05 Aug OSCE report on processing of war crimes in BiH

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented on 28 June 2022, the report „A Race Against Time: Successes and Challenges in the Implementation of the National War Crimes Processing Strategy of BiH.“

The report highlights the main achievements and obstacles relating to war crimes processing in BiH and provides recommendations for different relevant stakeholders in order to more efficiently and fairly process the remaining backlog of cases.

More than 25 years since the end of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), nearly 500 war crimes cases, involving over 4,000 known suspects, remain before the country’s prosecutors’ offices. At the current rate of processing, the deadline of the Revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy (Strategy) to process all remaining cases by the end of 2023 will be missed. It is also no longer an exaggeration to state that, with each passing day, the likelihood of achieving justice for the remaining victims of the atrocities committed during the war diminishes – a result of the death and illness of suspects, defendants, witnesses, and victims, coupled with a decreasing quality in the evidence to support prosecutions. 

Political factions in BiH continue to impede the full implementation of the Revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy, most clearly evidenced by the failure by the BiH Council of Ministers to appoint the Supervisory Body for monitoring the Strategy’s implementation. Scores of suspects and accused reside abroad and are unavailable to the BiH authorities – necessitating significant improvements in regional co-operation to prevent this issue alone frustrating a considerable number of the remaining cases. Lingering limitations in institutional capacities, especially with respect to witness and victim support and protection, continue to derail progress. Finally, the award of compensation within criminal proceedings to victims of atrocities remains the exception, not the rule.

On the other hand, the progress that has been made must be recognized. More than 600 war crimes cases have been adjudicated by the courts in BiH, and the capacities of the domestic institutions have undoubtedly been strengthened over the lifetime of the Strategy – an important legacy that the Mission hopes will endure.

The OSCE Mission to BiH called on all stakeholders, national and international, to act swiftly and take every possible step within their powers to ensure that the remaining war crimes cases are processed efficiently and fairly.

It was also noted that over the past decade, the European Union has deployed great efforts to assist the country to effectively tackle the backlog of war crimes cases within the country’s judiciary. Thanks to EU financial assistance starting in 2013, the backlog has been reduced by almost 60%. 

Reference from the official website of OSCE