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- Implement without delay all decisions of the Human Rights
Chamber/Commission and the Constitutional Court on cases of forced
disappearance, including by carrying out rigorous criminal investigations
with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice and to providing the
relatives of the victims of forced disappearance with information as to
their fate.
- Focus a greater part of the Ministry of the Interior’s
budget for war crimes investigations on crimes committed in Republika
Srpska against the non-Serb population.
- Amend legislation in Republika Srpska to enable the
recruitment of specialist investigators in district prosecutorial offices.
- Recruit, and provide necessary funding for, additional
prosecutors and support staff who are dedicated to the prosecution of war
crimes. There should be sufficient capacity amongst prosecutors and staff
responsible for prosecution of war crimes to attend proper and effective
training necessary to carry out their duties. The Center for Judicial and
Prosecutorial Training should organize working visits of prosecutors in
charge of war crimes prosecutions to the ICTY, as well as training involving
ICTY practitioners as instructors. Attendance should be compulsory for
district prosecutors involved in war crimes investigations.
- Instruct local police on the importance of their
cooperation with war crimes prosecutors and with the investigation of all
war crimes allegations, including those perpetrated by Bosnian Serbs
against non-Serbs.
- Develop a witness protection program. At a minimum, the
program should provide for the transfer of witnesses to locations other
than their places of residence; protection of the witnesses’ family
members; police escorts; home protection; and the protection of witnesses’
personal information. The Center for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training
should initiate regular training on the treatment and protection of
particularly vulnerable witnesses.
- In those cases in which the ongoing trials or
investigations concern wartime offences and disclose prima facie
violations of humanitarian law, amend the charges to reflect those
violations.
- Request that the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
authorize increases in the number of district prosecutors working on war
crimes cases if current staffing proves insufficient, and consider the
establishment of special war crimes departments in each district.
- Request approval from the High Judicial and Prosecutorial
Council for the recruitment of a greater number of law clerks, whose tasks
would include assisting those prosecutors in charge of war crimes
prosecutions.
- Make full use of available sources of information relevant
to the investigation, including information gathered by nongovernmental
organizations, and ICTY transcripts and other material. Request that the
Chief Prosecutor arrange access to the ICTY Evidence Disclosure Suite.
- Endorse requests to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial
Council for increases in the numbers of district prosecutors and law
clerks working on war crimes cases.
- Develop jointly with the Office of the Prosecutor of
Bosnia and Herzegovina modalities for cooperation to enable Republika
Srpska prosecutors to access ICTY material to which the Office of the
Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina has access.
To Bosnia and Herzegovina Central Authorities
- In the short-term, allow for the transfer of proceedings
in war crimes cases against Serbian and Croatian citizens, respectively,
to Serbia and Montenegro and to Croatia, subject to agreement by the
authorities in each country that they will facilitate the participation of
Bosnian witnesses in proceedings.
- Adopt legislation enabling the recruitment of specialist
investigators in prosecutorial offices.
To the Office of the Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Develop jointly with the Chief Prosecutor of Republika
Srpska modalities of cooperation to enable Republika Srpska prosecutors to
access the ICTY material to which the Office of the Prosecutor of Bosnia
and Herzegovina has access.
- Establish a focal point in the special war crimes
department to manage requests for assistance from Republika Srpska
district prosecutors and to facilitate contact with the ICTY Office of the
Prosecutor.
- In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Republika
Srpska, provide mechanisms for an increase in the number of prosecutors
and law clerks in those prosecutorial offices in which the current staff
is insufficient to handle the increased caseload of war crimes cases.
- Expedite the creation of the criteria for assessing the work
of the district and cantonal prosecutors. Standards for measuring the
output of the prosecutors in charge of war crimes prosecutions should
reflect the exceptional investment of time and resources necessary for the
proper investigation of war crimes.
- Provide specific guarantees to facilitate participation of
Bosnian witnesses in all war crimes cases transferred by the Bosnian
authorities for trial before courts in Croatia and in Serbia and Montenegro . This could include, for example, giving witnesses the option of
providing testimony through a video link in every case transferred by the
Bosnian authorities.
- Undertake the necessary measures to abolish the existing ban
in the countries’ respective constitutions on the extradition of nationals
to other states to stand trial for the most serious crimes, including war
crimes.
- Ensure that accountability for war crimes and effective
criminal prosecutions are consistently prioritized in relations with the
authorities in Bosnia and in Republika Srpska.
- Provide material assistance to district courts in
Republika Srpska, including computers for all prosecutors and their staff,
as well as the technology allowing for testimony to be given via video
link, and equipment to disguise the voice or conceal the face of a witness.
- Establish communication with the Chief Prosecutor of
Republika Srpska and the district prosecutors working on war crimes
issues, to develop modalities to provide district prosecutors with access
to the ICTY’s Evidence Disclosure Suite and Judicial Database, and for
their use of other ICTY evidence, and assist in training.
- Cooperate with the Center for Judicial and Prosecutorial
Training in order to facilitate expert training for prosecutors and
investigators and enable the transfer of expertise in the prosecution of
war crimes to domestic tribunals.
- Extend war crimes trial monitoring to include the
investigative phase, with a particular focus on monitoring the use by
prosecutors in charge of war crimes prosecutions of potential sources of
evidence about war crimes.
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