The Search for the Missing Slowed down by Lack of Finances

Amor Masovic, member of the Board of Directors of the Steering Board of INO of BiH, says that, in a certain period of time the State Prosecution’s work related to exhumation and identification of war crimes victims was “slowed down”, because it took several months for financial resources to be transferred from INO to that institution.

“According to INO’s estimates, the Prosecution needed about half a million of convertible marks (KM) for this year. However, given that the budget was not adopted, the mentioned amount was divided into two tranches. The first KM 250,000 was transferred to the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina a couple of days ago. The fact that the Prosecution had incurred expenditures that amount to more than KM 200,000 in the meantime represents a problem,” Masovic explains.

On October 10 this year the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an announcement saying that not a single KM had been paid to that institution for exhumations as at the beginning of October 2011. It further said that the Prosecution had debts towards the parties participating in exhumation processes.

Besides the State Prosecution, INO BiH, ICMP, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, law enforcement agencies from the Entities and Brcko District, specialized institutions and court experts in various fields are involved in the exhumation process.

INO BiH, ICMP and the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina regard that the lack of qualified persons in the exhumation process, as one of the key problems.

“The State Prosecution faces problems related to the number of persons who are involved in this process. I therefore think that a need for the recruitment of additional personnel has arisen,” said Klaudija Kuljuh, Regional Coordinator for the Western Balkans with ICMP.

Masovic points out that the lack of prosecutors and expert associates is “a key issue”, adding that it does not fall under the responsibility of the State Prosecution, but the State Parliament and Council of Ministries of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Masovic said that INO of BiH has initiated a procedure for transferring the remaining financial resources to the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would enable it to pay its debts to court medicine experts, public funeral companies and others workers involved in the exhumation process by the end of this year.

“I believe that, in case the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not receive the second tranche in due time, it will still continue with activities in the exhumation and identification process. INO will try to ensure that the suppliers, public funeral companies and court medicine experts wait for a certain period of time before they claim their money from the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Masovic said.

The State Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has still not been formed, although a year has passed since the general elections. For this reason, all state institutions, including the State Prosecution, are financed from a temporary budget.