Mostar witnesses unwilling to testify

Nijaz Mehmedbasic, chief prosecutor at the cantonal office in Mostar, says his office is conducting several war crimes investigations but has failed to issue any indictments in the past 18 months. He blames witnesses who are unwilling to testify or who change their statements after the fact.

“We mainly rely on the statements of witnesses, because the physical evidence is difficult to find,” said Mehmedbasic. “Perhaps there is a certain fear of the people who have returned to their pre-war residences in which they suffered bad experiences, and therefore they are not willing to take the risks.”

Without witnesses, cases are often abandoned. Prosecutors say they had 820 suspects on their books, but investigations against many were subsequently suspended due to lack of evidence.

The Mostar cantonal court includes nine municipalities: Capljina, Citluk, Jablanica, Konjic, Neum, Prozor-Rama, Ravno, Stolac and the city of Mostar.

According to the Sarajevo-based Information and Documentation Centre (IDC), 5,500 people of different nationalities fell victim to war crimes during the clashes between the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABiH) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) from 1992 to 1995.

“I believe that cases of war crimes are poorly resolved because many suspects are still at large. What are the feelings of someone who went to the other side and see someone who was punching him in the camp?” said Mostar resident Amra Coric.

Azra Penava, president of the HNK Association of Prisoners and Missing Persons, says many war crimes witnesses are afraid to testify because of the lack of protective measures. Penava said the witnesses have “had enough”. “Witnesses told me that that brothers or sisters of the accused threatened them by saying,  ‘How will you walk around this town?’,” she said.

Mehmedbasic says he has not received any reports of threats. He says in the one case in which prosecutors requested protective measures for a witness it was rejected by the court.

Mladen Jurisic, president of the Mostar court, said protective measures are impossible because of lack of technical capabilities to alter facial features or voices to conceal identities while testifying . The court is also unable to provide a separate area where protected witnesses can testify or a separate entrance to the courtroom.

Not surprisingly, under such conditions witnesses often change their statements.

“Witnesses simply have amnesia regarding the perpetrators of the crime and claim that they did not signed their earlier statements,” said Penava.

Victims and residents in the region say more successful prosecutions would contribute to better co-existence and reconciliation in Herzegovina-Neretva.

“I never said that Croats murdered my husband, but … I would like to hear the truth from the witnesses. To say the real truth, so that I know it…Surely, only the truth will contribute to coexistence and prosperity,” said Penava.

Mehmedbasic says a plan is in place to begin processing war crimes cases though he is unsure whether it will succeed. “Each prosecutor should resolve three cases by the end of June this year. So we should solve 12 cases. However, this does not mean there will be 12 indictments, perhaps it will be 12 suspensions of investigations.”

NGO activists say the situation in local courts is symptomatic of problems in the government.

“The parliament of the HNK was the worst in Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the realised tasks from the agenda for 2009. This is a result of their work, or rather idleness, which shows how the government is alienated from citizens,” said Majda Behram-Stojanov, spokesperson for the Center for Civic Initiatives (CCI).

Dalio Sijah is BIRN’s Justice Report journalist. dalio.sijah@birn.eu.com. Justice Report is BIRN online publication.

This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government