Edvin Kanka Ćudić


Edvin Kanka Ćudić is a Bosnian human rights activist, martial artist and journalist who is best known as the leader of the UDIK, a non-governmental organisation campaigning for human rights and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. In 2023, he won the Kemal Kurspahić International Journalist Award for best published story in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian for his story "Grobnica nade".
His main work focuses on human rights, dealing with the past, minorities, peacebuilding and democracy.

Biography

Born as Edvin Ćudić on 31 December 1988 in Brčko, the great-great-grandson of the teacher Ibrahim Ustavdić. He grew up in Gračanica and Brčko. He studied at the University of Sarajevo and Ankara University. He got a bachelor's degree in journalism from
University of Sarajevo in 2012. In 2018 earned his master's degree in political science.
At the age of 14, in Brčko he began to study jujutsu and was very quickly introduced to aikido. Aikido began practicing in 2017 under Alen Hadžiabdić in Sarajevo. In 2022 in the Vrnjačka Banja he graded 1st Dan by Saša Obradović Shidoin. He is a member of the Aikikai Foundations from Belgrade and Tokyo.
In 2013, Edvin Kanka Ćudić founded the UDIK. In 2019, he was elected in Regional Council of the RECOM Reconciliation Network. Since 2021, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the CDTJ in Banja Luka. Also, since 2024, he is an International Consultant of the International Committee for Morita Therapy, a section of the Japanese Society for Morita Therapy in Tokyo.
He has given interviews and provided commentaries on a range of issues from his area of expertise, including genocide denial, post-conflict recovery, and human rights to many national and international media outlets including AFP, Berria, Danas, DW, El País, Internazionale, Knack, NIN, Novosti, Oslobođenje, RFE, RTL Nederland, Sveriges Radio, TV E, etc. Ćudić helped to memorialize the crimes at Kazani. He was one of the initiators of the memorial of the Kazani pit in the hills above Sarajevo.
As a journalist, he collaborated with many newspapers and magazines, such as Danas,
Monitor and Oslobođenje. In 2017, Ćudić signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins. He often received threats related to his work.

Honours

In 2012, the Bosnian poet Adem Deniz Garić dedicated to Edvin Kanka Ćudić a poem I ne treba da šutiš. In 2022, the other Bosnian poet Erbein Osmanović dedicated him a poem Geronimo.
In 2014 and 2018, in the biographical lexicon Ko je ko u BiH, Edvin Kanka Ćudić is listed among the most significant people in Bosnia and Herzegovina today, which through their works and actions contribute to a better Bosnia and Herzegovina and who make this country a happier place. In 2019, the Bosnian-born French sculptor Mirza Morić created a memorial dedicated to the killed civilians in Brčko. Morić engraved the whole story called Možda bi trebalo da ih mrzim, written by Edvin Kanka Ćudić in 2011. The monument was installed in Paris.
His awards include the following:

Works

Taj maj '92.