From: Balkan Investigative Reporting Network [mailto:info@birn.eu.com]
Sent: Fri 30/06/2006 22:37
To: ICHR Info
Subject: JUSTICE REPORT Issue No.18
JUSTICE REPORT Issue No.18, June 30, 2006
IN THIS ISSUE:
NASER ORIC FOUND GUILTY FOR SREBRENICA CRIMES
The Hague Tribunal sentenced Naser Oric to two years of prison for the
crimes committed against Serbs in Srebrenica. His arrival in Sarajevo is
expected on Saturday.
BETWEEN TRUTH AND POLITICS
The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are divided over whether to support
truth commissions at a local level or at a state level. And there is a
warning that the whole process could be used as a political tool in
the run-up to the general election.
PROSECUTION CONCLUDES IN KOVACEVIC CASE
The prosecution finished presenting its evidence against the former
Bosnian Serb soldier, Nikola Kovacevic, on Monday. The defence will
begin its case in a month's time.
THE WEEK AHEAD: THREE TRIALS NEXT WEEK
Presentation of evidence in two cases will take place next week before
the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of BiH, while closing statements are
due in the trial of Boban Simsic.
------------------------------------------ www.bim.ba
----------------------------------------------------
Justice Report is an online publication produced by the Balkan
Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH.
Justice Report is dedicated to bringing local war crimes trials closer
to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region through
accurate, objective and prompt reporting.
Justice Report - in Bosnian or English - is available free of charge
DAILY online at www.bim.ba or WEEKLY via e-mail subscription.
To subscribe or find out more about Justice Report or other BIRN BiH
projects please contact Nerma Jelacic, nerma@birn.eu.com
------------------------------------------ www.bim.ba
----------------------------------------------------
NASER ORIC FOUND GUILTY FOR SREBRENICA CRIMES
The Hague Tribunal sentenced Naser Oric to two years of prison for the
crimes committed against Serbs in Srebrenica. His arrival in Sarajevo is
expected on Saturday.
BIRN - JUSTICE REPORT - 30.06.2006 - Naser Oric, the former commander of
Bosniak forces in Srebrenica, was sentenced to two years in prison for
crimes committed against Bosnian Serbs here between
December 1992 and January 1993.
Oric was found guilty for not taking the necessary steps to prevent the
murder and cruel treatment of a number of Serb prisoners in the besieged
eastern Bosnian town.
Although the judges of the Hague Tribunal gave him a prison sentence,
the time Oric spent in detention is taken in account. The judges
therefore ordered he be released as soon as possible.
According to Justice Report's sources in the Hague, Oric's arrival in
Sarajevo is expected as early as this Saturday.
Oric was the commander of the military forces in and around Srebrenica
from 1992 until 1995. He was found guilty for failing to prevent the
acts of murder and abuse committed over Bosnian Serbs imprisoned
in the Srebrenia police station and in a building near the town's
municipal offices. The crimes took place between December 1992 and March
1993.
The judges acquitted Oric on a number of other charges including wanton
destruction of villages.
While pronouncing the verdict the judges said the sentence given to Oric
reflects the "uniquely limited criminal responsibility" of the accused.
In Bosnia, opinions about the verdict were divided. While Bosniaks were
mainly pleased with the Tribunal's decision, the Serbs are bitter.
Mayor of Srebrenica, Abdurahman Malkic, says that the verdict is
"another step towards justice".
"I believe that the Hague had all the relevant facts to conclude that
Bosniaks did not commit the crimes in an organized nor systematic
manner," Malkic told Justice Report.
Families of Bosniaks who were killed in Srebrenica after the fall of
this enclave in July 1995 are also satisfied.
"He deserved this verdict," Hafiza Mujkanovic, representative of
Association Women of Srebrenica from Tuzla, said for the Justice Report.
"We in Srebrenica had to defend ourselves from the aggressor".
Bosnian Serbs in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina are of a different
opinion.
"I think that the verdict is not satisfactory," Dusan Gotovac from
Zvornik told Justice Report. "Two years are not enough for the crimes
he committed."
Slavisa Jovicic, representative of the Republika Srpska camp inmates'
organisation said that he is not surprised by the verdict.
"This is another farce of Carla Del Ponte," Jovicic claims. "She charged
him with the smallest of crimes, regardless of the fact that we supplied
her with voluminous documentation on the murder of over 3000
people from that area and destruction of 15o villages."
