The purpose of this essay is to investigate how the Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet have reported on the genocide in Rwanda which is a country in Africa and the genocide in Srebrenica, which is a city located in Europe. In both cases, there are elements that affect how much and in what way newspapers chose to report on what was happening. This essay is about two similar events, which took place in two different geographical locations. One of the genocides took place in Europe and the other in Africa. The purpose is to investigate how the differences between the two cases appear in the newspapers. The United Nations (UN) was involved and has been criticized in both events, which makes it an actor that is frequently mentioned on the two newspapers’ editorial pages. The aim of this essay has been on examining how the newspapers have reported the same or different on how the UN was acting in the two genocides. The material that forms the basis for the research is newspaper articles on the two newspapers’ editorial pages, that were published during the current events. The articles have been analysed with the help of a theory on how the image of Africa tends to be portrayed in comparison to the rest of the world in our society. The result of the study shows a difference in the two newspapers' reporting of the genocide in Rwanda and the genocide in Srebrenica. The genocide in Rwanda is not written about to the same extent as the genocide in Srebrenica and The UN's involvement in Rwanda is not as criticized as its involvement in Srebrenica. While the articles about Srebrenica describe how it is the UN's biggest setback, the articles about Rwanda criticize and justify the UNs' actions at the same time. According to the results of the study, there is a clear difference in how the newspapers in question describe the events that took place on two different continents.

The genocide in Srebrenica is described as "UN's darkest hour" and is the largest genocide in modern time after the Holocaust. 2020 marks the 25th year anniversary since the genocide took place in Srebrenica.  The purpose of this study is to answer how history teachers present genocide in their teaching and how teachers discuss the genocide in Srebrenica. This study is based on a qualitative method through data collection that is obtained from interviews with five different teachers who work in Swedish schools. The study's theoretical frame of reference is based on historical awareness, use of history and non-use of history to promote understanding of teaching choices and teaching methods. This study presents that the teachers use students' emotions through discussions and movies when depicting genocide. The Holocaust is presented as the premiss of the teaching regarding genocide. The genocide in Srebrenica is only mentioned or exemplified in connection with, and in relation to, other genocides such as the Holocaust. The teachers confirm that there is a lack of time, uncertainty, and knowledge regarding the genocide in Srebrenica. The consequence of this is that a large part of the society neither relates to nor barely knows about this genocide. Europe's and the UN's biggest stain becomes hidden, and the victims do not get the attention and justice they deserve. When ignorance exists in relation to the genocide in Srebrenica, we will not be able to reach the message that is often associated with The Holocaust - Never again.

The aim of this study is to investigate how the UN has acted in preventive measures regarding the genocide in Srebrenica. However, the UN contributions in conflict has not always been successful nor effective regarding the prevention of crimes against humanity. Nonetheless, the conflict in former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Srebrenica constitutes a prime example of when UN failed in its role as upholder of human rights, peace and stability. The intriguing part in the case of Srebrenica was the international presence of UN peacekeepers that were situated in the village when the crimes took place. The substantial core of this study is therefor to determine why the UN failed so massively in protecting civilians in Srebrenica by preventing a genocide. Further, to examine the whys and hows, it is of considerable importance to clarify the structure of relevant UN-organs and conventions that holds authority in interventions. Therefor, the study mainly issues the UN Security Council, the UN Charter and the Genocide Convention regarding the structure and capacity in preventive measures. As for the empirical material covered, it is mainly retrieved from official documents and academic literature. The material presented is thereby analyzed in accordance with the theoretical framework to understand why the UN failed to prevent genocide from occurring in Srebrenica. The study draws the conclusion that the UN lacked extensive assessments regarding needed actions and misjudged the nature of the conflict.

The situation in Bosnia and Hercegovina escalated in 1992 and resulted in a war which lasted until 1995, when the end of the war was marked by the signing of the Dayton agreement. The war consisted of conflict between the different groups within the country, with ethnic cleansing as one of the methods being used. In order to keep the peace in the region, the United Nations established the United Nations Protection Force in Yugoslavia. The UNPROFOR were at first meant to keep the peace within Croatia, but as the war broke out in 1992, parts of the force were repositioned to Bosnia. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate whether the UN and UNPROFOR managed to reach the goals set for the intervention in the town of Srebrenica, which was the first city in Bosnia to receive the status as a ”safe area”. In order to establish wheter the goals were met and the effects they had, the instrument of analysis consists of two evaluation models. The goal of the essay is to reach an understanding of the goals of the intervention and to provide with an analysis which can provide with an understanding for this, and perhaps also other interventions conducted by the UN.   In the final part of the essay, the presented material is discussed and analyzed in order to reach the purpose of the study. Concludingly the study finds that the goals for UNPROFOR in Srebrenica were not met.

