Still Waiting

Bringing Justice for War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity, and Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Cantonal and District Courts

Related Material Download PDF file of this report (74 Pages, 347 kb ) Download PDF of report with cover (76 Pages, 546 kb ) Also available in: B-C-S Purchase a printed version of this report More on Human Rights Watch's work on Bosnia and Herzegovina More on Human Rights Watch's work on International Justice

I.    Introduction

Methodology

II.   The Importance of the Trials before Cantonal and District Courts

III.  Evolution of the Current Legal Framework

A. The “Rules of the Road”

B. The creation of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and case review

C. Changes to the legal system and judicial and prosecutorial reforms

D. Uncertain number of existing cases

IV.  Staffing and Specialization of Judges and Prosecutors

A. Staffing needs for judges

B. Staffing shortages in prosecutors’ offices

V.    Investigations

A. Lack of specialized investigators within prosecutors’ offices

B. Police cooperation across entity boundaries during investigations

C. Limited police investigative capacity

D. Cooperation between prosecutors and police on investigations

VI.  Evidence

A. Difficulties in the use of evidence from the war period

B. Evidence sharing with the State Court

C. Use of ICTY evidence

D. Use of NGO evidence

E. Additional concerns regarding sources of evidence

VII. Witnesses

A. Lack of witness protection services

B. Lack of witness support programs

C. Witness fatigue

D. Building trust between prosecutors and victims

VIII. Obstacles to Getting Defendants into Court

A. Summonses and absence of recourse to custody

B. Regional cooperation and the lack of an extradition framework

IX.  Defense

A. Training and resources for defense attorneys

B. Payment of defense attorney costs

X.    Law Harmonization/Use of International Precedent

A. Law harmonization

B. Failure to follow international precedent

C. Proper classification of crimes in violation of international law

D. Importance of a consistent legal approach to cases

XI.  Public Awareness/Outreach

XII. Reform Proposals

XIII. Recommendations

To prosecutors in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH

To the judiciaries of Republika Srpska and the Federation

To police in Republika Srpska and the Federation

To the governments of Republika Srpska and the Federation

To the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council

To the Special Department for War Crimes of the Office of the Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina

To the Criminal Defense Support Section

To the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

To the governments of Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia

To the international community

Acknowledgments

 

July 2008    ISBN: 1-56432-341-2