The Serb Civic Council (Srpskog građanskog vijeća, SGV) was created in March 1994 amidst the Bosnian War

Bosnian War

The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...

 by Bosnian Serbs who were loyal to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the direct main predecessor to the modern-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

 and rejected Republika Srpska

Republika Srpska

Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

's regime. The SCC grew to an estimated 50,000 members and 20 offices.

Following its establishment the SCC set out the following principles:

• preservation of a democratic, internationally-recognised and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• equality of all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with full guarantee of civic freedoms and human rights in line with the highest international standards;
• full implementation of the right of all displaced and expelled citizens to return to their homes;
• punishment of all war criminals.

In 1995, the SCC was awarded the Right Livelihood Award

Right Livelihood Award

The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...

.

On 26 December 2002, the SCC received death threats from a Belgrade-based group calling itself "Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip was the Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914...

" (assassin of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand). The group is believed to be a branch of the Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement. Mirko Pejanović, President of the SCC later met with the High Representative

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina

The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...

, Wolfgang Petritsch

Wolfgang Petritsch

Wolfgang Petritsch is an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. He was born to a Carinthian Slovene family in Klagenfurt and spent his childhood in a partially Slovene, partially German-speaking environment. He has a PhD from the University of Vienna and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University...

, in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

. The discussion included the implementation of the Constitutional Court's decision on the constituency of Bosnia and Herzegovina's people, return, and the threats made against the SCC members and their families.