Committee Against Torture, one of eight United Nations body overseeing the implementation of human rights treaties, has ruled against the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in favour of a wartime sexual violence victim for the first time, which the competent lawyers, in this case, found a “revolutionary” decision.

Acting upon a petition filed by a victim of wartime sexual violence in November 2017, represented by NGO TRIAL International, the Committee ordered Bosnian authorities to pay the compensation damage for the victim and provide with a free of charge medical assistance, for the failure to meet the obligations stemming from the Convention against Torture and enable the victims to exercise the right to “adequate and just compensation and full rehabilitation.”

“We see this decision as revolutionary not only at our state's level but also at the global level, because this was the first decision before this body which was deciding on a petition of a victim of wartime sexual violence, and the first Committee's decision on a petition of an individual which reviews the applicability of limitation periods at requests for damage compensations in cases of torture,” said Trial International'a attorney Adrijana Hanusic-Becirovic.

The UN's body condemned Bosnia's commission to adopt legislation and develop practice that would enable payment of compensation damage, determined in a criminal procedure, she added.

Legal assistance for the wartime sexual violence victim had been provided in a criminal procedure before the Bosnian State Court which resulted in a ruling ordering the payment of 30,000 marks (some 15,000 Euros) damage compensation but since the convict had no funds to pay the amount, the procedure has never been finalised.

Bosnia also has no dedicated fund which would provide immediate payment in such situations and due to complexity of the legislation, the victim had no other choice but to file a petition before the UN's body.