Bosnien-Hercegovina

Introduktion
De komplicerede politiske forhold i Bosnien-Hercegovina siden krigen i første halvdel af halvfemserne har gjort, at mange vigtige områder mht. menneskerettigheder tilsidesættes. For at undgå at uroligheder blusser op igen beskæftiger staten og de øvrige politiske enheder sig fortrinsvis med at skabe lighed imellem de tre konstituerede folk (bosniakker, kroater og serbere), hvilket er en stor udfordring i sig selv, og dermed bliver andre mindretal ikke taget i betragtning i særlig høj grad. Ifølge FN er næsten halvdelen af befolkningen socialt ekskluderet på den ene eller anden måde. Det gælder for eksempel nationale mindretal (i særlig grad Romaer, som er den fjerdestørste etniske gruppe), handikappede, kvinder, arbejdsløse, børn, unge, ældre, homoseksuelle, mv. Det er ikke fordi myndighederne ikke er klar over, at menneskerettigheder ikke bliver respekteret, men ansvaret er svært at placere i det komplicerede politiske system, som i øvrigt er overvåget og kontrolleret af en international myndighed (Office of the High Representative OHR). Desuden er myndighederne økonomisk udsultede på grund af den dyre administration i landet (Bosnien-Hercegovina har femten præsidenter og over hundrede ministre fordelt i føderale enheder mm og en befolkning på kun omkring fire mio.) og forholdene for mange bliver stadigt værre. Nu er det fx officielt at Bosnien-Hercegovina oprindelsesland for trafficking og ikke kun transitland, som det siden krigen har været betegnet som. Selvom det er svært at vurdere hvem, der har ansvaret (inkl. Det internationale samfund, særligt FN og EU) for at bekæmpe disse problemer, er det vigtigt at fastholde presset for at finde en løsning.
Der findes mange Ngo’er, kæmper for forskellige gruppers rettigheder i landet, men de har det svært i det politiske system og mangler finansielle midler (læs mere om dem her). Balkangruppen forsøger at hjælpe disse Ngo’er ved at skabe opmærksomhed på deres arbejde.

Herunder findes Amnesty International officielle bekymringer mht menneskerettigheder i Bosnien-Hercegovina (Engelsk)

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
This country entry has been extracted from a forthcoming Amnesty International (AI) report, Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Amnesty International's Concerns in the Region: July – December 2006 (AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007), to be issued later in 2007. Anyone wanting further information on other AI concerns in Europe and Central Asia should consult the full document.

General and political developments
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remained divided in two semi-autonomous entities, the Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), with a special administrative status granted to the Brèko District. The international community continued to exert significant influence over the political process in BiH, as part of the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, led by a High Representative whose nomination is proposed by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), an intergovernmental body that monitors implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Approximately 6,000 troops of the European Union (EU)-led peacekeeping force EUFOR remained in BiH mandated to ensure the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and to contribute to a safe and secure environment in BiH. EUFOR’s mandate was extended by the UN Security Council in November for a further year. In addition to EUFOR, about 150 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops remained in the territory of BiH, reportedly to assist the BiH authorities in defence reform, to provide support to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (Tribunal) with regard to the detention of persons indicted for war crimes, and to combat terrorism.
In October general elections were held in BiH, the first to be fully administered by local authorities. The electoral campaign saw the widespread use of nationalist rhetoric, including calls to organize a referendum for the independence of the RS. Results showed that the electorate remained divided along ethnic lines. At the end of the period under review, a new government had yet to be formed.
In November, NATO offered BiH membership of the alliance’s Partnership for Peace. BiH officially joined the programme in December. The Tribunal’s Prosecutor stated that the decision to allow BiH to join Partnership for Peace, despite the failure of BiH to fully cooperate with the Tribunal (see below), was a powerful signal that the international support for the Tribunal was decreasing.

War crimes and crimes against humanity (update to AI Index: EUR 01/007/2006)