Honors Project--Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-86).

The aim of this thesis is to probe subnational varieties in compensation enacted for war victims in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current literature in transitional justice posits that mainly the nature of previous conflicts, democratic and economic development, international normative pressures, and the regional clustering of justice explain why only some post-war countries award material assistance to victims (Olsen et al. 2010; Kim 2012; Risse and Sikkink 2013; Powers and Proctor 2015). While these explanations provide critical insights into the processes behind compensation adoption across states, they do not explain why only some victim categories within a state secure compensation. Drawing on a large database of qualitative data ranging from interviews to newspaper articles collected during fieldwork in Bosnia, this thesis explores compensation for military and civilian war victims, victims of torture and sexual violence, and families of missing people. By zooming in on these victim categories in the Bosnian context, this thesis advances a new understanding of compensation for victims as an outcome of complex political, external, and economic influences exerted on the main domestic policymakers. This thesis uses a new analytical framework about the inter-category varieties in compensation that draws upon arguments about bounded agency of war victims who are constrained by the parameters of post-war political structures that to a large degree shape their strategies. I show that the different compensation outcomes can primarily be explained by the varying effectiveness of victims in convincing domestic political authorities that compensation is in their political interest by using framing and advocacy strategies at the domestic and international level. While such strategies are limited by the political and socioeconomic characteristics of the state, victim categories that are able to strategically frame their demands and access resources to mobilize are more likely to secure compensation adoption. Therefore, this thesis introduces three tools that victims can leverage - international salience, moral authority, and mobilization resources - that are shaped by both structural conditions and the victims' agency.

This survey, Do not betray the refugees, has its aim and purpose to analyze how four of Sweden's biggest tabloids during the time, Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and Arbetet Nyheterna, reported about the refugee flows during the war in Bosnia in 1995. To carry out the study, the work analyzed both leaders and ordinary articles from 1995-01-01 to 1995-12-31. The study found that news coverage during the year was massive,especially in the middle of the year when conquest of various cities was taking place, at the same time thousands of refugees were forced to flee their hometowns which had a major impact on refugee flows to other parts of Europe. The study also found that the majority of the articles gave a description of how the people on the run lived and who was behind the mass refugees from different cities in the divided Bosnia.

This thesis aims to explore the disconnect between calls for safe zones as a tool of humanitarian intervention, and the dark history of safe zone failure. This thesis begins with a brief discussion of current calls for safe zones in Syria, and how a proper theoretical framework and historical understanding are needed to discuss whether or not safe zones can be successfully implemented in Syria. The following literature review discusses not only prominent academic arguments and the history of humanitarian intervention, but it suggests a framework for deconstructing case studies. This framework looks first at the interests of an intervening actor. The level of interest of that actor directly informs its willingness to overcome the challenges of safe zone implementation. The challenges of safe zone implementation are both practical and existential. If an actor’s interest in a given crisis is not great enough to make it willing to overcome these practical and existential challenges, or the actor is willing to overcome them but lacks the ability to do so, the safe zone will fail. In most cases of failed safe zones, moral hazard plays a role. Moral hazard can be evident in either the intervening actor’s decisions or the decisions of the international community to support or not support the intervention. This thesis then deconstructs three historical cases of safe zones with this method: Srebrenica in Bosnia, Operation Provide Comfort in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Operation Turquoise in Rwanda. Following these three case studies, this paper discusses safe zones in Syria with the help of this method and the broad historical understanding of safe zones established through the case studies. This thesis concludes with a discussion of how the analysis and available historical cases show that safe zones are dangerous tools of humanitarian intervention and should not be undertaken without adequate levels of interest and willingness to address challenges.

This thesis examines the international community's meager response – despite the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) – to the conflict in Tigray. Why was the response minimal, and what could be done to make R2P more efficacious in the future? The R2P framework describes the responsibilities to protect populations around the world against mass atrocity crimes, as stated in Article 5 of the Rome Statute. The study shows that R2P as a framework is flawed, and proposes the creation of an R2P ombudsman to monitor conflicts, focus the international community's attention and assist states that are struggling or failing to protect vulnerable people. The thesis draws upon a theory of political realism but also highlights the sometime significance of shared ethical norms and values.

No description available.