Transformation of the Humanitarian Law Center into the Humanitarian Law Documentation and Research Centre

About this grant

Unresolved issues of blame, responsibility, acknowledgement and justice divide societies and communities along ethnic and national lines and complicate the process of democratization in the Western Balkans. Efforts to bring peace and democracy to the region must address issues of the past. Research and documentation of human rights violations during conflicts from the last decade will underpin the efforts to deal with the past.Funding will enable the Humanitarian Law Center to become a permanent institute for documenting, organizing and preserving information for researchers, prosecutors, victims and their families, other non-governmental organizations, and decisionmakers. The new institute will raise public awareness about the past and take the lead in organizing a network of similar institutions in the region to share resources and support regional research and other initiatives related to war crimes and dealing with the past.The Humanitarian Law Center, established in 1992, is a non-governmental human rights and humanitarian law organization.