BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Women's Group Works For Peace in Bosnia, Finds Itself on Terrorist List

A wave of nationalism and Islamaphobia has hit Bosnia and Herzegovina as ethnic leaders bicker ahead of a general election set for October. One of the latest victims is the renowned women's group �ene �enama. Its mission: to bridge ethnic and religious boundaries in an effort to promote long-term peace in the region.

Europe's worst ethnic cleansing atrocities since World War II occurred during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. The conflict had a disproportionate impact on women, who were targeted for sexual violence as part of a Serbian ethnic cleansing campaign against Muslim members of the population known as Bosniaks.

After the conflict women emerged as leaders in forging new international laws that recognized rape as a war crime. Now many of those same women are in groups like �ene �enama (Women to Women).

Many were shocked when �ene �enema recently appeared on a list of 45 suspected terrorist groups that the Bosnia's Deputy Minister of Security presented to the United Nations Security Council. The situation was both “absurd and extremely awkward,” wrote women's studies professor Biljana Kasic in a letter condemning the group's inclusion on the list. Kasic helped �ene �enema develop a curriculum to teach conflict resolution skills in regional high schools.

The allegations that landed �ene �enama on the list of suspected terrorist organizations stem from a 2006 book by Croatian ultra-nationalist writer Domagoj Margetic, titled “Islamic Terrorism in the South of Europe.” Margetic claimed the group mediated marriage contracts between Bosnian women and Arab men who were members of the “El Mujahedin” fighting unit in the country.

Women's groups from around the world wrote letters to the Croatian president, Stjepan Mesic, calling Margetic's book slanderous. But in March the disputed allegations almost became political fact when the newspaper, Dnevni avaz, reported that �ene �enema was included in the list of suspected terrorists organizations given to the U.N.

“Twenty years of our work was destroyed with this act in one minute,” Memnuna Zvizdic, �ene �enama's director, told the newspaper, Oslobodjenje. She said she is concerned schools will no longer want to work with them.

To make matters worse, one of the organization's key international supporters, the Global Fund for Women, was in the middle of renewing their $15,000 grant when the list was published.

“If the list ends up with the U.S. government then we can be accused of supporting a terrorist organization and that means our assets will get frozen right away,” said Angelika Arutynova, coordinator of the fund's European programs. She was ultimately able to approve the latest round of funding after Bosnian officials said the list had been retracted from the U.N. and that an investigation is underway.

This is the first time a Bosnian women's group has been included on a list of alleged terrorists. But many members of �ene �enama were discouraged and exhausted by the experience. “They have been through enough in their lifetimes to continue dealing with all of this,” said Arutynova.