Selimovic et al: They Could Have Stopped Abuse

“Selimovic was in a position to know that prisoners were taken to other locations to perform labour. He could have prevented other people from abusing prisoners of war. He knew that the rights of the prisoners of war were violated. He requested them to provide information about the actions in which they had not participated,” said court expert Dragomir Keserovic, who prepared his findings and opinion at the request of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.In his opinion, indictee Ruznic had the same possibilities in terms of prisoners of war.The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Selimovic, Ruznic and Emir Mustafic with crimes in Bosnian Krajina. According to the charges, in the period from 1994 to 1996 they assisted in the detention of members of the Republika Srpska, RS Army and police and civilians in detention centers in Bihac, Cazin and Bosanski Petrovac.The indictment alleges that Selimovic was Counter-intelligence Officer and Deputy Chief of the Military Security Section of the Fifth Corps of ABiH, Ruznic was Assistant Commander for Security and Mustafic was military policeman.“Emir Mustafic was member of military police for a certain period of time. He used to perform administrative tasks. I cannot precisely say what his role was,” Keserovic said, adding that his membership in the military police was unlawful, considering the fact that he did not complete his military service and that he did not know how to handle a rifle.Keserovic said that taking statements from prisoners of war was an allowed action. As he said, the prisoners of war included some civilians, who were granted a status of prisoners of war, but the decision was not made by the indictees.“As per an order issued by the Commander of the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the places for detention of prisoners of war and their guards were selected. The Commander of the Fifth Corps was the one who assigned the status of prisoner of war to individuals,” the court expert said.He said that the Service, i.e. the Military Security Section of the Fifth Corps with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had an influence on the situation in the detention facilities “in a certain way”.“The collection centre in the ‘Adil Besic’ military barracks was formed on the basis of a direct order issued by the Commander of the Fifth Corps. By the mentioned order, he appointed the manager and decided that military police would guard the place. According to the order, the Military Security Section was supposed to make a security assessment and prepare a report about it activities,” Keserovic said.He pointed out that, as per the Commander’s order, the Military Security Section controlled the functioning of security guards.“It was undoubtedly ordered to inform the Commander about it on a regular basis. Not one single piece of evidence shows that there were any negative reports about the status of prisoners of war,” Keserovic said.The trial is due to continue on April 11, when the Defence teams will cross-examine the court expert. A.S.