68 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA1

IHF FOCUS: freedom of expression and media; judicial system and independence of the judiciary; police misconduct; conditions in prisons; religious intolerance; natio- nal minorities; returnees and displaced persons; international humanitarian law; so- cial rights; women’s rights; rights of the child.

The first six months of 2001 in Bosnia RS Prime Minister Ivanic (Party of Demo- and Herzegovina (BH) were marked by na- cratic Progress, PDP) appointed numerous tionalistic attacks against the constitutional Serb Democratic Party (SDS) members to order and the Dayton-Paris Peace Agree- high positions in politics and the economy. ment. The second half of the year experi- In the name of the anti-terrorist campaign, enced the consequences of the global anti- they made the Muslims responsible for the terrorism coalition formed following the 11 war and post-war situation. Mr Ivanic also September terrorist attacks in New York threatened to hold a referendum on the and Washington. possible secession of RS. During the year, the Croatian Demo- The role of the Bosniaks in govern- cratic Union (HDZ) made attempts to cre- mental bodies in the municipalities of ate a third Croatian entity. Its leadership, Bosanski Samac, Modrica and Vukosavlje in chaired by former member of the Presi- the RS was marginal and was only made dency of BH, Ante Jelavic, rebelled against possible due to the intervention of the the Constitutions of the BH and the BH Fe- Office of the High Representative (OHR) deration, demanding amendments to this and of the OSCE. end. The highest officials of the Roman The laying of the foundation stone for Catholic Church in BH fully supported the the reconstruction of the destroyed HDZ efforts. mosques in Trebinje and Banja Luka (in the The work of most authorities was char- RS) resulted in serious assaults by Serb ul- acterized by attempts to block the imple- tra-nationalists. RS PrimeMinister Ivanic did mentation of the Dayton Agreement, the nothing to prevent the assaults, police con- abuse of power, corruption and incompe- duct was profoundly unprofessional and tence. The Office of the High Represen- the International Stabilization Force (SFOR) tative dismissed more than 60 officials, refused to interfere, stating that it did not among them Mr Jelavic, as well as former wish to contribute to the escalation of vio- Prime Minister of the BH Federation and lence. Generally, the SDS was largely ac- the Bosnian Party of Democratic Action countable for violence in the RS. (SDA) Vice-President Edhem Bicakcic. Their As a response to violations in Banja dismissal, however, did not bring about any Luka and Trebinje, young Islamists gathered notable changes. in Sarajevo, carrying signs with slogans Since the November 2000 election, the from the Koran and wearing clothing typical HDZ obstructed the establishment of govern- of radical Muslims. The protests were main- ments in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton ly peaceful. A group of young men pro- and Canton 10 (Livno), while the govern- voked Serb refugees and displaced persons ment in the Una-Sana Canton was formed as (IDPs) on the inter-entity line in Sarajevo. late as six months after the elections. In the course of the year it became The authorities in the Republika Srpska clear that the international authorities did (RS) attempted to keep control over all not have a consistent strategy for the im- public life and to reduce the transparency plementation of the key areas of the of their own activities. They blamed others, Dayton Peace Agreement, e.g. the return of including the international mediators, for refugees and IDPs, the return of property, the unsatisfactory situation in the country. physical and legal safety, security and BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 69 equality of citizens, and arrest and punish- The global anti-terrorism campaign did ment of war criminals such as Radovan not result in an open confrontation with the Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. The two Hel- militant Islamists in BH. However, graffiti ex- sinki Committees criticized representatives pressing sympathies with Osama bin Laden of the international peacekeeping mission appeared and American flags were burned. of misconduct and abusing their position in The Council of Ministers of BH and entity the field. For example, a certain Mr Igor of governments immediately engaged in an the OSCE Mission took bribes to resolve anti-terrorism campaign, establishing, inter housing issues, and Stoja Dabic, an OSCE alia, a co-ordination body at the state level. monitor in Modrica, obstructed the return However, actions led by SFOR in co-opera- of Bosniaks to that municipality. Instead of tion with the US Federal Bureau of Investi- being dismissed, Ms Dabic was moved to gation (FBI ) and the domestic police force another position. to find terrorists were conducted in an irres- The coming into power of the Demo- ponsible manner. The Helsinki Committee cratic Alliance for Changes, which main- in BH warned against human rights violati- tained a kind of partnership relation with ons such as