Bosnia Struggles with War Rape Compensation

The verdicts in June convicted three former soldiers of rape and simultaneously ordered them – for the first time in the country – to pay compensation to their victims.

The state court’s rulings – which still need to be confirmed by its appeals chamber before they are enforced – were hailed as a step forward for justice. But it remains uncertain whether the victims will ever receive the money.

Former Bosnian Serb soldier Slavko Savic was sentenced to eight years in prison for raping a woman in Vogosca near Sarajevo in 1993 and was ordered to pay his victim 30,000 Bosnian Marks (about 15,000 euros).

Two other former Bosnian Serb soldiers, Ostoja and Bosiljko Markovic, were found guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl in Kotor Varos in 1992, sentenced to ten years in prison each and ordered to jointly pay their victim 26,500 Marks (about 13,250 euros).

But the verdicts also said that the defendants’ financial situation was poor. They were exempted from paying court costs and their defence was state-funded.

“[Slavko Savic] does not own any property. He is not registered as the owner of any real estate, so it is very hard [to get him to pay],” said his lawyer Nevenka Vitomir.

Lawyer Nedzla Sehic, who filed the requests for compensation on behalf of the victims, will ask the convicted men to submit statements about their property and confirm, under threat of criminal sanctions, that those statements are correct.

“That means they will have to list everything, really everything that they possess,” Sehic said.

A legal precedent for victims

Before these verdicts, the Bosnian state court did have the legal power to decide how much the perpetrator should pay the victim in compensation for non-material damages in war crimes cases. But until June, this power had never been exercised by the court.

Instead, victims could try to get compensation by filing civil suits after a final verdict had been pronounced at the end of the criminal proceedings.

During these civil cases, the victims had to engage lawyers, pay their costs and go through another court procedure.

Those victims who were granted protected status during the criminal trials had to have this lifted for their civil suits, despite the fact that the state court decisions have indicated that information that is protected under such measures should be kept secret for the next 30 or more years.

The victims who were granted compensation in June were advised by TRIAL (the Track Impunity Always Association) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which said the verdicts were a precedent which opened the way for others to exert their right to compensation.

If the verdicts are upheld by the court’s appeals chamber, the three convicted men will have to pay within 90 days. Should they fail to do so, the money will be seized from them – if they have it.

“The enforcement procedure can target their salaries, retirement benefits, if applicable, or real estate and possibly some movable assets,” said Adrijana Hanusic, TRIAL’s legal adviser in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the law, the confiscation of personal possessions like refrigerators or beds is not allowed because they are used for fulfilling basic living needs. Other items that are used for any work which is the convict’s main source of income cannot be confiscated either.

At one of the hearings, the state prosecution and defense lawyers said that the Markovics did not have full-time permanent jobs but earned money through seasonal work.

The state court did not immediately respond to BIRN’s inquiry about whether it had checked Savic and the Markovics’ financial situation before assigning them free legal assistance, as it obliged to do in such cases, because its judges are currently on vacation.

If it turns out that the convicted men cannot pay what they owe their victims, lawyer Sehic said that suits would be filed against Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska.

Sehic said this course of action was possible because Savic and the Markovics were members of the Bosnian Serb Army.

Republika Srpska however has declared all suits requesting compensation for wartime non-material damage to be obsolete under its statute of limitations – suggesting that what looked like breakthrough rulings for the victims of wartime rape ultimately might not provide them with the compensation to which they are entitled.

But according to TRIAL, if these recent verdicts become final, Republika Srpska will not be able to invoke the statute of limitations, and the victims will be able to sue the entity to claim compensation for the distress they suffered.