International investigations and prosecutions
The Tribunal continued to try alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the violent collapse of Yugoslavia. None of the Tribunal indictees still at large was transferred to the Tribunal’s custody in the period under review and a total of six publicly indicted suspects remained at large at the end of December.
Under the terms of the "completion strategy", laid down in UN Security Council Resolutions 1503 and 1534, the Tribunal was expected to complete all trials including appeals, by 2010. As a result of the tight deadlines imposed by the "completion strategy", the Tribunal continued with its policy of referring cases involving lower level perpetrators to national jurisdictions in the former Yugoslavia.
In September the case of Paško Ljubièiæ was transferred to BiH. The accused is suspected of having committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) population, including persecutions and murder, in connection with his alleged role as a commander in the military police of the Croatian Defence Council (Hrvatsko vijeæe obrane, HVO), the Bosnian Croat armed forces. In October, the case of Savo Todoviæ and Mitar Raševiæ was also transferred to BiH. The two are accused of having committed crimes against humanity and war crimes including persecutions, torture and beatings, wilful killings and murder, and enslavement of non- Serb detainees in Foèa. According to the indictment, Savo Todoviæ and Mitar Raševiæ were commanders in the Foèa "KP Dom" prison camp.
In July the trial of Vujadin Popoviæ, Ljubiša Beara, Drago Nikoliæ, Ljubomir Borovèanin, Vinko Pandureviæ, Radivoje Miletiæ and Milan Gvero started at the Tribunal. All suspects are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Vujadin Popoviæ, Ljubiša Beara, Drago Nikoliæ, Ljubomir Borovèanin, Vinko Pandureviæ are also accused of genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide. For all the accused, charges relate to their alleged role as commanders of the Bosnian Serb Army (Vojska Republike Srpske, VRS) in the systematic killing of thousands of Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica in July 1995. Zdravko Tolimir, jointly indicted with the accused on charges of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, remained at large.
In September Momèilo Krajišnik, who between 1991 and 1995 held high-ranking positions in the Bosnian Serb leadership, was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment for crimes committed against the non-Serb population. He was found guilty of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and forced transfer. He was acquitted of genocide and complicity in genocide charges.
Cooperation between the RS authorities and the Tribunal remained inadequate. So far not a single person indicted by the Tribunal has been arrested by the RS police and no progress was made by the RS in locating former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžiæ. Radovan Karadžic faces charges, including of genocide, for his alleged role in crimes committed against the non-Serb population, including in Srebrenica in 1995. In December, in her address to the UN Security Council, the Tribunal Prosecutor noted that central institutions were not working efficiently and that RS authorities, despite some recent improvements, did not show a robust willingness to arrest Radovan Karadžic and Stojan Župljanin, the fugitives most likely to be in BiH.

Domestic investigations and prosecutions
Progress was made in the domestic prosecution of war crimes, including in proceedings at the War Crimes Chamber (WCC) within the BiH State Court, although efforts to bring perpetrators to justice remained insufficient given the scale of the crimes committed and the potentially huge number of crimes to be investigated and prosecuted. Moreover, there continued to be concerns over the lack of financial and other resources needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the WCC and to enable it to carry out its activities effectively.
In July, after proceedings at the WCC, former RS policeman Boban Šimšiæ was found guilty of having assisted members of the Bosnian Serb Army in committing in 1992 the crimes of enforced disappearance and rape against non-Serbs in the Višegrad area. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Following the airing of a video showing a former Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Armija Bosne I Hercegovine, ABiH) commander apparently ordering the burning of Bosnian Serb villages during military operations in 1995, an investigation was opened in October by the Office of the Prosecutor at the WCC into the role of ABiH members in war crimes.
Nikola Kovaèeviæ, a former member of Bosnian Serb forces, was sentenced in November by the WCC to 12 years’ imprisonment for the persecution of the non-Serb population in the Sanski Most area. Marko Samardžija, former VRS commander in the Kljuè area, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment, including for his role in the killing of at least 144 Bosniak detained men. Also in November, the WCC rendered its first judgement in a case transferred by the Tribunal.
Radovan Stankoviæ was found guilty of crimes against humanity committed against the non-Serb population in the Foèa area. Radovan Stankoviæ, a former VRS member, was convicted of having participated in the rape of women held in detention by Bosnian Serb forces and sentenced to 16 year’s imprisonment.
In December, Nikola Andrun, a former member of the HVO, was sentenced to 13 years’
imprisonment for war crimes committed in his capacity of Deputy Commander of the Gabela detention camp, including the torture and intimidation of non-Croat detainees. After proceedings at the WCC, former VRS member Dragan Damjanoviæ was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for having committed murder, torture, rape, enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts against non-Serbs in the Vogošæa Municipality and surrounding villages.
Also in December, the re-trial of former member of Bosnian Serb forces Neðo Samardžiæ before an appellate panel of the WCC ended with a prison sentence of 24 years for crimes against humanity committed against the Bosniak population in the Foèa area. Such crimes included severe deprivation of physical liberty, sexual slavery, rape, and other inhuman acts. In April he had been sentenced to 13 years and four months’ imprisonment after a first instance trial. The first instance verdict was revoked in October.
Some war crimes trials of low-level perpetrators were also held in local entity courts. Courts at the entity level continued to face difficulties in dealing with war crimes cases, including as a result of lack of staff and other resources. In these proceedings, victims and witnesses remained without adequate protection from harassment, intimidation and threats including as a result of a failure to implement existing witness protection legislation.
In July, after proceedings at the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, former ABiH member Samir Bejtic was sentenced to 14 years and six months’ imprisonment for his role in the murders of Bosnian Serbs in Kazani, near Sarajevo, in 1992 and 1993.
In October, an indictment was confirmed at the Sarajevo Cantonal Court against a man suspected of having committed, as a member of Bosnian Serb forces, war crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war. The indictment inter alia alleges that the suspect was involved in the beating and abduction of Vladimir and Radislav Maðura from their home in Ilidža, a suburb of Sarajevo.
The bodies of Vladimir and Radislav Maðura were exhumed and identified in 2004.