"If the objective of this shameful verdict is for Naser to attend the
July 11 commemoration in Srebrenica, then they succeeded," Jovicic said
told Justice Report.
"Although I intended to go to the commemoration for the third time, this
time I won't do it because I can't be in the same place with Oric."
"History will determine his responsibility and the Hague Tribunal will
forever stay in the memory of Serb people as a political organization
which deserves to carry the epithet of 'inquisitors against Serbs'",
Jovicic
concluded.
The Hague Tribunal unveiled the indictment against Oric on March 28,
2003 charging him with violation of the laws and customs of war. He
voluntarily surrendered and went to the Tribunal's detention unit on
April 11. The trial started on October 6, 2004 and ended in April 10
this year.
As stated in the opening remarks, the prosecution wanted to prove that
Oric "turned from a charismatic twenty-five-year-old Srebrenica
commander into a master of war who was drunken on power".
They also said they would prove that Oric crated and planned the
exulsion of Serbs from the territory of Srebrenica. The Trial chamber
did not accept this.
In the evidence procedure, the Prosecution attempted to prove that Oric
is guilty of destroying around 50 Serb villages. The Trial chamber found
him not guilty of these charges.
In its closing statement, the Prosecution asked of the Trial chamber to
give an 18-year jail sentence and the defence asked for Oric to be
pronounced not guilty on all counts of the indictment.
Both sides are expected to file an appeal against the decision,
according to Justice Report's sources in the Hague.
BETWEEN TRUTH AND POLITICS
The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are divided over whether to support
truth commissions at a local level or at a state level. And there is a
warning that the whole process could be used as a political tool in
the run-up to the general election.
By Nidzara Ahmetasevic in Sarajevo,
BIRN - JUSTICE REPORT - 29.06.2006 - The summer months in Sarajevo have
brought on a heated debate among the people on the best mechanisms for
finding out the truth about the Bosnian War.
Politicians have been calling for the creation of town or region-related
truth commissions but the public remains divided on the best way
forward. Some support the idea of local commissions, others are calling
for the establishment of a state-level commission. Others believe war
crimes issues can only be resolved by a judicial body.
Analysts say the intense debate over the issue shows the country is
finally ready to explore alternative means of establishing the truth
about the devastating 1992-95 war.
This is not the first time the creation of local or state-level truth
commissions has been explored in Bosnia. Whilst initiatives for a state
level commission have so far failed to produce an end result, there has
been partial success with local ones - aimed at establishing facts in
particular towns or regions of the country.
HISTORY CLASS
The first such body was the Commission for Srebrenica which was
established in 2004 by the government of the Republika Srpska following
intense pressure from the international community.
The aim was to determine the facts about the fall of UN protected
enclave and the subsequent massacre of Bosniak man and boys near the
town in July 1995.
After a series of interventions by the OHR, the Commission finally
completed its work in 2005. It concluded that around 7,800 Bosniaks had
been killed at Srebrenica.
A substantial part of the final report was not made public, including
the names of several hundred suspects who were allegedly involved in the
massacre.
Following its publication and approval by the RS government, the
entity's president Dragan Cavic made a dramatic public admission
acknowledging that crimes had taken place at Srebrenica and Serb forces
had
been involved.
Today, many think this public acknowledgment was the biggest achievement
of the Srebrenica Commission. Analysts argue that the full potential of
the commission's report was not used and therefore its effect
on the reconciliation process remains questionable.
"Nothing in the report is obligatory for the government. Of the 832
perpetrators whose names are listed in one part of the report, no-one
has been prosecuted. Not only are they free, but some of them are
holding public positions," Fadila Memisevic, President of the BiH branch
of the Association for Endangered Peoples, said.
"What happened with the report?" Edina Becirevic, assistant professor at
Sarajevo's Faculty of Criminology wonders. "Are children in the RS
learning about what happened? Are children from BiH going to
Potocari (site of some of the killings) for a history lesson?"
"After the Srebrenica Commission, we have the facts, but they are not
used," Becirevic told Justice Report.
She says that facts established by commissions, such as the one for
Srebrenica, should be used in the public education process as a means of
preventing similar crimes happening in the future.
Becirevic also says it is necessary to establish mechanisms which would
oblige the government to use the results of any commission's work, which
was not the case with Srebrenica.