unfounded arrests, interroga- the international institutions at the state tions, detentions, and the illegal revocation and federation level, did not bring about of citizenship in violation of valid legal pro- any visible moves towards the re-establish- cedures. It also stated that no one should ment of the rule of law. The authorities did be extradited to a country where they could not succeed in creating an independent ju- face the death penalty or other forms of in- diciary and a neutral administration that human or degrading treatment or punish- would treat all citizens in an equal manner. ment. The process of harmonizing the Constitu- tions of the entities with the BH Constitu- Freedom of Expression and Media tion had not been finalized by the end of Editorial boards and journalists contin- 2001. Reforms of the judicial system, po- ued to face pressure, threats and physical lice force and media were carried out slow- attacks. The “Free Media” SOS-line for jour- ly and in some fields they were completely nalists registered 96 complaints between manipulated by national oligarchies. Des- January and mid-November 2001. The lo- pite the support of the international bodies, cal independent media in particular was the Democratic Alliance for Changes was suppressed in various ways, while those powerless against the SDS, HDZ and SDA founded by the municipalities and Cantons because of its heterogeneous composition, were loyal to local authorities and their pro- individualism and incompetence. fessional standard was low. Trade unions The socio-economic situation wors- either were not organized to deal with situ- ened: over 60% of the population lived be- ation of journalists or were manipulated by low the poverty line. Unemployed, pen- employers. No progress was made in the sioners and disabled persons formed the nation-wide organization of journalists. most vulnerable social groups. The deterio- The process of issuing long-term li- rating social circumstances particularly af- cences to electronic media in BH contin- fected women, who suffered various forms ued. However, the Regulatory Communi- of discrimination. cation Agency refused to issue such li- The return of refugees and IDS intensi- cences to a number of radio and TV sta- fied but remained at an unsatisfactory lev- tions. el. Spontaneous return did not have ade- The Helsinki Committee in BH pointed quately organized support and the safety of out both to the OHR and to the public that returnees could not be guaranteed. the reformation process of the RTV BH and 70 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA the radio-television broadcasting system of ficking were subjected to threats and as- BH was very slow and inadequate, mainly saults. According to the OSCE telephone due to poor work by foreign mediators. hotline, 35 journalists in RS reported that Radio of the BH Federation and Federation they had received threats by telephone and TV started to operate on two channels, and were otherwise under pressure. The newly a decision was made to appoint a man- adopted RS Law on Access to Information agement for the Public Broadcasting sys- did not facilitate the work of journalists. tem at the BH level (PBS). The OSCE Mission asked the Bosniak The BH Press Council started to work member of the Presidency, Halid Genjac, to as a self-regulating organization with the discipline his advisor Ademir Jerkovic, who aim of reviewing the principles of the Press had verbally pressured Emir Felic, journalist Code, adopted in April 1999. with the BH Press, demanding him to give A media war between Bosniaks and more attention to Jerkovic in their news. Croatians raged in Mostar. Furthermore, all electronic and print media in this territory A powerful explosive device was were under the control of the HDZ. In the thrown into the apartment of Zoran Sovilj, a Una-Sana Canton, media outlets were di- journalist of Kozarski vjesnik, in Prijedor on vided between the SDA and the Democra- 20 November. Nobody was injured, but tic National Union (DNU). there were substantial material damages. It Croatian Radio Tomislavgrad (Tomislav- was believed that the attack was linked to grad) was fined for spreading intolerance Sovilj’s articles on different scandals in against others and against the International Prijedor, some of them related to illegal Peace Mission. prostitution and trafficking in women. Prior to the attack he had received public and The Croatian RTV’s (Mostar) licence telephone threats. was suspended for 90 days for inciting na- tionalism. Journalist Ljuba Dikic was threatened to be lynched after her son, Ivica Dikic, a Former editor-in-chief and deputy editor- journalist himself, had written in the in-chief of the daily Oslobodjenje were char- Croatian independent weekly Feral Tribune ged with allegedly abusing their positions. about the situation and people in Mostar. The majority of the media in the RS The driver and bodyguard of Mostar’s were under the control of local authorities Mayor, Neven Tomic, who was later exclud- or political parties. This became particularly ed from the HDZ, attacked and threatened obvious in the dismissal of the Director of a RTV Mostar team