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Amnesty International Supports International Judicial Personnel in Bosnia and Herzegovina

19 November 2009  Amnesty International, AI, the global organization for the protection of human rights, calls on the international community and the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to take "all necessary measures" to secure the stay of international judges and prosecutors in local judicial institutions.

AI cited the fact that under the State Court's exit strategy, international personnel was due to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina until the end of 2009 and, as of that date, the Court and Prosecution would consist of local personnel only. In October this year the House of Peoples of the State Parliament failed to adopt changes to the Law on the State Court and Prosecution which foresaw the extension of mandates of international judges and prosecutors working with those institutions.

"International judges and prosecutors helped build the court capacities in the country through their expertise, impartiality and independence. (...) AI calls on the international community to reinforce its efforts and support the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina by giving support to the stay of international personnel," the AI announcement says.

Since its establishment in 2005, the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has completed 39 cases, with support from international judges and prosecutors. Several tens of cases are underway.

AI says that Bosnia and Herzegovina faces between 6,000 and 16,000 pending war-crimes cases before various courts in the country, which means that a number of perpetrators of grave crimes are still at liberty, while "the impunity principle" continues to prevail.

"International staff members are currently engaged in several cases dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity. AI expresses its concern due to the fact that, although their mandates are coming close to an end, no activities have been undertaken so far to transfer the cases to local personnel. This problem might lead to the necessity of starting a large number of those cases from the beginning, as stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In some cases, witnesses may have to be invited to testify again, which would represent an additional burden on them," AI says.

This organization considers that the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has worsened over the past year, while tensions between ethnic groups have increased.

"Some politicians have attacked the independence of the court system or denied war crimes, despite the fact that courts rendered second-instance verdicts sentencing the perpetrators. Support for international judges and prosecutors in processing war crimes and crimes against humanity is needed more than ever," Amnesty International says.

This organization called on the international community to help create a political atmosphere that will enable the conduct of "fair, independent and impartial" war-crimes trials.