Sarajevo has a lot to teach the rest of the world at this moment in history, said American human rights activist, Kerry Kennedy, who arrived in the Bosnian capital this week to attend the 'EU future of the Western Balkans and human rights' conference.
“It's interesting being in Sarajevo. I have only been here for 24 hours but I've spent that time with a lot of people who are committed to creating change in this city. And I've seen a lot of those qualities in them. And specifically, a sense of hope, which is interesting because I have also met a lot of people here who kind of have a dark vision of the future that nothing can change or are sceptical. But, on the other hand, I think that there is a strong group who have a commitment to the rule of law, who seal path forward and who are doing everything in their power to get us there,” said Kennedy, speaking for N1.
The tensions are still high but Sarajevo can teach others a lot, she deems.
“I'm not blind to the problems of this city and problems of this country, you went through a whole war, tensions are still high, the political structure makes it hard for people to come together. So, there is really a long way to go. But, what I was saying yesterday is that Sarajevo has a lot to teach the rest of the world at this moment in history. Because, the biggest threat to freedom and to democracy today is hatred, and that is Boko Haram, that is the rise of ISIS, the rise of Islamophobia, the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe, that's the genocide against Rohingya in Myanmar, and that's the marginalization of people colour in my own country and other countries around the world. There're so many more examples of this. It's also politicians who are using hatred in order to gain political power and using people's fear of economic displacement in order to gain their own political power,” she said.
Asked if this is something that politicians do all over the world, she replied:
“That happens all over the world but I think it's accelerated. Frankly, I hate to say anything bad about my country because I love the United States but I don't love this President. And I think that President Trump absolutely came to office and has used his office in exactly this way. And that's why we've seen such a rise in hate crimes in the United States since his presidency began. But, anyway, that's just my country. This is happening all over the world. And Sarajevo has seen what happens when you let that hatred go, when you unleash it. You've seen it. You felt that war. And you have a story to tell about the horrors of hatred and the difficulty of bringing society back together, even 20 years later. It's still so hard even 30 years later, it's still so hard to bring society back together and be cohesive. I think there are lessons to be learnt from Sarajevo about this and we need to hear that voice all over the world.”