"It is not the commission which should promote its conclusions. They did
what they were expected to do. It's the government's job," Becirevic
said.
"It is necessary to establish a legal obligation on the government to
promote the judgements and results of commissions, to actually do
something that would amount to a preventive measure for potential
disputes and genocides in the future," she concludes.
While the question of what happens once a commission issues its report
remains unresolved, the discussion about forming new commissions
heated up.
First, an initiative for the formation of a state commission for the
truth was resurrected late last year. (see: Justice Report Special
edition from March 31, 2006, text Truth Commission divides Bosnia at
The latest attempt involved international organisations'
representatives, local politicians and a few NGOs. But after a bout of
negative press and protests from victims' associations which demanded to
be
involved in the process, the initiative was once again pushed into the
background.
The initiative had split public opinion in Bosnia and Herzegovina into
those who were for the formation of such a commission and those who were
against.
Srdjan Dizdarevic, President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
in BiH, belongs to the former group and was involved in the initiative.
"I was for the commission on the state level," he told Justice
Report.
But he fears that the whole issue of alternative truth seeking
mechanisms could become politicised. The proof, Dizdarevic says, is in
the recent spate of calls for set up of local commissions coming from
Bosnia's
politicians.
POLITICS ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS
Dizdarevic was referring to the after-effects of the decision made
earlier this month to form a Commission for Sarajevo within the state
parliament on the basis of a ruling by the Human Rights Chamber.
The commission is tasked with establishing the facts about the suffering
of Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and Jews in Sarajevo between 1992 and 1995.
The Council of Ministers stated that the commission's objective would be
to "assist in the establishment of a stable peace and in strengthening
mutual trust in BiH, through determining the truth".
Just like with Srebrenica Commission, a widespread debate and protests
took place before the decision to form the Commission for Sarajevo was
made. (see: Justice Report 9, April 26,
Again, similar, to what happened with the Srebrenica Commission, the
international community had to intervene in order to force the
government to accept and implement the Human Rights Chamber's ruling.
So both of these local commissions were formed with the crucial
involvement of an international legal entity - whether OHR or the Human
Rights Chamber. But this did not stop a flurry of political initiatives
to
form similar commissions elsewhere.
Momcilo Novakovic, representative of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in
the state parliament, believes the Commission for Sarajevo should be the
last local commission.
"We got the Commission for Srebrenica against our will. It was imposed
on us by the High Representative. I'm not going to discuss whether it
was a justified move. On the other hand, there was a lot of pressure
from the public to form the Commission for Sarajevo and we were forced
to form it," Novakovic believes.
"However, I think that as far as local commissions are concerned, we
need to stop here. Now there is an idea to form a commission for
Prijedor, Bosanski Brod, there will be one for Travnik and who knows
where else. I think that we need one commission which will determine the
truth for the entire BiH," Novakovic told Justice Report.
Mirsad Tokaca, the President of the Investigation and Documentation
Centre (IDC), says that the formation of the Commission for Sarajevo is
opening a Pandora's Box.
"This is the final and irrevocable proof that parliament and the
government are unable to deal with the issue of facing the past," Tokaca
told Justice Report.
Tokaca is against a partial approach to determining the truth and facing
the past, which is what the local commissions do.
He says the formation of a commission for Sarajevo on the eve of
October's elections, as well as calls for other local commissions, are
becoming tools for political manipulation.
"One group of politicians will be able to tell the nationalistic herd
that thanks to their political decisiveness and capabilities, they were
able to form a commission, others will mostly obstruct its work," he
says.
"Everything that the commission for Srebrenica was supposed to do, but
didn't do, will only be transferred onto the Sarajevo Commission. And
everything is more or less known about the lack of success of the
Srebrenica Commission," Tokaca said.
Srdjan Dizdarevic, on the other hand, said it was too early to judge the
work of the Commission for Sarajevo and, that anyway, the commission had
to exist because that was the decision of the Human Rights
Chamber.
NEW COMMISSIONS
The decision to form a Sarajevo Commission has already inspired some
parliamentarians to introduce the motion for the formation of a
commission for Prijedor, the north-western Bosnian town where infamous
detention camps sprang up in 1992.
The initiative was started by Senija Kapetanovic, a representative of
the predominantly Bosniak Party for BiH.
