Call for Pressure for Rape Victims' Rights
02 December 2009 Amnesty International has called on the EU to pressure the government of Bosnia in Herzegovina to ensure justice for rape victims, including compensation.
Amnesty International made the public call to the EU after a delegation of BiH women concluded a visit to Brussels, organised as part of a global initiative under the slogan, 16 Days of Activism - Stop Violence Against Women!,
At the beginning of December (1-4), women from Bosnia met with senior representatives of EU institutions, such as Doris Pack and Riina Kionka (personal representative for Human Rights of former EU Council Secretary-General Javier Solana).
The delegation, consisting of representatives of the NGO coalition supporting survivors of sexual violence, and a survivor of sexual violence, also took part in a hearing at the European Parliament, where they described the rape of thousands of women by members of military and police formations and denounced the lack of support
from successive BiH governments.
"Thousands of women were raped during the war and only 12 rape cases have been prosecuted by the State Court of BiH. This speaks for itself. As Bosnia is preparing to join the EU it needs to address this issue immediately and in a very serious way," said Natalia Alonso, Acting-Director of Amnesty International's EU Office.
"It's a cause for shame that the authorities of BiH have failed to address the basic needs of survivors for the last 14 years. They have failed to offer them psychological help or any compensation. Pretending that rape did not happen is not going to solve anything, the State needs to act immediately to support survivors. Otherwise the problem is not going to go away," she said.
The delegation from Bosnia urged the EU to pressure the BiH authorities to arrest "the perpetrators of war crimes of sexual violence", and also to draw up a strategy on compensation for survivors "that responds to the psychological, social, economic and health needs of survivors."
The delegation includes representatives from organisations: Izvor from Prijedor, Infoteka from Zenica, Centar za pravnu pomo zenama, Zena BiH from Mostar, Forum Zena Bratunac, IDC from Sarajevo, Vive Zene from Tuzla, Fondacija CURE from Sarajevo, CARE International BiH, Zene zenama from Sarajevo, Viktorija 99 from Jajce and Medica Zenica.
See: Suffering in Silence
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
Read more
TRIAL: A Slap in the Face of Justice Expectations
Bosnian authorities have failed to provide access to justice and reparations for thousands of victims of rape and other sexual violence – says a report carried out by the Swiss organisation TRIAL.
Read more
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Komentari:
Nema komentara.