WAR CRIMES
- BiH requests arrest of Fikret Abdic: On 4 January, the Office of Member of the BiH Presidency Alija Izetbegovic made public the results of a review by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Office of the Prosecutor regarding the file of Fikret Abdic, leader of the DNZ who declared the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (FBiH) during the war. Under the Rules of the Road, the ICTY Prosecutor had reviewed Mr. Abdic's file and deemed evidence sufficient by international standards for Abdic's detention on war crimes charges. On 10 January, a letter was sent from the Ministry of Interior of the FBiH to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Croatia requesting that the Croatian authorities arrest Fikret Abdic in Croatia where he is currently residing.
- IPTF Monitors attacked: The death of Dragon Gagovic during the attempted SFOR operation to detain him on 9 January near Foca (RS) was followed by attacks against the international community. Gagovic, a Bosnian Serb, had been publicly indicted by the ICTY in June 1995 for crimes against humanity and for grave breaches of the laws or customs of war. During the SFOR operation to detain Gagovic, Gagovic drove his car directly at SFOR soldiers. In self-defense, the SFOR soldiers opened fire and shot Gagovic. Following the incident Gagovic was taken to a medical facility and pronounced dead on arrival. Later the same day a crowd of approximately 100 local residents demonstrated outside the IPTF station in Foca. The crowd become angry and members later assaulted IPTF monitors in the station, injuring five monitors, two of them seriously. The IPTF station was badly damaged and UN equipment, including two vehicles, destroyed. The RS Minister of Interior has established an investigation team led by the Foca Chief of Police to fully examine the circumstances of the attacks and IPTF has set up an investigation to monitor RS investigations into these incidents. Since the attack, international organizations have suspended their activities in the area, with only a limited IPTF presence returning to Foca.
- On 25 January, Milomir Tepes was convicted and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment by the Sarajevo Cantonal Court for war crimes against the civilian population. Tepes was arrested in March 1998 by Sarajevo police on the outskirts of Sarajevo. Tepes' file had been sent to the ICTY in accordance with the Rules of the Road agreement and ICTY had found there was sufficient evidence for his detention. The investigative phase commenced on 23 March 1998 and an indictment was brought against Tepes in August last year. The trial commenced in mid September 1998 and no major procedural violations were noted by trial monitors. Tepes has suffered from mental health problems and was examined on several occasions during the period in which the investigation and trial took place by medical professionals, who assessed Tepes to have competency in following proceedings.
PROPERTY LEGISLATION
Federation Property Legislation Update
- The review of the Federation laws on property and housing initiated by the High Representative in November 1998 (see HRCC Monthly Report, November, at para 17, and December, at para 15), has produced agreement between OHR and the Federation Ministry for Urban Planning and the Environment on urgent amendments to the property laws. The agreed amendments will:
- strengthen the provisions regarding the implementation of decisions of the Commission for Real Property Claims under the Law on Cessation of Application of the Law on Abandoned Apartments and Law on Real Property;
- strengthen the presumption of refugee/displaced persons status and therefore increase the numbers of those eligible to claim;
- amend the Law on Housing Relations to terminate all court proceedings currently underway and cancel all court decisions based on provisions of this Law rendered since 30 April 1991 and which terminated contracts on use of apartments. It will also render all proceedings for those whose contracts were cancelled in this way, subject to the administrative procedure under the Law on Cessation. This amendment is currently being considered for adoption by the Federation Parliament;
- amend the Law on Sale of Apartments so that persons who lost possession of their apartments, either pursuant to a decision on abandonment or a cancellation of their contract on use under the Law on Housing Relations since 30 April 1991, will acquire the right to purchase the apartment after 5 years. Those who acquired a permanent occupancy right to an apartment which was the subject of a decision on abandonment or cancellation of the contract on use, will acquire the right to purchase on whichever is the later of 4 April 2000 or the date at which proceedings brought by the pre-war occupancy right holder have been concluded.
- OHR has held two working sessions with lawyers from the Federation Ministry of Defence (FMoD) to address the failure of the military authorities to relinquish control of the military housing stock, which has blocked returns to these apartments. The FMoD have presented a proposed amendment to the Law on Cessation of the Law on Abandoned Apartments, which is currently under the consideration of OHR and other international organisations. The proposal includes a provision to transfer the administration of the claims process to the competent civilian authorities.
- On 15 December, the Sarajevo Cantonal Assembly adopted legislation which resulted in the abolition of the Sarajevo Cantonal Housing Department, the cantonal body responsible for processing claims for socially owned housing and for issuing eviction notices. Since then, although officials continue to process claims for the return of socially owned housing, there have been no decisions or documents issued by the Department.
- Persistent obstacles to the processing of property claims in Central Bosnia Canton have led to calls by the international community for the police in Jajce and Bugojno municipalities to initiate proceedings against the municipalities' Housing Commission for failure to respond to applications for the return of property. [Ed. Note: The police in Bugojno have refused to press charges against the Housing Commission while the Jajce police have agreed to do so.]
- The results of the inter-agency review of implementation of the Federation property and housing laws have been received, and are now being compiled. The information has been gathered on a municipal basis. Once analysed, the results will identify the main political and administrative obstacles to implementation of the laws, and will form the basis of a BiH-wide inter-agency intervention strategy, which will involve the RRTF.
Republika Srpska Property Legislation Update
- OHR has held discussions with the RS Government authorities on the initiatives they should undertake to ensure the effective implementation of the Law on Cessation of Application of the Law on Abandoned Property, which entered into force on 19 December 1998 (see HRCC Monthly Report, December 1998, at para 18). The RS Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons is currently holding a series of training sessions throughout the RS for municipal officials responsible for the claims process. The Ministry is also preparing a list of responsible officials and addresses of municipal departments which will receive claims under the Law. In addition, OHR has asked the RS Government to present an amendment to the Law on Housing Relations to the National Assembly, equivalent to that which is currently being considered for adoption by the Federation Parliament (see para 22 above). [Ed. Note: On 10 February 1999, the Instruction on the claims process for both private property and socially-owned apartments, was published in the RS Official Gazette. This Instruction contains a number of important procedural safeguards, and an integral part of the Instruction are two standard claim forms, one for socially-owned property and the other private property and will be used by municipal officials to process property claims.]
Evictions in Republika Srpska
- There were no minority reinstatements in January and all evictions for minority reinstatements in Republika Srpska remain suspended except where alternative accommodation is available, pursuant to the Conclusion adopted by the RS National Assembly on 9 December, (see HRCC Monthly Report, December 1998, at para 19). OHR has raised the obstruction to the reinstatement of these cases with the RS Minister of Justice.
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