"It is necessary to have a commission for Prijedor with nine members of
mixed national background who would be appointed by the Council of
Ministers," she told the parliament.
The initiative was rejected by all Serb representatives from Republika
Srpska. But Kapetanovic has told Justice Report that she will fight on.
"Such a commission will give the possibility for official institutions
in the town to say what exactly happened," said Kapetanovic, who is
herself from Prijedor.
She claims that she has received a number of requests from returnees to
Prijedor for the formation of such a commission.
But Saida Karabasic, President of the Izvor Citizens Association from
Prijedor, says they were not consulted before the initiative was made.
"In principle, we are against a commission-type determination of the
truth because we saw that the Srebrenica experience did not achieve
special results or changes. We believe that the judicial system should
be doing that," Karabasic told Justice Report.
"We don't want our problems to be politicized, which seems to be the
case now. We all know that issue is used for election purposes," she
said.
Karabasic thinks that if more local commissions are formed, there will
be less need for a state commission. But, she thinks, either type of
commission would not please the victims. "Only (court) verdicts can
satisfy the victims," she said.
Edin Ramulic, a former camp inmate from Prijedor and another member of
the Izvor association, believes the same. Determining the truth and
individual guilt is "the job of the justice system which should be
assisted by the police," Ramulic said.
"Commissions can potentially deal with lesser forms of discrimination,
such as violations of the right to work, right to education, and war
propaganda in the media. They can establish political responsibility for
the beginning of the war in which crimes were subsequently
But only the court can deal with war crimes."
However, he says, if other towns are getting a special commission then
Prijedor should have one too.
COURT OR COMMISSION
But the current initiative for a Prijedor commission is part of the
"election campaign", Ramulic believes.
"We, the victims, are offended by the fact that government
representatives who participated in the forming of these commissions
fail to involve civil society," he says.
"Because of that, the commissions are destined to fail from the start
and their results will not be accepted," Ramulic warns.
Ramulic fears that commissions would be in direct contradiction to the
work of war crimes courts, echoing the thinking of many citizens of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"I'm afraid that truth commissions will take over the work of the
justice system," he said.
Some analysts warn that such a fear is widespread among Bosnia's
population due to a lack of public understanding of what truth
commissions do.
"Many people see the initiative for a state level truth commission as a
body which would give general amnesty to those who committed war
crimes," Edina Becirevic told Justice Report.
"I think that is the result of misrepresentation in the media," she
continues.
While consensus for the formation of a truth commission is yet to be
found, Becirevic believes war crimes courts could do more in the truth
and reconciliation process.
She believes the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) for example did not sufficiently inform the public of
the results of trials against war crimes indictees, and that could have
played
a significant role in the entire process of facing the past.
Becirevic cites the confession of Miroslav Cicko Bralo, the former
Bosnian Croat soldier who pleaded guilty to war crimes committed against
Bosniaks.
"He surrendered, apologised and admitted that he had nightmares because
of what he had done."
"At the court he said that he was willing to keep on repeating his
confession in order to contribute to reconciliation and to show the
people in BiH all the terrors of nationalism. I don't think that that
was used the
way it could have been, and it was up to the Tribunal to use that,"
Becirevic claims.
NATIONAL STRATEGY
As the debate about local and state level commissions continues, there
appears to be a growing consensus that there needs to be at least a
strategy at state level towards dealing with the past.
"A commission must draw its strength from the law. That means that the
issues it is supposed to address and its results must be defined by the
law," SDS' Novakovic says.
Fadila Memisevic goes a step further and says that the commissions
cannot be successful without a national strategy for dealing with the
past.
"When there is a strategy then we can talk about a commission that makes
sense," she says.
Experts warn that neither local nor state commissions will be successful
if their final reports are simply filed into the archive and nothing
more is done.
"I am not against commissions, but I am against the results collecting
dust in drawers," says Edina Becirevic.
Nidzara Ahmetasevic is editor of BIRN Justice Report. nidzara@bim.ba
PROSECUTION CONCLUDES IN KOVACEVIC CASE
The prosecution finished presenting its evidence against the former
Bosnian Serb soldier, Nikola Kovacevic, on Monday. The defence will
begin its case in a month's time.
BIRN - JUSTICE REPORT - 27.06.2006 - Having completed the questioning of
witnesses, the prosecution presented material evidence in support of its
indictment against the former Bosnian Serb soldier, Nikola
Kovacevic.
