The draft law on the protection of civilian victims of war, which, among other things, will recognize victims of wartime sexual violence and children born from acts of wartime sexual violence as a special category of civilian victims of war, was adopted unanimously at the session of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). Victims’ representatives welcomed the adoption of the Draft, expecting the Parliament to do the same.
Senida Karovic, president of the Association of Civilian Victims of the Federation, reminds that civilian victims of war have so far been treated by the Law on Social Protection, Protection of Civilian Victims of War and Protection of Families with Children.
“It is a great success that for the first time civilian victims of war are getting their own law, that is, the Law on the Protection of Civilian Victims of War in the FBiH. We were part of the working group formed by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, and we worked with the working group all the time so that the civilian victims of the war would receive the best possible protection,” explains Karovic.
She adds that the legal regulation has been improved in the part that civilian victims of war have 70 percent of the rights of disabled veterans, i.e. families of martyrs and fallen fighters.
“We abolished one discriminatory article of the law that refers to the families of killed civilians, which in the current law read: ‘If the income in the household exceeds the average salary of the Federation, the income of the family of a war victim is reduced by 50 percent.’ We removed this article, it no longer exists,” says Karovic, who pointed out that they also reduced the age for men and women whose spouses died in the war, in order to exercise their rights.
Ajna Jusic, president of the “Forgotten Children of War” Association, explains that the uniqueness of the law adopted yesterday by the Government of the Federation is reflected in the fact that victims of wartime sexual violence and children born as a result of acts of wartime sexual violence will undoubtedly be defined as a special category of civilian victims of war, and that based on that status, they will be able to exercise the material rights provided for by this law, which will be equally implemented on the territory of the Federation.
Bakira Hasecic, president of the “Woman Victim of War” Association, is very pleased with the adoption of the Draft Law. She told that a great effort was made, and that the members of “Woman Victim of War” had amendments to the preliminary draft, which were made and adopted on time.
“It is important to us because it relates directly to our population. The parliament should adopt it, it concerns all of us, not only the individual,” says Hasecic, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