Enforced disappearances (update to AI Index: EUR 01/007/2006)
According to estimates of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), over 13,000 persons who went missing during the 1992-1995 war were still unaccounted for. Many of the missing were victims enforced disappearances, whose perpetrators continued to enjoy impunity. Progress continued to be slow in transferring competencies from the missing persons commissions of the FBiH and the RS to the national Missing Persons Institute (MPI). The MPI’s Steering and Supervisory Board members were appointed in December by the BiH Council of Ministers.
In July the bodies of 305 mostly Bosniak people were buried in Prijedor in a ceremony attended by international and local officials, including the Chairman of the BiH Presidency. The bodies had been exhumed from mass graves in the Prijedor area and identified, mostly through DNA analysis.
In August the exhumation of a mass grave in Kamenica, near Zvornik, uncovered 1,009 incomplete and 144 complete skeletons. The site is believed to contain the remains of victims killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995, and was reportedly the biggest mass grave excavated since the end of the war.
In November the exhumation of a mass grave in Snagovo, a village north of Srebrenica, was completed. The grave contained 90 complete and 66 incomplete bodies, believed to be victims of killings in Srebrenica.
Also in November, 115 complete skeletons and 162 incomplete mortal remains were uncovered from a mass grave in Gorice, near Brèko. Some of the identification documents of the victims, found during the exhumations, were reportedly those of non-Serbs from Brèko listed as missing. Some of the bodies presented indications that the victims had been executed by gunshot from close range.
In December the commission implementing a 2001 decision by the BiH Human Rights Chamber on the "disappearance" of Avdo Paliæ (Paliæ Commission) was reportedly reactivated. In April 2006 the Paliæ Commision had presented a report to the Office of the High Representative, which claimed to reveal the location of the mortal remains of Avdo Paliæ and to detail his fate. The report was also forwarded to the BiH Prosecutor. However, the information contained in the report proved to be insufficient to carry out the exhumation of the body. ABiH Colonel Avdo Paliæ had "disappeared" after reportedly being forcibly taken by VRS soldiers from the UN Protection Force compound in Žepa on 27 July 1995. He had gone there to negotiate the evacuation of civilians from the town which had just surrendered to the VRS.

Right to return in safety and with dignity (update to AI Index: EUR 01/007/2006)
Since the end of the war, out of an estimated 2.2 million people displaced during the conflict, more than a million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were estimated to have returned to their homes. Progress in the return of those still displaced was limited. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in BiH registered approximately 1,100 returns between July and October. Of these, approximately 900 were returns in a minority situation.
Cases of violence and harassment by non-state actors (private individuals) against returnees and minorities were reported, especially in the months leading up to the general elections in October. These included threats, harassment, damage to property and religious buildings and violent attacks.
In October, an anti-tank rocket was fired at a mosque in Mostar, causing considerable material damage. A man suspected of involvement in the attack was identified and arrested by local police in November.
Lack of access to employment continued to be a major obstacle to the sustainable return of refugees and IDPs. Employment opportunities were scarce in general, reflecting the weak economic situation and difficulties of economic transition and post-war reconstruction. In addition, returnees faced discrimination on ethnic grounds.
In August an agreement was reportedly reached by the Aluminij company in Mostar and the FbiH government dealing inter alia with the issue of former employees dismissed during or shortly after the war. As a result of these dismissals, from being a company with a significant number of Bosniak, Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat employees, Aluminij has now an overwhelmingly ethnic Croat workforce.
The agreement provided for all former workers who were employed by Aluminij on 31 December 1991, to register with the company and to have their working years at Aluminij recognized. The deadline for former workers to present their documentation to Aluminij was 14 October 2006.
Aluminij informed AI that, by this deadline, more than 3,000 workers had presented their claims, which were still being processed at the end of the period under review.

