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PUBLICATIONS: "War crimes in BiH: Criminal procedures in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-2006. Indictments, appeals, verdicts"

Merima Husejnović

28 November 2006  Merima Husejnovic reviews the first publication to cover all war crimes processes before local courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1992.

For the first time since 1992, an overview of all war crimes processes that have taken place before local courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina is been presented in one publication.

Published by the American Bar Association CEELI and the Association of prosecutors of BiH, the book contains 470 pages and one CD. It covers processes that took place from 1992 to 2006 before the cantonal courts in Federation of BiH, court of Brcko District of BiH and authorised courts in Republika Srpska.

The publication contains 54 final criminal court procedures, including indictments, verdicts, appeals and decisions of the courts.

According to this data, the highest number of cases - 15 - were processed and finalised before the Cantonal court in Sarajevo.

Forty seven indictments filed from 1993 to 1996 in Posavina canton before the Military court Orasje are an exception, as the trials took place in absence of indictees and the verdicts were passed accordingly. Authors of the publication note that it is unknown whether any of the convicts were served with the verdicts or whether they have appealed them.

According to this data, with the exception of the Bosnian court, 77 persons were convicted from 1992 until today. The ages of those who were convicted range from 20 to 50 years old, except for one older juvenile and one person who was 60 when the crime was committed. Only one woman was processed.

It is also evident that most indictments – 47 of them – were filed for war crimes against the civilian population. The most common sentences handed down between 1992 and 2006 for these crimes were between seven and 12 years.

In many cases the verdicts were changed to give much smaller sentences on appeal, and a review of files published in War crimes in BiH shows that the reasons used most often as mitigating circumstances were the indictee's family situation, age, and the general conditions that were in place when the crime was committed.

The most common aggravating circumstances cited were persistence in committing the crime, insanity and the fact that crimes were committed against people who could not defend themselves.

Each of the 54 cases listed in the book is specific in its own way and offers useful information on the flow of court process. Especially interesting are those cases where, after multiple appeals, the first instance verdict has been drastically changed.

An example of such case is the case of Dzemal Zahirovic - charged with war crimes against civilian population - who was originally sentenced to death by the County Military court in Zenica (p. 442) but, after two appeals by his defence attorney, the sentence was downgraded to eight years imprisonment (p. 445).

The example of Miodrag Andric – charged with crimes against humanity - is also interesting. Andric was sentenced by the Cantonal court in Sarajevo to 20 years imprisonment but, after an appeal and retrial, he was acquitted because his participation in the crime "was not proven with full certainty" (p. 116).

Although it contains useful and comprehensive data, the publication War crimes in BiH is incomplete in a sense. Keeping in mind the time when it was created as well as the period it covers, it would be interesting had the authors published information on indictees who served their sentence and were released before the book was published.

For example, in the case of Jacki Banny Arklof, who was given an eight-year prison sentence in 1995 and for whom a security measure of expelling a foreigner from the country was issued, it is not stated whether the court knows whether Arklof indeed did leave the country after he was released from prison, as the verdict obliges him to do.

The same omission was made with other convicts who were supposed to be released by the time when the book was issued: Vinko Vidovic, Tibor Prajo, Ismet Zeric, Alaga Suvic, Senad Djogic and the previously mentioned Zahirovic.

The authors give a detailed overview of indictments, appeals, verdicts and even parts of transcripts from processes containing names of witnesses and their testimonies in court, but do not give names of judges, defence attorneys or prosecutors, which is one of the omissions of this publication. The names of defence attorneys are listed in some cases, although it is not clear why exceptions were made.

What is very valuable is the fact that the authors explain the term "war crime" and the legal history of defining this category of crime against the civilian population since the second half of the 19th century until the first Bosnian criminal code came into effect.

This publication also contributes in the sense that it offers information about court processes that took place before and after the Dayton peace agreement, in different political and social circumstances in BiH.

Still, when we take into consideration all the information offered as well as the practical manner of speaking of court procedures, this book is very important for law students, journalists and others who are not primarily involved in law, as well as the general public interested in information on war crime processing.

Beside, War crimes in BiH is a book that can also be useful for attorneys and judges, who can use it as a guide and a reminder if they face similar cases in the future.

The publication is especially interesting for analysts who study court processes; it offers them an ideal opportunity to review court events that have taken place in the past 14 years.

TITLE: WAR CRIMES IN BIH: Legally valid final criminal procedures in BiH, 1992-1996: Indictments, appeals, verdicts

PUBLISHER: ABA/CEELI and Association of prosecutors BiH

YEAR OF PUBLISHING: 2006.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 471 plus CD