“Twenty years after the start of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are reminded that for the victims, their families, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, justice remains as important as ever”, High Representative Valentin Inzko said today. The High Representative was meeting ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz in Sarajevo.
“Views of the events that took place in BiH between 1992 and 1995 remain polarised, underlining the absolute need for all alleged war crimes to be fully investigated and for the individuals responsible to be brought to justice” said the High Representative.
High Representative and the Chief Prosecutor expressed their full support to the State judiciary.
Implementation of the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy remains slow. The High Representative and the ICTY Chief Prosecutor agreed that the Entity prosecutors offices and courts need to be strengthened so that they can properly process both the cases that they have been working on for years, as well as the cases transferred from the State level. “We have to be absolutely sure that there is enough expertise to process these cases and implement important measures such as witness support and witness protection”, the High Representative said.
International support to processing of war crimes will continue to be vital in assisting authorities throughout BiH to develop the mechanisms and capacities for processing war crimes effectively.
Inzko said the OHR would continue to support the work of the ICTY and would act where necessary in order to ensure that the domestic authorities fully cooperate with the ICTY and with the responsible authorities so that the backlog of war-crimes cases can be dealt with.
Chief Prosecutor Brammertz welcomed the High Representative’s continued support for the activities of the Tribunal and Prosecutor’s Office.