June, 14, 2022
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Mr. President,
At the outset, please allow me to congratulate you for assuming the Presidency of the Security Council for this month and wish you every success in performing your duties. You can count on full support of my delegation.
I would also like to thank the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Judge Mr. Carmel Agius and the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Mr. Serge Brammertz for their respective reports and for today’s comprehensive briefings.
We commend the Mechanism in continuing to make progress in its work since the last Security Council sessions on this topic, and continues to function despite all circumstances affecting the work of the Mechanism. This unprecedented justice project can only be concluded when all of its unfinished cases receive proper closure.
Therefore, continuation of its work, until such closure, is of paramount importance.
Mr. President,
The situation with the COVID-19 pandemic still has a serious impact on the actions and activities of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, as well as those of the judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, between the last two sessions of the UN Security Council.
Having in mind the challenges that the pandemic has posed for the national prosecutors of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the work of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which deals primarily with the unfinished and most complex war crimes cases, was inevitably affected.
Mr. President,
The judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are focused and committed to the implementation of the revised Strategy for Work of War Crimes Cases, as adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the first and most important goals of this Strategy is to conclude all unresolved war crimes cases by the of 2023. To this end, the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are working to resolve all open war crime cases between judicial authorities on different levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All potential perpetrators of war crimes must be prosecuted for their personal or command responsibility. Judicial authorities should, in accordance with the Revised Strategy, unify court practice in order to strengthen trust in the judicial system and ensure equality of all citizens before the law.
Implementation of this Strategy will send a strong message that impunity will not and must not be allowed, regardless of the nationality and ethnic identity of either victims or the perpetrator. This is important for reconciliation and progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina and throughout the Western Balkans.
And speaking of reconciliation, glorification of war crimes and their perpetrators and the denial of war crimes is one of the main obstacles we face in that long and painful process. It is unacceptable and as such must be punishable under the law. The proper acknowledgment of truth, punishment and condemnations of all persons responsible for war crimes committed in the past is key for our common future, key in forging relationships and cooperation built on trust and respect, and a necessary and significant step of progress on our path towards membership in the European Union.
Mr. President,
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina records, the total number of 21 indictments against 56 persons have been filed in 2021 and 5 indictments against 19 persons in the first five months of this year. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has delegated total number of 18 cases to the entity level prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as to the Prosecutor’s Office of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued orders to open seven new cases against 67 persons.
I would like to inform you that, according to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina records, this Court received 21 indictments in year of 2021 and one indictment in the first four months of this year. In the period 2020 – the end of April 2022, this Court pronounced 25 in first and 20 verdicts in second instance verdicts.
Allow me to emphasize once again that, as evidenced in their reports throughout the relevant period of operations, the cooperation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has been stable and complete. In this vein, we commend recent trip of Mr. Bramertz to Sarajevo and his meetings with the Acting Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as with the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Srpska.
We remain committed to contribute actively to the Mechanism’s efforts to accomplish its mission. We would also like to reiterate our commitment to its work and to call on all Member States to fulfill all obligations and make their financial contributions to provide for the uninterrupted work of the Mechanism.
We are grateful that the Office of the Prosecutor of the IRMCT continues its engagement with the judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that remains committed to provide Bosnia and Herzegovina with full support in assisting, transferring knowledge, and applying all lessons learned.
We would like to express our gratitude for the support of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the United Nations Development Program for strengthening the human and material resources of judicial institutions prosecuting war crimes and engaged in general capacity-building. I would like to emphasize that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has supported and implementation of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina project of technical needs assessment of data bases, already established in the cooperation between OSCE, Prosecutor’s Office and High Judicial and Prosecutor’s Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr. President,
Bosnia and Herzegovina remains committed to investigating, prosecuting, and punishing all persons responsible for war crimes, regardless of the offender’s nationality, ethnicity, religion, and political or other affiliation. We would also like to emphasize that witness protection is of the utmost importance in the conduct and operations of all judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cooperation between the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of neighboring countries in the exchange of information is also critical as we continue to search and identify for about 7,400 persons who still remain missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that regard, acting Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Milenko Kajganic met the Director of the International Commission on Missing Persons, Ms. Katherine Bomberger in Sarajevo on 17th March 2022. The main topic of this meeting was improving the processes of searching for missing persons, identification and assistance by International Commission on Missing Persons.
I would like to commend a continued cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Prosecutor’s Office for the war crimes of the Republic of Serbia. In that vein, they organized successful meeting held in Sarajevo on 5th April 2022. The main topics of this meeting were implementation of memoranda and protocols of cooperation, signed between two countries, exchange of information in the criminal prosecution of war crime cases.
Also, they discussed topics related to the cooperation in the fight against impunity for war crimes, as well as current cases in progress, in which mutual legal assistance was requested in certain procedural actions. One of important issues of this meeting is status and stages of criminal proceedings in cases transferred from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Republic of Serbia and vice versa. The Draft Agreement of understanding and cooperation for witness and victim’s protection and support in war crime cases has been prepared between the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Prosecutor’s Office for the war crimes of the Republic of Serbia.
We regret, however, that there has been no progress in the matter of Novak Đukić and Milomir Savčić, who were standing trial in Bosnia and Herzegovina and fled to Serbia.
Cooperation to the judicial authorities of the Republic of Croatia could and should be improved in a sense of positive responses of the authorities of the Republic of Croatia to the requests sent from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Republic of Croatia for the mutual legal assistance, but authorities of the Republic of Croatia haven’t responded so far. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has finished a couple investigations, but it is not possible to file the indictments without questioning of suspect persons, residing in Croatia. In that vein, we urge the Government of the Republic of Croatia to change the Croatian Government conclusion to not comply with the requests for the mutual legal assistance in the cases treated as the Crimes against humanity from 2015. The changes of this conclusion are needed for the improvement of fight against impunity and reconciliation in the Western Balkans region.
I would also like to inform that the Protocol of the cooperation in war crime cases, crimes against humanity and the genocide has been signed between the State’s Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Protocol would help in the facilitation in information and evidences exchange between two countries.
Mr. President,
We are fully committed to continuing to strengthen the rule of law, human rights, and economic development. We will continue to work to strengthen the justice system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stability, progress, mutual trust, and cooperation cannot be achieved without full justice.
Thank you for your attention.