after Mr Tomic was the SRNA news agency, Dragan Davidovic asked for a statement. and its multi-ethnic steering committee. The only independent media in the RS was A Belgian TV crew was assaulted near Zeljko Kopanja’s daily Nezavisne Novine. Pale. Their camera was taken, together with RTVRS hardly covered Serb extremism at a tape on indicted war criminal Radovan all, while RTV Sveti Georgije in Banja Luka Karadzic. advocated violence during the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the Ferhat Biljana Bokic, a journalist of TV Trebinje Pasha mosque in Banja Luka. Its licence (RS), was intimidated and threatened after was suspended for 90 days. The daily Glas having written two articles about a socially Srpski was influenced by the SDS. endangered and handicapped citizen. Independent journalists or those re- The state and public institutions did not porting on criminality, corruption and traf- have an adequate mechanism for supply- BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 71 ing information. On the other hand, it also For example, 12 teachers in Cazin and Veli- appeared that editorial boards and journal- ka Kladusa were illegally dismissed but ists were still not aware of their right of ac- were unable to take their cases to court for cess to information and the opportunities two or three years. connected with this right. Police Misconduct Judicial System and Independence of Discriminatory actions, lack of minority the Judiciary protection and abuse of authority were The police and judicial authorities in common in the police force throughout the the RS and the Federation were under the BH territory. Corrupt police officers were in- control of the nationalist parties SDS, HDZ volved in the trafficking in human beings, and SDA whose authorities abused their prostitution networks and drug dealing. power. Even the International Police Task Force The President and one of the Vice- (IPTF) officers were part of such activities Presidents of the BH Constitutional Court and 22 of them were returned to their followed the policy of the nationalistic par- home countries. In addition, numerous lo- ties. The professional dignity of the cal police officers lived illegally in apart- Constitutional Court was defended primari- ments or houses belonging to refugees or ly by its three international members IDPs. (French, Austrian and Swedish) and the In the RS and Western Herzegovina, former President of the Court, the Bosniak the police forces had not undergone any Kasim Begic. In the meantime, the situation transition into law enforcement bodies that in the BH Supreme Court improved after it abide by legal and international standards. had hired experts and professionally inde- For example in the RS, police officers failed pendent persons. to protect returnees and did not follow le- The Sarajevo Canton displayed the gal proceedings to apprehend perpetrators most progress in the operation of courts af- of violence against ethnic minorities. ter appointing to office Amir Jaganjac, the An example of positive policing and co- President of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo. operation occurred on the territory of Sara- The courts began initiating proceedings in jevo and Srpsko Sarajevo. The professional cases involving organized crime and cor- and prudent conduct of the Deputy Minis- ruption. However, the malfunctioning of the ter of Interior Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Prosecutor’s Offices impeded the process- Predrag Kurtes, prevented a potential tra- ing of cases due to political pressure exert- gedy caused by the serious provocation of ed by the nationalist parties. Serb extremists. The courts in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton had a large backlog of cases. Conditions in Prisons Nonetheless, the judges were appointed by the SDA and the HDZ. The two parallel sys- There were 14 penal institutions in BH, tems evident in the judiciary and law en- eight in the BH Federation2 and six in the forcement process – led by SDA and HDZ RS3. The prison administrations and staff authorities, respectively – could be seen by were familiar with international regulations the fact that the Bosniak and Croat judges on the treatment of prisoners and no seri- and police officers received their salaries ous cases of inhuman treatment of prison- from different sources. ers were registered. However, the inmates Anyone who disagreed with the policy complained of poor physical conditions, of the SDA in the Una-Sana Canton could bad quality of food, and the lack of pardon not exercise their rights before the courts. and amnesty. Regular visits by the IPTF 72 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA contributed to better respect of regulations issued a joint press release emphasizing and prisoners’ rights. the inability of the RS to guarantee the re- Most prisons did not meet the mini- spect for human and civil rights of all its cit- mum physical conditions for accommoda- izens.4 Three thousand police officers, who tion. Not only were the buildings in very were on the spot, only barely managed to poor condition, but the facilities were also prevent a