The prosecution presented 70 documents in support of its allegations
that Kovacevic took part in war crimes committed in north-western Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
Kovacevic, who was known as Danilusko Kajtez until 1996, is accused of
crimes against humanity committed from April to August 1992 against
civilians in Sanski Most.
Some of the prosecution witnesses identified Kovacevic as the person who
personally detained or abused them in the Betonirka camp. Others
identified him as the soldier who escorted the convoy which
transported detainees to Manjaca camp.
The defence challenged 20 of the 70 documents, particularly the ones
that supposedly proved Kovacevic's membership of the Republika Srpska
Army.
The defence said that some of the documents did not have a date or
signature of an authorized person and were therefore invalid.
"We cannot consider a document valid if there is no signature or date on
it, regardless of the fact that the document in question is a list of
SOS (Serb armed forces) members or a detailed list of activities of
these forces," said defence attorney Ranko Dakic.
The prosecution also presented documents which allegedly proved the
existence of a Commission for the expulsion of the non-Serb population
from the Sanski Most area. The document was issued by the
municipality of Sanski Most and shows that the Commission was closed
down in October 1992.
The defence opposed this as well. "We object to evidence that is outside
the time period stated in the indictment, i.e. from April to August
1992," said Dakic.
The court will consider the defence objections and make a ruling at a
later date.
Dakic told the court that he would start presenting the defence's cases
at the end of July. Ten witnesses will be called, including the accused
THE WEEK AHEAD: THREE TRIALS NEXT WEEK
Presentation of evidence in two cases will take place next week before
the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of BiH, while closing statements are
due in the trial of Boban Simsic.
BIRN - JUSTICE REPORT - 30.06.2006 - The trial chamber in the case of
former Bosnian Serb policeman from Visegrad, Boban Simsic will carry out
a reconstruction of events at alleged scenes of crime on July
3.
The reconstruction will take place at the elementary school Hasan
Veletovac and Visegrad fire station, where Bosniak civilians were
detained in the first half 1992. Simsic is alleged to have participated
in the
abuse of detainees in these two facilities.
Both the prosecution and defence are due to present their closing
statements following the reconstruction.
According to the existing law, a verdict must be handed three days after
both sides present their closing statements.
The prosecution is trying to prove that Boban Simsic is guilty of war
crimes against civilians, and that he committed murders, abuse, rape and
expulsion of Bosniaks on the territory of eastern Bosnian town of
Visegrad.
The defence denies those statements and claims that during that time
Simsic was not on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The trial of Dragan Damjanovic will continue next week with the
questioning of three more witnesses scheduled to take place on July 3.
Damjanovic is charged with crimes against civilian population committed
on the territory of municipality Vogosca.
Prosecution witnesses who testified thus far spoke about the beginning
of the war in Vogosca and the siege of this Sarajevo municipality in May
1992.
Some of the witnesses identified Damjanovic as the person who personally
tortured them, while others identified him as the person responsible for
the death and torture of other camp inmates in Vogosca.
Damjanovic is also alleged to have in July 1992 separated five civilians
from a group of 20 Bosniaks who were taken to forced labour on Zuc hill.
He is alleged to have taken these men towards the frontlines and
killed them.
The presentation of prosecution's evidence in the case against 11
indictees charged with the massacre of around 1.000 Bosniaks in Kravica
warehouse near Srebrenica in July 1995 will continue next week.
Hearings are scheduled for July 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Witnesses who testified so far confirmed that the massacre took place on
July 13 and that it was committed by members of Serb military forces.
The last witness, Zoran Eric, said that on the morning of July 13 he saw
buses full of people going towards the warehouse, and that on that same
day around 5:00 p.m. he heard shooting which lasted for about
an hour. He also said that shooting was continued around 8:00 p.m. and
that it was followed by detonations, screams and pleadings "Give us
water" and "Dear mother".
He also confirmed the previous statement according to which he saw a
group of detainees come out of the forest, who were taken to the storage
shed with the others, and that on the road towards Sandici he
saw groups of armed Serb soldiers and armoured vehicles.
--------------------------------------------- www.bim.ba
---------------------------------------------------
If you wish to find out more about Justice Report or receive this
service free of charge please write to BIRN BiH director Nerma Jelacic
