Zamir

Zamir Transnational Net was BBS system, launched by Anti-War Campaign in Zagreb in 1992, with the initial help of the Dutch and German hackers, in order to connect citizens and peace activists across the war-thorn former Yugoslavia.

History

In 1992, ZaMir was established under the Anti-War Campaign of Croatia (ARK) as a network base for women's, peace and human rights organisations from around the country. ARK was established in 1989 as an alliance of 22 groups and organisations devoted to human rights protection and peace building in Croatia after the fall of the communist regime and during the war in the former Yugoslav countries.

Simultaneously, together with five other ZaMir networks based in other ex-Yugoslav countries, ZaMir ZG (Zagreb) was part of the ZTN (ZAMIR TRANSNATIONAL NETWORK), and the world-wide APC (Association for Progressive Communication) network. ZTN was an e-mail network established for Former Yugoslavia to operate as a BBS (Bulletin Board Service). BBS was created for Internet users with lower grade technical equipment that could not provide Web access. More on ZTN on [1].

In 1997 ZaMir ZG became the ICP (Internet Content Provider) named ZaMirNET. The technical part of the project has been realized by the contractual partner Iskon Ltd., including expansion of the communication infrastructure and the system administration. After simultaneous testing of both ISP and BBS, BBS was completely abandoned in 1998.

ZaMirNET has provided logistic support to numerous advocacy campaigns in Croatia. In 1999, ZaMirNET played an important role in providing technical support to Glas 99 - a Citizens' Coalition for Free and Fair Elections that initiated citizens' engagement in the democratic change of government and the fall of the former nationalistic regime. In 2001 ZaMirNET functioned as the logistic center for the civic initiative Moj glas za pravnu drzavu / My Voice for The Rule of Law when 15.000 people gathered together on the main square in the capital of Zagreb protesting against nationalists requesting amnesty for Croatian war criminals.

ZaMirNET, with its mission to support the development of Civil Society in Croatia, provides a unique non-profit Internet Content Provider (ICP). Reports on the status of human rights, as well as reports from members and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can be found on the network, as well as various information services, job openings with NGOs, announcements about public events, and campaigns and activities initiated through various civic actions.

ZaMirNET, therefore, serves as a space for the free exchange of ideas and information, and hence is an irreplaceable tool in generating new ideas and civic initiatives throughout the region.

Articles

• Paul Stubbs, "The ZaMir (for peace) Network: from transnational social movement to Croatian NGO". [2]
• Paul Stubbs, "Conflict and Co-Operation in the Virtual Community: email and the wars of the Yugoslav succession", in Sociological Research On-line, 3 (3) (1998). [3]
• Eric Bachman, "Communications Aid in the post Yugoslavian countries: The origin and development of the ZAMIR transnational net (ZTN)", Posted as part of the balkans.net ‘History of ZTN’, 1996. ~1.htm#technical
• Masha Gessen, "Balkans On-line – in the trenches with the warriors fighting one of the nastiest information wars of the late 20th century", in Wired 3.11 (1995). [4]

http://www.zamirnet.hr/
http://www.zamirzine.net/