disaster. Later, it was necessary to overcrowded, particularly those in the BH post police officers to protect the founda- Federation. Local monitors feared the tion stone. In addition, some Catholic spread of infectious diseases unless the priests opposed the reconstruction of a conditions improved soon. In 2001, only a mosque in Stolac.5 few cases of HIV or tuberculoses were There were no problems with laying a registered. foundation stone for the Catholic Church in Overcrowding resulted in long-term Plehan (RS) several days later. prisoners being accommodated in the In the RS, the Serb Orthodox Church same wards as short-term inmates and ju- was treated as a state institution and an of- venile delinquents, contrary to international ficial religion. In practice, it supported Serb standards. Discontent took the form of nationalism. Similarly, in the territory con- hunger strikes, riots and self-mutilation: in trolled by the HDZ, Croat war criminals Mostar, inmates protested their sentences were glorified. with several hunger strikes; in Banja Luka, The representatives of the three main several detainees mutilated themselves in religious communities in BH (Muslims, protest against the investigation procedure; Orthodox and Catholic) were involved in and in Foca/Srbinje and Zenica, prisoners political events supporting the three nation- climbed onto the prison roof to express al parties (SDA, SDS and HDZ, respective- their discontent with inadequate conditions ly). It was clear that the Inter-Religious and the lack of pardon and amnesty. Council, consisting of the Catholic, Islamic, Cases of homosexual abuse by co-in- Jewish and Orthodox religious communi- mates were reported in the prison of ties, acted only formally as regards re-es- Zenica. It was difficult, however, to establish tablishing inter-religious confidence. how widespread the problem was, as both The Serb Orthodox Church enjoyed a inmates and prison staff were reluctant to religious monopoly in the RS and had the speak about it. status of state religion, in violation of the BH Constitution. The Roman Catholic Religious Intolerance Church played the role of spiritual, ideolog- The reconstruction of mosques and ical and political mentor for Croats living in Catholic churches was a sign of the begin- BH. The mosques turned into gathering ning of normalisation in inter-religious rela- places of SDA activists, spreading imported tions in RS. However, the resistance of Serb Islamic radicalism. extremists against this process was ex- Religious extremism took place particu- pressed in Banja Luka and Trebinje: some larly during religious holidays and political 2,000 people attempted to prevent the tension. The most serious assaults occurred second attempt to lay a foundation stone in Banja Luka and Trebinje (RS). In Turici for the reconstruction of the Ferhat Pasha near Gradacac (BH Federation), a Catholic mosque in Banja Luka. Their main targets priest and a returnee were physically as- were Bosniaks, religious believers, Bosniak saulted, a Catholic cathedral (Sarajevo) was politicians, diplomats, international repre- attacked twice within a short space of time; sentatives and journalists. The Helsinki and Muslims insulted and spat at Catholic Committees in BH and Serbia and the IHF theology students. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 73

National Minorities 48,222 people (35,349 displaced persons Roma Minority and 12,873 refugees) returned to the BH The rights of minorities were drastically Federation, 36,645 (32,306 displaced and violated in the RS where the Roma were 4,339 refugees) to the RS, and 7,824 dis- the most vulnerable of all national minori- placed persons to the Brcko District. ties. During the war, they either fled or were From 1996 to the end of November evicted, but started to return over the past 2001, 811,095 citizens returned in total. two years. However, their return has been That number included 519,788 Bosniaks made very difficult due to lack of support (259,595 displaced and 260,193 refu- on the part of the RS authorities and their gees), 176,129 Serbs (129,641 displaced reluctance to return Roma property. and 46,488 refugees), 109,163 Croats All Roma were evicted from Banja Luka (34,399 displaced and 74,764 refugees) and 6,015 others (1,672 displaced and during the war. The settlement of Veseli 4,343 refugees). 623,941 citizens in total Brijeg, that used to accommodate some returned to the BH Federation, only 800 persons, was completely destroyed. 179,330 returned to the RS, and 7,824 to Similarly, the village of Jasenje (Ugljevik the Brcko District. 