Another protest – this time by camp inmates. Through letters and appeals, the Association of Camp Inmates of Bosnia and Herzegovina is asking the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to urgently draft a law on this population. They say that everything has so far been fruitless, and solutions have been promised by both the current and previous governments. While ministers are declaring themselves incompetent, camp inmates are asking the question – whose goal is it that torture victims have no status and other rights?
Thousands of camps and hundreds of thousands of victims
This is a map with the locations of 657 camps and detention centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where more than 200,000 people were detained.
Torture victims then and today without status — without social and psychological assistance, and facing fines they pay to the entity of Republika Srpska, because they sued that entity for torture in the camps during the war, but the lawsuits were dismissed due to the statute of limitations.
“Approximately, according to some studies, about 51% are currently alive. The existing law on civilian victims of war recognizes only 5% of the population, and 95% of that population, who still work, contribute, make books, films, and prove their rights in courts and prosecutors’ offices, 95% of that population has no rights,” said Seid Omerović, president of the Association of Camp Inmates of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A Law Without a Solution
An attempt to draft a law on camp inmates in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ended with the formation of a working group three years ago, which completed its work, but without concrete solutions. The proposal of the Association of Camp Inmates of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that torture victims have the right to compensation, medical treatment, rehabilitation, priority employment and housing (Article 9). All persons who were imprisoned or killed in camps from April 30, 1991 to February 14, 1996 would be granted the status (Article 7).
“They already disbanded at the second session because the representatives and the Minister of Justice of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared that they were not competent to resolve the issue of concentration camp inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” says Omerović.
“We cannot be the bearers of the drafting of such a law, since concentration camp inmates are not under our jurisdiction. It would be best if this type of law were passed at the state level, but given the political situation we are currently living in, that is unrealistic to expect, given all the blockages we have. First of all, those coming from Republika Srpska,” argues Adnan Delić, Minister of Labor and Social Policy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NiP).
Dissatisfaction with the work of institutions and the judiciary
The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs, which were part of the working group, did not respond to inquiries. Concentration camp inmate associations also point to obstruction of court proceedings, which is why in February they demanded the dismissal of the Chief State Prosecutor Milanko Kajganić, claiming that he allegedly stopped sending the indictment to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the war crimes cases in Sanski Most and Manjača.
“We are not satisfied with the suspension of indictments”
“We have not received any answers from the prosecutors, from the HJPC, the president of the HJPC. What we are generally not satisfied with is why the indictments were suspended at all, because we believe that this is playing into the hands of the accused, some of whom have direct ties to Mr. Kajganić,” said former camp inmate Nihad Ključanin.
The Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor confirmed that they are working on the complaints received, but details cannot be disclosed due to the confidentiality of the proceedings. The question remains why camp inmates have been waiting for justice and legal rights for three decades, in a system that does not recognize victims of torture, and “keeps” the organizers and guards of the camps at large, Federalna writes.
