Are there ‘greener’ ways of doing transitional justice? Some reflections on Srebrenica, nature and memorialization

The year 2015 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. Two particular events, however, overshadowed the annual commemorations at the Potočari Memorial Centre. The arrest of the former Bosnian army commander, Naser Orić, in the run-up to the commemorations, and the attack on the Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, in Potočari, not only detracted from the victims and their suffering. These events also highlighted the heavy politicisation of Srebrenica and its memorialisation. The purpose of this article, thus, is to explore possible bottom-up ways of memorialising Srebrenica’s dead and missing as a complement to the annual state-led commemorations. Drawing on the field of ‘green criminology’, it introduces the concept of ‘green’ transitional justice and the concomitant idea of ‘green’ memorials. The article’s central argument is that incorporating nature and the environment into the process of dealing with the past creates opportunities for more inclusive forms of transitional justice – and specifically memorials – that empower victims and local communities. To develop the concept of green memorials, it utilises the notion of civic ecology.