433,295 Bosniaks, municipality in RS) was demolished in its 102,411 Croats, 83,268 Serbs and 4,967 entirety. In Bijeljina, large houses owned by others returned to the Federation BH. Roma were taken over by the military and 92,600 Serbs, 79,781 Bosniaks, 5,903 municipal institutions that have been reluc- Croats and 1,048 others returned to RS. tant to give back the houses to the return- 6,714 Bosniaks, 849 Croats and 261 Serbs ing legal owners. returned to the Brcko District. None of the 176 Roma children in 227,798 refugees returned in an or- Modrica attended school (although ele- ganized manner through the assistance of mentary school education was obligatory), the asylum countries. As of the end of while in Bijeljina only six Roma children 2001, there were still about 1.2 million BH went to elementary school and none of citizens outside their pre-war homes. them to secondary school. Throughout the world there were more than 600,000 with refugee status, while in Returnees and Displaced Persons BH there were more than 500,000 dis- The return of people and property, and placed persons. In addition, there were ap- their reception by others remained the key proximately 50,000 refugees in BH. human rights issues in BH.6 The RS resisted returnees most strong- The number of returnees to the BH ly. According to information from the Cat- Federation was twice as high as that to the holic Church, there were about 8,500 Cro- RS. According to the UNHCR, in the first ats out of 220,000 pre-war inhabitants in eleven months of 2001, 87,181 citizens of the RS. Prior to the war, there were 30,000 the BH Federation returned to BH of which Croats living in the area of Banja Luka, but 69,969 were displaced persons and as of the end of 2001 their numbers had 17,212 refugees (67,445 people in total decreased to only around 3,000. In the had returned during 2000). 45,479 area of Srebrenica where roughly 10,000 Bosniaks returned (41,089 displaced per- Bosniaks had been massacred and others sons and 4,390 refugees), 32,243 Serbs expelled, only 352 Bosniak families had re- (23,768 displaced and 8,475 refugees), turned. Only 32 of these families returned 8,571 Croats (4,839 displaced and 3,732 to the town itself. refugees), and 888 others (615 refugees The returnees to North-East Bosnia ex- and 273 displaced persons). In this period, perienced the first snow in 296 tent settle- 74 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ments, as well as in hundreds of ruins, con- had settled in the BH Federation or abroad tainers, and sheds. About 10,000 people and were willing to rent or sell them to were believed to be lacking food, clothes, Serbian IDPs. No property was returned to medication and firewood. In many loca- so-called “floaters”, i.e. Bosniak families tions, donated building material went to ru- who had not left the region of their own ins since the majority of returnees were will but were expelled from their flats or neither in good health (mostly elderly per- houses during the war. There were 50 sons) nor professionally or materially in the “floater” families in Banja Luka, and 30 in position to use it. All this showed that nei- Bijeljina. Although the RS Ministry for ther the authorities nor international organ- Refugees and Displaced Persons promised izations in charge systematically followed to resolve these cases by the end of up the issue of return and returnees. September, they failed to do so. 252,949 claims for repossession of The most serious violent incident property had been filed in total in BH by 30 against returnees occurred on 11 July in the November 2001. In 63% of claims, deci- village of Piskavica (municipality of Vlase- sions were passed and property was re- nica, RS). Sixteen-year-old Meliha Duric, turned to 39% of the applicants. In the BH who had returned after nine years of refu- Federation, a total of 129,995 claims for re- gee life was shot dead in her home: one of possession of property were filed and deci- the bullets shot at the house hit her neck. sions were passed in 78% of the cases; in The police failed to apprehend the perpe- 48% of them property was returned. In RS, trator. out of 116,069 cases, 47% were resolved, and only in 29% of the cases was proper- ty returned to the owners. In the District of International Humanitarian Law Brcko, the total number of claims was Co-operation of the countries of the 6,885, in 42% of the cases decisions were former Yugoslavia with the International passed and property was returned in 36% Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia of the cases. (ICTY) in The Hague improved somewhat, The international mediator for BH, but still remained unsatisfactory. Christian Schwartz Schilling, and the Minis- In the RS, the National Assembly ter for Refugees and Displaced Persons in adopted the Law on Cooperation with the the RS, Mico Micic, stated that the RS is ICTY in September 2001, committing itself three years behind the BH Federation as to cooperate with the ICTY and to appre- regards the enforcement of property laws. hend war crimes suspects, as provided by Throughout BH, nationalistic local au- the Dayton Peace Accord. RS Prime thorities were quick to hand down positive Minister Mladen Ivanic stated that “now decisions in cases where the returning the judicial authorities of RS will be ready refugees and IDPs were of the majority na- to arrest and extradite to the ICTY also for- tional origin. In the RS, Serb returnees mer President of RS, Radovan Karadzic, were given much land free of charge. The and former Commander of the RS Army, OHR issued a provisional ban on the con- Ratko Mladic”. At the same time, the ICTY struction on land whose ownership had Prosecutor’s Office stated on several occa- not yet been regulated, as