The Center for Civic Education (CGO) has published a teaching manual "War crimes of the 1990s in judgments of the Montenegrin judiciary", the non-governmental organization (NGO) announced.
The CGE said that the manual is intended for history teachers in primary and secondary schools in Montenegro, but also for others in education who recognize this material as useful for teaching, as well as for the interested public.
As stated by the CGO, in the manual you can find a comprehensive cross-section of facts from the nineties of the last century, which is important for understanding the recent history of Montenegro and its consequences.
"The manual provides an overview of the international legal and historical context of the events of the 1990s in the territory of Montenegro," the announcement states.
As it is added, the part related to the representation of information about the wars of the nineties in the Montenegrin education system was additionally processed.
"It is noted that the textbook for class IX mentions the attack on Dubrovnik, as well as the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Croatia, but that there is not a single mention of the crimes committed by Montenegrin citizens during that period, not even on the Dubrovnik battlefield ", they said from CGO.
On the other hand, as they added, in the textbook for the fourth grade of high school, the breakup of Yugoslavia is covered in more detail.
"Neither does it mention a single war crime committed on the territory of Montenegro, while the attack on Dubrovnik is mentioned with the explanation that it was attacked by the JNA, without stating any connection with Montenegro," said the CGO.
They pointed out that in the handbook, in a detailed and systematic way, through the application of modern pedagogical methods, the authors dealt with all war crimes on the territory of Montenegro, as well as those in which civilians of Montenegrin citizenship were killed, and which received an epilogue before domestic courts and legally binding ended.
"It is about seven cases - the Morinj camp, Deportation, Bukovica, the Klapuh family, Štrpci, Kaluđerski laz and Zmajević, while a brief overview is also given of the Murino case, as well as Montenegro's participation in the attack on Dubrovnik," the CGO stated. -a.
The authors of the manual are historians Miloš Vukanović and Igor Radulović.
As reported, Vukanović and Radulović assessed that dealing with the recent past, which is the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, is imperative, but also "requires a careful and measured approach".
They also pointed out that "the obligation of every history teacher must be to deal with topics that are often considered controversial, as this will contribute to breaking down prejudices and stereotypes among young people, as well as introducing much-needed democratic principles."
"If this topic is not talked about enough and if, in some way, it is neglected, harm is caused to young people by neglecting their need to learn more about the things that still shape the society in which they live today. The alleged need to "protect" the coming generations from topics that "are not for them" deepens their ignorance about the importance of history, but also about its practical application in solving certain conflicts", stated Vukanović and Radulović.
The reviewer of the manual, Adnan Prekić, stated that the manual serves the purpose of "coming to grips" with the most traumatic period of modern Montenegrin history.
"It is the duty of every history professor to open a discussion about these topics, and by no means to run away from them, under the false pretense that these are controversial topics," said Prekić.
He also pointed out that in historiography, as well as in the educational system, there are no more or less controversial topics, but only researched and unresearched topics.
"A rational and methodologically based discussion can lead to the collapse of established stereotypes among young people, while their knowledge of these parts of the Montenegrin past can only be for their good," emphasized Prekić.
The CGO said that the manual is available in an electronic version on the website of that NGO, and after the planned training for history teachers, it will be available in a printed version in the Montenegrin and Albanian languages.
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