Calling the Ghosts, April 21, 7:00 p.m.
Rated R for mature themes.
Discussion following the film wil be led by a staff member from Mountian Crisis Services.
An extraordinarily powerful, Emmy Award-winning documentary, Calling the Ghosts is the first-person account of two women caught in a war where rape was as much an everyday weapon as bullets or bombs. Jadranka Cigelj and Nusreta Sivac, childhood friends and lawyers, enjoyed the lives of "ordinary modern women" in Bosnia-Herzegovina until one day former neighbors and co-workers became tormentors. Taken to the notorious Serb concentration camp Omarska, the two women, like other Muslim and Croat women interned there, were systematically tortured and humiliated by their Serb captors.
Once released, the pair turned personal struggles for survival into a larger fight for justice -- aiding other women similarly brutalized and successfully lobbying to have rape included in the international lexicon of war crimes by the UN Tribunal at the Hague. Chronicling the two women's experience and their remarkable transformation, Calling the Ghosts is an indispensable resource for deepening understanding of human rights abuses and combating violence against women in the global arena. Presentation of this documentary was partially funded by the Open Meadows Foundation. 63 minutes; not rated, but contains mature themes.
Articles and Resources
International Criminal Tribunal for the For the Yugoslavia
The official UN site
War Crimes Tribunal Watch
This website contains links to other human rights organizations working toward informing the public about crimes of war and individual war criminals.
Shame of Camp Omarska
From the very first journalist allowed in the camp.
The Horrors of a Camp Called Omarska and the Serbian Strategy
This is excerpted from Mark Danner's long article, "America and the Bosnia Genocide."
Nusreta Survived the Rape Camp, but her Torture is Unending
An interview with film subject Nusreta Sivac on her return to Serbia.
Omarksa Camp Trial
A short article on the trial of Mladjo Radic.
The Defendant and the Charges
A good article summarizing the atrocities at Omarksa and one of the defendant's actions.
Bosnia 1995: Witness
A short article about rape as a weapon of war, and NATO's reluctance to capture war criminals.
Rape and Other Acts of Sexual Violence as Crimes Against Humanity
A good summary of rape as a crime against humanity.
Far from the Former Yugoslavia, First War Crime Tribunal Opens
A summary of the opening of the trial against Mladjo Radic.
Omarska
A summary of the Camp from Human Rights Watch
Will Killers Go Free? War Criminals Shouldn't Walk
An article detailing conditions in the camps and an interview with Slobodan Milosevic from the Washington Post.
Prosecuting Rape Cases
An article about the effects of the Hague war crimes tribunal's ruling on rape as a war crime.
Rape as a Weapon of War
From Amnesty International
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Justice Shelved – Impunity for Rape
From Amnesty International
Bosniak, Croat and Serb women who endured horrendous crimes of sexual violence have still to obtain justice. Nearly a decade after the armed conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina of 1992-95, only a handful of those responsible have been brought to justice for the widespread rape and sexual abuse of women.
Making Violence against Women Count: Facts and Figures - a Summary
From Amnesty International
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