many lots origi- sions that the RS authorities did not co-op- nally belonged to Bosniak families (e.g. in erate with the Tribunal and that the police Kotorsko, Bijeljina and Janja). However, the in the RS had not arrested one single war practice continued despite the ban. In a criminal.7 similar manner, apartments and houses The nationalist parties SDS and HDZ were returned primarily to families who continued spreading negative attitudes to- BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 75 wards the ICTY, and especially opposed the years imprisonment for massacres and per- arrest of Croat and Serb indicted war crim- secution of Bosniaks in July 1995 in the inals whom they glorified as national he- area of Srebrenica (the first sentence pro- roes. The HDZ even organized various ac- nounced for genocide by the Hague tions to raise money for Croat prisoners in Tribunal); Bosnian Serbs Dragoljub Kuna- The Hague, including a special tax charged rac, Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic, who to all Croat employees on the territory con- were sentenced to 29, 20, and 12 years of trolled by the HDZ. imprisonment, respectively, for the system- The ICTY stated that 26 indicted war atic rape of Bosniak women, their forceful criminals were hiding in the RS. Its Chief detention and sale (the first sentence by Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, also frequently the Tribunal for systematic rape as a war criticized the passivity of SFOR in appre- crime); Bosnian Croats Dario Kordic and hending war crimes suspects. The ICTY re- Mario Cerkez who received sentences of fused SFOR’s allegation that they did not 25 and 15 years in prison respectively for know where Mr Karadzic and Mr Mladic crimes against humanity, committed in the were. The failure to arrest the key war crim- Bosnian village of Ahmici; and Bosnian inals contributed directly to radicalism Serbs Zoran Zigic, Mladjo Radic, Miroslav among nationalists and discouraged the re- Kvocka, Milojica Kos and Dragoljub Prcac, turn of Bosniaks, Croats and Roma to the who were sentenced to 25, 20, 7, 6 and 5 RS. There was no response to the demand years in prison, respectively, for war crimes of the Chief Prosecutor that a special team and crimes against humanity committed in for the arrest of war crimes suspects be es- the Omarska camp near Prijedor where tablished within the SFOR. more than 3,300 Bosniaks and Croats were detained. In the last case, the Association of Former Colonel of the Zvornik Brigade Camp Prisoners of BH and Families of of the RS Army and later its Commander, Victims criticized such lenient sentences. Dragan Obradovic, was arrested by SFOR Some trials took place in BH against and delivered to the ICTY. He was charged persons accused of having committed war with “taking part in organizing and realizing crimes. acts aimed at capturing, shooting and bury- ing more than 5,000 Bosniak men and The Cantonal Court in Mostar acquitted young boys from the enclave of Croat Zeljko Dzidic and three others from Srebrenica.” Bosnian Serb Lieutenant charges of committing war crimes against Colonel Vidoje Blagojevic was also arrested Bosniak prisoners of war and civilians. In by SFOR and delivered to The Hague: he another decision, the Court acquitted was charged with genocide, crimes against Bosniak Dervo Dziho and two others from humanity and violation of laws and cus- charges of having committed war crimes toms of war in the territory of Srebrenica. against Croat civilians in the territory of Mostar. The Bosnian Serb Miroslav Pan- The first Commander of the Army of durevic was also acquitted from charges BiH, Sefer Halilovic, voluntarily surrendered against Bosniak civilians. to the ICTY. He was charged with violations of the laws and customs of war. The Cantonal Court in Mostar sen- tenced the Bosniak Mirsad Cupina to four Several trials were held at the ICTY and a half years imprisonment for war against persons charged with serious war crimes against Croatian civilians in 1993. In crimes in BH. the same case, nine other Bosniaks were They included the Bosnian General sentenced to shorter prison terms and two Radoslav Krstic who was sentenced to 46 persons were acquitted of the charges. 76 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo sen- egy was blocked by political conflicts and tenced Bosnian Serb Dragan Stankovic to other interests. The same problem also ten years in prison for the rape of Bosniak reigned on the entity level. The Law on women, persecution and ill-treatment of Restitution was not passed even thought it Bosniaks. was a precondition for the economic re- form of the country. The instable political Missing Persons and Exhumations situation and legal insecurity discouraged Six years after the war, the issue of foreign investors. missing persons was still not concluded. The unemployment rate in the RS in This was mainly due to the lack of will on 2001 was over 40%. According to the the part of the BH authorities, particularly in Independent Bureau for Humanitarian the RS as well as in Yugoslavia, to search Issues (IBHI), over 60% of the BH popula- for mass graves. The International Commit- tion lived below