Anti-War Campaign Croatia

The “Antiwar Campaign Croatia” (Antiratna kampanja Hrvatske – ARK) was an initiative launched in summer 1991 in Zagreb and became fastly one of the most important opposition voices in Croatia, gathering antimilitarist, pacifist and civic groups and activists. Against the dominating nationalism and the militarisation of Croatia and the other societies in the region, they campaigned for human rights and civic liberties, through public discussions, demonstrations, publications, appeals and other activities.

One of the main aims of ARK was to maintain communication and cooperation with civic groups from other ex-Yugoslav republics. In September 1991, the group published the first issue of the magazine “ARKzin” which became an important information and communication tool for anti war-voices and activities from Croatia and the region. When the attacks on Sarajevo started, ARK published, on 7. and 8. April 1992, a call to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina warning them that they might experience the same violent fate as Croatia ; among their requests figured: “the consistent respect for the sovereignty of BiH, against any military interference in events (except the UN); against the splitting of BiH in the form of “cantons” which is obviously absurd; a warning to BiH citizens not to call for help the so-called Yugoslav People’s Army, which is to blame for 90 per cent of victims in Croatia”. These calls were published in the May 1992-issue of ARKzin which was mainly dedicated to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and which also included texts from the International Peace Centre and other groups from Sarajevo.

With the escalation of the violence in BiH in the following years, ARK continued with other activities: in 1993, for example,  they published in Croatia the book “Ratni zločini u BiH”(War Crimes in BiH) with reports from Amnesty International and Helsinki Watch, and addressed a public letter of protest to the Croatian government which was deporting Bosnian Muslim refugees from Croatia back to BiH.