Thirteen civil society organizations, which deal with the protection of human rights, approached the Ministry of Labor, Veterans’ and Disability Protection of the entity of Republika Srpska with an initiative to extend the deadline for submitting a request for the status of a victim of war torture within the framework of the Law on the protection of victims of war torture, which expires in October 2023.
“This initiative is a response to the needs of the victims of war torture in the RS, in the context of realizing the status and related rights for serious crimes that these persons survived, and should and can be regulated under the Law,” points out the signatory of the Initiative Nada Golubović, president of the Management Board United Women’s Foundation.
As she pointed out, although a lot of time has passed since the war in BiH, unfortunately, it has not healed the old wounds, including the long-term psychological, physical, economic and social consequences of torture for the victims and their families. Many victims continue to suffer from the trauma associated with the crimes, which have survived and are left with significant consequences that are difficult to overcome.
“Submitting a request for status recognition implies that a person speaks publicly about the trauma, and the time when someone is ready for that is specific for every individual. That’s why victims need to be given more space to decide when they are truly ready to speak publicly about their traumatic experience,” added Golubović.
The signatories of the initiative also pointed to Article 14 of the UN Convention against Torture, which the state of BiH, as a signatory, is obliged to respect. In that article, it is emphasized that the right to compensation should be effective and that it is necessary to remove obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to reparations, such as inadequate legislation, procedural conditions that make it difficult to exercise the right, limited deadlines and the like. It is further emphasized that victims need to be ensured not only de iure, but also de facto access to “timely and effective mechanisms for exercising their rights.”
If it is not possible to cancel the time limit, the signatories of the Initiative propose to extend the deadline for an additional five years, i.e. until October 2028. This would give the victims an opportunity to apply for the status, and the institutions of the system to make additional efforts to ensure that the rights prescribed by the Law are implemented in full and in favor of the victims.