the poverty line, having tee of the Red Cross had information about only 0,60 KM (0.31 Euro) per day. Many 17,500 BH citizens who were still missing. people had become beggars, some eating The State Commission for the Search of food rests or visiting the few public Missing Persons cited a higher number of kitchens. Pensioners, families of killed sol- 27,719 persons. diers as well as disabled persons were in More than 12,000 bodies were ex- the most vulnerable position. Legal regula- humed by the end of 2001, with approxi- tions discriminated against retired re- mately 5,000 remaining. In eastern Bosnia turnees, an injustice criticized by the around 1,000 Bosniak corpses were ex- Helsinki Committee of BH. humed. In the municipality of Prijedor, in The Ombudsmen of the BH Federation the largest mass grave of all time in Jaka- sharply criticized the federal and cantonal rina, 373 corpses were exhumed while the authorities for not helping the 54,000 work was scheduled to be continued in workers who had not received their final spring 2002. An anonymous letter from a salaries and had been stripped of the right Bosnian Serb directed attention to the to health and pension insurance and in- mass grave near Foca with the remains of demnification whilst being unemployed. around 80 Bosniaks. Many strikes were organized throughout The RS Commission for the Search of BH to protest abuses in the privatization Missing Persons criticized the authorities of process and delays or failures in the pay- the BH Federation for trying to conceal ment of salaries. Many companies did not crimes committed against Serbs - particu- pay contributions to their employees’ pen- larly referring to the localities of Kazani and sion and health insurance. Most trade Lav in the surroundings of Sarajevo. unions could not properly defend the rights of their members as they were under polit- Social Rights ical influence. The Council of Ministers prepared an Non-Serbs were not hired for public economic strategy plan to revive the social posts at the entity or municipal level in the and economic stability of the country which RS, nor could they generally work in edu- was first destroyed by the war, then by cational and medical institutions or the ju- postwar profiteering, misuses in the privati- diciary. Bosniaks and Roma were particular- zation process of former socialist property, ly affected: The judiciary of the RS em- the power wielded by party oligarchies over ployed only two Croats (in Banja Luka) and the country’s wealth, abuse on the black one Bosniak (in Doboj). market, corruption and organized crime. As the authorities in the RS did not pro- However, the implementation of this strat- vide health insurance for Bosniaks, and the BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 77 work of eight clinics of the Muslim human- and the former Soviet Republics were sold itarian organization Merhamet were sus- to nightclubs through organised channels pended, the health situation of Bosniaks and were forced into prostitution. Local po- became increasingly precarious. The lice and the UN Mission in BH (UNMBiH) Federation authorities thus offered them carried out a number of raids in nightclubs support pending the final resolution of the to find such girls. Some of them were stay- problem. ing in the RS illegally. Generally, those Teachers of elementary and secondary found were returned to their countries of schools as well as employees in the health origin. There were indications that local po- sector announced several strikes in the RS lice officers and members of some interna- if their requests for higher salaries and bet- tional organisations such as the IPTF were ter working conditions were not fulfilled. involved in this kind of business. In November, an owner of a nightclub Women’s Rights in Prijedor (RS) was sentenced for illegal The poor economic situation had a stark trafficking in women and organised prosti- impact on the position of women in working tution. This was the first sentence for traf- life, determining the type of jobs available ficking in women in the RS. and their salaries. A survey in Banja Luka (RS) showed that women with low or no Rights of the Child qualifications could find a job more easily The state of permanent political polari- than those with high qualifications. sation as well as the extremely difficult eco- The presence of women in political life was stimulated by the regulation, establish- nomic and social situation, also created an ing that electoral lists must consist of at atmosphere of despair amongst young least 30% of women candidates. The activ- people. More than 60% of young people in ities of international institutions and associ- both entities expressed their wish to leave ations have encouraged a broader engage- the country. ment of women in politics and economic Various actions were undertaken to affairs. bring together youths from different nation- The problem of domestic violence al origins and to put an end to the policy of against women increasingly became a national and religious exclusion. However, topic for public debate. The Helsinki Com- the education system in BH was also based mittee of BH was