Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities should increase their efforts to process all cases of war crimes, committed in the 1992-95 period, as the measures taken by now were insufficient and hundreds of suspects is still free, shows an analysis carried out by the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia adopted a national war crime strategy in 2008, which set deadlines for completing the most complex and top priority cases by 2015, and all remaining cases by 2023. In order to meet these deadlines, the country was supposed to accelerate the pace of case processing, while ensuring that the highest judicial and human right standards are met in the proceedings.
#TacklingWarCrimes in the spotlight as we present a Spot Report containing the @OSCEBiH observations on the ?? National #WarCrimes Processing Strategy and its 2018 Draft Revisions, including its relation to the so-called “Category A” cases; Sarajevo, 27 September 2018 pic.twitter.com/4xbsvxthLk
— OSCE Mission to BiH ?? (@OSCEBiH) September 27, 2018
According to the data the OSCE has at disposal, there are at least 5,300 war crime suspects in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bruce Berton, said, if adopted, a revised war crime processing strategy might meet the set deadlines.
.@OSCEBiH urges the #BiH ?? Council of Ministers to adopt the revisions to the National #WarCrimes Processing Strategy without further delay; #TacklingWarCrimes https://t.co/xixUgz5YVy
— OSCE Mission to BiH ?? (@OSCEBiH) September 27, 2018
473 war crime cases were processed by end of 2017, including the most complex cases from the so-called A category, which include genocide and crimes against humanity. According to assessments, there are around 800 persons who committed these crimes and the proceedings against 560 of suspects in these cases were launched by mid-2018.
The OSCE's analysis showed that the percentage of convictions in the cases processed by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has decreased over the past two years.
The recommendations to improve the work of the State Prosecutor's Office were issued in 2016, reminded the OSCE experts, adding that the progress is tangible and indictments are now more quality than they used to be.