‘War on terror’ (update to AI Index: EUR 01/007/2006)
The six men of Algerian origin who in 2002 were unlawfully transferred by the FBiH authorities toUS custody and detained in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, remained in detention.
In July the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the "alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners". The resolution inter alia urged "that investigations be continued to clarify the role of US soldiers, who were part of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR), in the abduction and transfer to Guantánamo Bay of six Bosnian nationals and/or residents of Algerian origin" and called for the possible role of the BiH authorities in this case to be examined further.
In September lawyers representing the six detainees filed applications to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of their clients. The applications claim that the failure of the authorities in BiH to implement binding decisions by domestic courts and to act to protect the rights of the detainees is in violation of a number of provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols No. 6 and No. 13.
The BiH State Commission for the Revision of Decisions on Naturalization of Foreign Citizens, which had begun its work in March 2006, continued its activities. Reportedly, the Commission had decided to withdraw approximately 300 citizenships, at the end of the period under review. The Commission can propose to the BiH Council of Ministers to withdraw the citizenship of, among others, those who are deemed to have obtained it not in accordance with the relevant regulations, or on the basis of false information, in those cases where the individuals affected would not be rendered stateless.
Reportedly, the activities of the Commission could affect approximately 1,500 individuals, many of whom are reported as having come to BiH to join Bosniak forces as volunteer foreign fighters during the 1992-95 war, or to work for Islamic charities during and after the war. There were concerns that decisions to withdraw citizenship would not be subject to an effective appeal and that those whose citizenship was withdrawn would be deported, extradited or otherwise transferred to countries where they would be at risk of human rights violations, including the death penalty, torture and other ill-treatment.

Lack of access to education for Romani children
Primary school attendance rates for Romani children were low and extreme poverty remained one of the main causes of the exclusion of Roma from education. Moreover, Romani language, culture and traditions were not included in a systematic way in school curricula. Insufficient progress was made by the authorities at state, entity and cantonal level, in the implementation of the 2004 Action Plan on the Educational Needs of Roma and Members of Other National Minorities.
A Council for National Minorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the Action Plan on the Educational Needs of Roma and Members of Other National Minorities, which had been formally created in April, was not yet operational at the end of the period under review.
In November AI published the report False starts: The exclusion of Romani children from primary education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia (AI Index: EUR 05/002/2006), dealing with the human rights violations suffered by Roma as a result of their exclusion from primary education in the three countries. In the report AI called on the authorities in BiH inter alia to ensure that accurate data and statistical information are collected on the Romani population, as well as on its inclusion in education, disaggregated by gender and age; to take steps to ensure that children from low-income Romani families are provided with assistance in a timely and comprehensive manner, in order to overcome barriers in access to education; to take steps to ensure that Romani culture, history and traditions are included in school curricula; to take steps to ensure that Romani children have access to pre-school programmes of a sufficient duration; to take steps to ensure that Romani assistants and mediators are employed in a systematic and comprehensive way in all schools and pre-schools with a significant Romani population; to take steps to ensure that teachers and other staff working in schools receive training on Romani culture, history, traditions and language; and to provide pedagogical and other relevant training to Romani assistants and mediators.

Violence against Women
The reported incidence of domestic violence remained high. In 2006, Cantonal Ministries of Internal Affairs in the FBiH recorded 712 criminal acts of violence in the family. However, both local non-governmental organizations and police authorities estimated that a significant proportion of cases of domestic violence went unreported. Moreover, in criminal proceedings charges against the perpetrators were often reportedly brought on the basis of provisions in the entities’ criminal codes, and not on the basis of provisions in more recent legislation on domestic violence, adopted in the two entities.
In September, the BiH Council of Minister adopted a Gender Action Plan, detailing a number of measures to address gender inequality and violence against women. Inter alia, the Action Plan envisages legislative changes to harmonize legislation on domestic violence in the two entities and the adoption of all relevant regulatory acts necessary to its implementation. The Action Plan also foresees the education and training of judges, prosecutors, members of police forces and social workers on legislation on domestic violence and violence against women. Moreover, the Action Plan provides for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical data on violence against women.

UN Human Rights Committee
In November the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) issued its Concluding Observations after considering BiH’s initial report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The HRC inter alia expressed concern about the underfunding of entity courts dealing with war crimes cases and the unsatisfactory implementation of witness protection legislation at the entity level. The HRC called on BiH to "allocate sufficient funds and human resources to the district and cantonal courts trying war crimes and ensure the effective application of the State and Entity Laws on Protection of Witnesses".
Moreover, the HRC noted with concern that the fate and whereabouts of "some 15,000 persons who went missing during the armed conflict (1992 to 1995) remain unresolved" and urged BiH to take immediate and effective steps to investigate all cases of missing persons and ensure without delay that the MPI becomes fully operational.
The HRC was also concerned "about the reported lack of implementation of the State and Entity laws on protection against domestic violence, underreporting, lenient sentences for perpetrators and inadequate assistance for victims of acts of domestic violence in both Entities". The HRC called on BiH to ensure the effective implementation of legislation to combat domestic violence, to intensify the training provided to judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers on the application of such legislation, to introduce standard procedures for the collection of medical evidence of domestic violence, and enhance victim assistance programmes and access to effective remedies.