Institute’s Publication Receives the “Hasan Kaimija” Plaque for the Best Work in the Field of Humanities and Social Sciences

The book “Zvornik 1992–1995: The Genocide at the Gateway of Bosnia”, authored by Dr. Muamer Džananović and Dr. Elvedin Mulagić and published by the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, has received the “Hasan Kaimija” Plaque for the best work in the field of humanities and social sciences published in 2024 and 2025.

Upon the recommendation of the expert jury, the Organising Committee of the “Days of Hasan Kaimija” manifestation decided to award this year’s “Hasan Kaimija” Plaque to the Institute’s two-volume publication. The award was presented as part of the 23rd cultural and religious manifestation, whose central ceremony was held at the Youth Centre in Zvornik, in the presence of representatives of the Islamic Community, the academic community, and cultural and social life.

As emphasised by the President of the Jury, Associate Professor Šefko Sulejmanović, the book “Zvornik 1992–1995: The Genocide at the Gateway of Bosnia” represents a landmark scholarly work which, across 1,400 pages, documents the crimes committed against Bosniaks in Zvornik and the Podrinje region during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The book is the result of ten years of research based on extensive archival materials, testimonies, documents, photographs, maps, statistical data, and other relevant sources.

“This study can be fully assessed as an exceptionally valuable, document-rich, substantively complex, extensive, and instructive scholarly-historical monograph. Guided by a comparative analysis of all submitted works, the Jury recognised its outstanding scientific relevance and socially responsible significance. This determined the Jury’s decision, while acknowledging other submitted works as valuable contributions to science and culture, to give priority to this book and unanimously nominate it for this year’s ‘Hasan Kaimija’ Award,” Associate Professor Sulejmanović stated.

Congratulations to the authors were also extended by the Mufti of Tuzla, Dr. Vahid-ef. Fazlović, President of the Organising Committee of the manifestation, who emphasised the importance of this work.

“Two of our distinguished scholars decided to present Zvornik in a way that very few have done before, to research a great human tragedy, and to do so according to the highest standards of scholarship. Dr. Džananović and Dr. Mulagić are connected to institutions, but they are truly connected to our values, our people, and their homeland Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through scientific and objective methods, they have proven what happened in Zvornik between 1992 and 1995. In the future, those who today are not pleased that this truth is coming to light will also look upon these events differently. Regardless of how much one may have fallen short at a certain moment in time, one must seek improvement and go through a process of catharsis,” Mufti Fazlović said.

One of the authors of the book, Dr. Muamer Džananović, Director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, expressed gratitude to the Organising Committee of the “Days of Hasan Kaimija” manifestation, the members of the expert jury, and all those who recognised the significance of this work.

“The book ‘Zvornik 1992–1995: The Genocide at the Gateway of Bosnia’ was created out of a sense of scientific, human, and moral responsibility towards the victims, their families, the survivors, and a region whose history between 1992 and 1995 was marked by grave crimes, mass killings, persecution, detention camps, enforced disappearances, mass graves, and attempts to permanently erase the Bosniak people from the area of Zvornik and the entire Bosnian Podrinje region. This book was created over ten years. It is not merely our authorial or co-authorial work; in the deepest sense, it is a collective work of us as co-authors and the people of Zvornik. Therefore, this award belongs to them as much as it belongs to us, and it belongs to the victims, their families, witnesses, collaborators, and all those who understood that the truth about the crimes in Zvornik must not remain scattered among personal memories, unprocessed documents, court records, and unmarked crime sites,” Dr. Džananović stated.

Since 2011, the “Hasan Kaimija” Plaque has been awarded biennially: one year for the best published literary work, and the following year for the best published work in the field of humanities and social sciences. This year’s “Days of Hasan Kaimija” manifestation is being held from 24 May to 20 June in several cities and locations, including Zvornik, Tuzla, Kalesija, Sapna, Bratunac, Srebrenica, Nova Kasaba, and Brčko, with the aim of preserving the memory of Hasan Kaimija, one of the most significant scholars and poets. The manifestation is organised by the Tuzla Mufti’s Office and the Islamic Community Majlis of Zvornik. At the central ceremony, the “Hasan Kaimija” Charter for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Professor Idriz-ef. Memić.

The awarding of the “Hasan Kaimija” Plaque to the book “Zvornik 1992–1995: The Genocide at the Gateway of Bosnia” represents significant recognition for the authors, the Institute, and all collaborators who contributed to the creation of this publication. At the same time, this recognition confirms the importance of scientific, documentary, and institutional work dedicated to researching crimes committed during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, preserving the culture of remembrance, protecting the dignity of victims and their families, and persistently combating institutional denial, relativisation, and attempts to falsify historical facts concerning the committed crimes.