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The involvement of international judges and prosecutors in the War Crimes Chamber of the Prosecution and Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has encouraged public faith in the impartiality of those institutions – says a report issued by Human Rights Watch NGO.
The report titled “Lessons of International Support for Trials before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina” stresses the importance of international staff in state-level judicial institutions, but it also says that the model has had certain “flaws”.
From the beginning of their work in 2005, the Prosecution and Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina have completed more than 200 cases involving serious violations of international law. According to Human Rights Watch’s experts, this accomplishment is due in large part to the dedication of national and international staff to see justice.
The State Court and its Prosecution have worked with more than 70 international judges and prosecutors, mostly from Western Europe and the United States of America, since 2005.
The Human Rights Watch report, which was prepared on the basis of interviews with officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina, international and local staff and experts involved in war crimes cases, says that international prosecutors have played a key role in conducting investigations into most serious war crimes cases, that would “have likely remained unaddressed because of their sensitivity”.
However, although the experts say that the Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has made significant accomplishments, they claim that the model of providing international assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been without flaws.
“The Bosnia experience has shed light on the value-added of international staff, but also on missed opportunities to make the most of what international judges and prosecutors have to offer,” said Param Preet-Singh, Senior Advisor in Human Rights Watch’s international justice programme and the report’s author.
Preet-Singh added that donors should carefully consider the Bosnia experience in order to avoid reinventing the wheel in other countries, where national justice for serious international crimes is being pursued.
The Human Rights Watch considers that international presence increases the capacity, independence and impartiality of judicial institutions. However, the report says that, in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, opportunities have been missed to better utilise the presence of international staff in the areas of knowledge transfer, institution building and transition strategy.
Experts point out that the success in knowledge transfer have been “limited” within the Special Department for War Crimes in the Prosecutor’s Office.
“Considering that some investigations can take years to complete, five years is simply not enough time for international prosecutors to make significant headway in processing complicated and politically sensitive cases. As a result, public confidence has eroded significantly, particularly among Bosnian Serbs,” the Human Rights Watch report says.
According to the experts, initial weaknesses in the outreach and communications strategies left the Prosecution and Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ill-equipped to effectively address these misperceptions.
One of the conclusions listed in the Human Rights Watch report says that it is necessary to allocate financial and human resources to the Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to ensure a smooth transition from international to national staff.
“Ensure the passage of the draft Witness Protection Programme Law and allocate resources to the State Investigation and Protection Agency’s Witness Protection Unit as needed to provide effective protection and ensure the Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the resources necessary to improve their respective outreach and communications strategies,” the report says.
In this report, Human Rights Watch called on the public to refrain from politically-motivated attacks on the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Special Department for War Crimes of the State Prosecution.
The mandate of international legal expert was originally due to expire in late 2009, but it was extended. It is now expected that they will leave at the end of 2012.
D.Dz.
