. Ghana, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay are out. The Netherlands plays Uruguay on Tuesday (July 6) and Germany plays Spain on Wednesday (July 7th). The winners of those games will play the final, championship game on July 11th. Hup Holland!

The major upset is the defeat of Brazil, followed by the destruction of Argentina. What has everyone really disturbed is the handball by Uruguay's Luis Suarez.

In the final minutes of a tied game, a Ghanaian player had a clear shot on an open goal (the keeper was on the ground). Suarez, a Uruguayan defender on the goal-line, reached up and intentionally block the ball from entering the goal--with his hand.

It was an intentional handball in the penalty area. In addition to the ESPN cameras, the referee saw the foul and red-carded Suarez. Ghana was awarded a penalty kick with just seconds left on the clock.

All was right in the universe, until Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty kick. Ghana lost in the penalty shoot-out that followed.

Sometimes the wrong team wins. We all know that. (I’m still outraged about Bush v. Gore). It is even more upsetting when the wrong team wins through cheating, and then has the bad taste to gloat about the appropriateness of stealing victory.

Suarez is reportedly unrepentant. After all, his foul gave Uruguay another chance, which was used to win the game and avoid elimination.

French Captain Thierry Henry faced a similar ethical interrogation. Henry committed an intentional handball in the penalty box in a World Cup qualifying game against Ireland. The handball, passed to a French teammate, resulted in a goal as the referee missed the foul. France defeated Ireland and was rewarded a spot in FIFA 2010.

Henry insisted that his job was to win the game; it was the referee who had failed to perform his duties. Suarez, reportedly, was treated as a hero in the Uruguayan locker room (although Fifa has suspended him from the semi-final game against the Netherlands.)

Is an intentional foul, a red card in the box, the appropriate strategy if it is the only way to avoid defeat? It may be good strategy but I think it is poor manners.

Madonna for Maradona

Awe shucks.... I was rooting for Argentina. Too bad.

My Country ‘Tis of Thee

I don’t know what’s more exciting--- the Dutch beating Brazil, or Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s subpoena to testify at Charles Taylor’s war crimes trial in The Hague.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/10480596.stm

What next?

As expected, today’s Quarter-Final match between The Netherlands and Brazil was as exciting as the final itself. Tomorrow’s match between Germany and Argentina should be just as intense.

The Dutch 2-1 thrilling victory today bodes well for their prospects as 2010 Champions. Whichever team emerges from the Argentina/Germany/Spain battle on the other side of the bracket will be bruised, bloodied and covered in red cards by the time they meet the Netherlands in the final. Hup Holland!

It’s my favorite team, probably because I’ve seen more futbol there than anywhere else, and because if I were to have a favorite country, it would be Holland. It’s the best place in the world if you like bike paths, Van Gogh, and war crimes trials.

The upcoming drama of the Warlord and the Supermodel in a courtroom in The Hague illustrates the unique geography that has made Holland the center of the international infrastructure that prosecutes the so-called ‘crimes of international concern:’ genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

War-crimes prosecutors contend that in 1997 Charles Taylor, then president of Liberia, gave Ms. Campbell diamonds after meeting her at a dinner party hosted by Nelson Mandela (then president of South Africa) in Pretoria.

The diamonds could be significant as evidence of illegal money used to finance criminal violence, on a dramatic scale. As president of Liberia, Taylor is alleged to have fomented violence and rebellion in neighboring Sierra Leone. Tens of thousands of people were killed, raped or mutilated---the practice of amputating arms was wide-spread. The charges against Mr. Taylor include murder, conscripting child soldiers, and terrorizing and mutilating civilians.

An international war crimes tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (the SCSL) was established to prosecute perpetrators. The first ‘hybrid’ international court, the SCSL sat in Freetown but was composed of national and international judges.

Taylor agreed to step down as president of Liberia in 2003. He accepted exile in Nigeria, where he thought he was safe. But the SCSL indicted Taylor for crimes committed in Sierra Leone. In a surprise move, Taylor was arrested as he tried to flee Nigeria in 2006.

At that point the geography of Charles Taylor became even more complex. He was flown, briefly, to Liberia, and then officially transferred to the Special Court in Sierra Leone. But Taylor ended up in The Hague after West African governments deemed that a trial in the region would be potentially too dangerous. (See http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/04/trying-charles-taylor-justice-here.php)

Currently, Taylor’s trial is conducted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but in a courtroom provided by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Taylor is housed in a detention center nearby that is also used for defendants from Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Kosovo as they await trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Taylor denies any involvement with ‘blood diamonds,’ which makes Ms. Campbell’s testimony potentially significant. Ms. Campbell has so far refused to testify regarding the alleged diamonds from Taylor, but her disgruntled ex-assistant insists that Campbell did, in fact, receive such a gift. Mia Farrow has provided a sworn statement collaborating the assistant’s version of events.

Given the violence and the copious amount of testimony of atrocities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, it would be a bit ironic if Taylor was convicted on the testimony of a cover girl.

Whatever it takes, I guess.