Local Justice – Zenica: Former Detainees Call for Faster Processing of Crimes

The Association of Detainees from Zenica, consisting of about 400 members, expresses its dissatisfaction with the handling of war crimes, pointing out that “witnesses are ready, but criminals walk the streets freely”.

Samir Pojskic, President of the Association of Detainees of Zenica municipality, told BIRN-Justice Report that the Association has archives about the detention of its members in 55 detention camps all over the Central Bosnia region.

“People are ready to testify. However, we have to bear in mind that it is easy to speak out when you do not have to continue living in the areas where crime perpetrators walk freely. I therefore consider that local communities must ensure safety for witnesses,” Pojskic said.

According to Pojskic, the Association of Detainees from Zenica, which comprises 400 members, is an active participant in the establishment of a witness support network in war crimes cases in the Zenica-Doboj Canton.

For them, this represents a way for building peace and a contribution to the strengthening of mechanisms that will lead to the handling of war crimes.

“I find satisfaction in the fact that Zlatko Aleksovski, Commander of the detention camp where I was held, was one of the first ICTY indictees, because when someone does something to you, you naturally expect the person to be hold responsible for that,” Pojskic said.

Aleksovski, former Manager of a prison facility in Kaonik, near Busovaca, was sentenced to seven years in prison in February 2000 for having participated in the physical and mental abuse of about 500 non-Croat detainees.

Pojskic mentioned that detainees from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina were not sufficiently interconnected due to “political influences”.

“Thanks to international organisations, we hold meetings with detainees from RS and Herzegovina, who were detained on all sides. Detainees easily agree with each other, because they share similar experiences. The problem lies in the fact that they are being manipulated for political purposes. This is why there is no will to sort our status out, use the data and process the suspects,” Pojskic said.

Data available to the Zenica-Doboj Cantonal Prosecution suggest that no detention camps were formally established in the Zenica town area during the course of the war, but there were “places for the temporary retention of people”, like the Musical School.

The Zenica-Doboj Cantonal Prosecution has no cases referring to detention of civilians in the Musical School building.

The Prosecution says that such cases, as well as cases referring to detention camps in Visoko and Zepce, have been submitted to the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina for further processing. Redzo Delic, Prosecutor with the War Crimes Section of Zenica Prosecution, says that the Prosecution faced no problems in terms of the witnesses’ response during the course of investigations related to war crimes.