engaged in establishing on the concept of segregation, using curric- legal norms for the correct conduct by the ula imported from Croatia and Serbia and police force and judiciary towards women. supporting the principle of ethnic and reli- A telephone hotline for victims of vio- gious division. An increasing number of lence was established and it provided help teachers’ strikes affected the atmosphere to women who had been ill-treated by their among pupils and the quality of instruction. husbands or partners. However, most The curricula were inappropriate to the women remained silent about the fact that needs of the time and the teaching tech- they had been abused. nology was obsolete. The majority of re- There were several associations help- turning children received education accord- ing women who had been affected by the ing to curricula that did not respect their war. They offered i.a. group therapy to as- own ethnic origin, religion or language. The sist women back to normal life. children from the BH Federation could not Trafficking in women and the expan- participate in or continue education in the sion of prostitution were serious problems. RS because of differences in school curric- Young girls, mainly from Eastern Europe ula: to attend a regular school, they first had 78 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA to pass an exam and could continue edu- mental and sexual violence against children cation only the following school year. were increasingly subject to public discus- The District of Brcko attempted to cre- sion. The governmental authorities also ate Serb supremacy in the education sys- paid more attention to the problem, but tem and promoted the segregation of Serb, their engagement was insufficient. The SOS Croatian and Bosniak children in schooling. telephone line helped both to save some Also Croat parents supported the separa- children and to bring the topic to the atten- tion of children. The International Super- tion of the media. visor for Brcko, Henry Clark, imposed the Juvenile delinquency and prostitution Law on the Education System for primary increased, and there was a lack of institu- and secondary schools, but Serb represen- tions for their re-socialization. A rapid tatives in the District Assembly rejected the spread of drug abuse and criminality was a proposal to provide education in three lan- problem even in primary schools. Many guages (Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian) on children suffered from behavioral devia- the basis of the ethnic origin of the teacher. tions, which were often a result of either a war trauma or the difficult economic and In the Cantons of Una-Sana and Goraz- social situation in the country. For the same de, Islam was a compulsory subject for all reasons, the number of suicides among pupils. young people increased. The schooling system in Mostar was di- The Helsinki Committee for Human vided into Croatian and Bosniak sectors. Rights organized, with the assistance of the Those children whose parents held Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the School political opinions deviating from those of for Human Rights for Young People, at- the ruling party in the region were subject tended by 16 high-school students from to attacks. nine BH cities. The Committee was partic- Thanks to the activities of NGOs, in- ularly engaged in establishing a correspon- cluding the Helsinki Committee for Human ding legal infrastructure to protect the rights Rights in BH, the problems of physical, of children and young people.

Endnotes 1 Based on Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Report on the State of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, January-December 2001, and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska, Annual Report on the State of Human Rights in Republika Srpska. 2 In Zenica, Tuzla, Bihac, Mostar, Sarajevo as well as facilities in the Busovaca Department of Tomislavgrad, in the Ustikolina Department of Sarajevo and Orasje Department of Tuzla. 3 In Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Doboj, Foca/Srbinje, “Kula”/Srpsko Sarajevo and Trebinje. 4 IHF, the Helsinki Committee in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Helsinki Committee in Serbia, “Condemnation of Recent Chauvinist Riots in Banja Luka and Trebinje”, 9 May 2001, at www.ihf-hr.org/appeals/010509.htm 5 All Muslim religious places of worship were destroyed during the conflict between Croats and Bosniaks in 1993. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 79

6 See also the press release and report by the IHF, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Hezegovina and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska, “IHF Fact-finding mission to Eastern Bosnia About the State of Refugee Return,” 10 May 2001, at www.ihf-hr.org/appeals/010510.htm 7 See also the press release by the IHF, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Helsinki Committee in Republika Srpska, “Appeal by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights In Republika Srpska and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” 16 July 2001, at www.ihf-hr.org/appeals/160701.htm