Foreign delegations and embassies in Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed what they called a “long-awaited adoption” of the Revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy, marking it as an important step in delivering justice for all victims of war crimes and reducing the impunity gap.
They also assessed it as a key requirement outlined in the European Commission Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership application.
“By seeking common ground for the greater good, BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) politicians have shown they can make vital steps forward to deliver on citizens’ expectations of a more just society firmly on course for EU membership,” said a joint statement signed by the European Union's Delegation, the US Embassy and the Mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Twenty-five years since the end of the conflict in BiH, hundreds of war crimes cases are still pending. The adoption of the Revised Strategy will help accelerate the processing of war crimes cases, by providing more precise criteria on the distribution of cases to the appropriate level. We will continue to support all prosecutors’ offices in BiH in their efforts to ensure their efficient processing,” they added.
Bosnia's Council of Minister unanimously adopted the revised strategy in an extraordinary session held Thursday.
The War Crimes Processing Strategy was initially adopted in 2008, and it stipulated that the most complex war crime cases are processed at the state level within the seven-year period while the less complex crimes would be transferred to the lower, entity-level courts and finalised by 2023.
The seven-year deadline expired in 2015 and the most complex war crimes cases were not completed, which is why a revised strategy was prepared in order to disburden the state court.
“In keeping with the Revised Strategy, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH should focus exclusively on the most complex cases, including genocide and crimes against humanity allegations, and those with command responsibility for such crimes. All less complex cases should be transferred to entity and district level prosecutor’s offices to be processed as soon as possible,” the embassies said, calling on the State Prosecutor's Office to proceed with this urgently.
“Additionally, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH must, without delay, introduce an effective accountability mechanism for judges and prosecutors who fail to implement related strategic goals and measures. We will closely monitor these processes in the coming months,” said the foreign delegations, adding that they would be closely monitoring the implementation of the Strategy, remaining available to assist the justice sector in its efforts to deliver justice to victims.
