If Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia cannot come up with an agreement on cooperating on extradition and other war crime issues, the new State Court of BiH may end up just trying Bosniaks. Without regional cooperation, can justice be served?
The business partner of former Municipality of Stari Grad mayor Ibrahim Hadžibajrić secretly furnished two luxury apartments in a new building near the Markale market, the final design of which was approved by the mayor’s closest associate, Alma Destanović. Hadžibajrić and Destanović are facing trial for illegally issuing a construction permit for the construction of this building.
The construction of the mixed-use building of Amko Komerc near the Markale market was still ongoing when Elmedin Karišik, self-appointed custodian of the property of then-Mayor of the Sarajevo Municipality of Stari Grad Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, decided to furnish two luxurious apartments on the top floor.
He approached the job discreetly, unwilling to share…
If Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia cannot come up with an agreement on cooperating on extradition and other war crime issues, the new State Court of BiH may end up just trying Bosniaks. Without regional cooperation, can justice be served?
Bosnia-Herzegovina is set to receive its first cases from the ICTY. While the new War Crimes Chamber of the Court of BiH has international judges and experts, new facilities and €16 million for two years of funding, the majority of cases will go to district and cantonal courts that are overburdened, under funded and dangerously incapable of handling these complex cases.
In 2003, the new War Crimes Chamber of the BiH State Court had 13 international donors to fund it, and the head of the High Representative’s Rule of Law Office promised that the appointment of judges was at hand.
Prisoners may be better off staying in The Hague than face being sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina”s dangerous and crumbling prison system. The disparity in detention facilities between the new State Court War Crimes Chamber and the resources available to the lower courts is just one of the credibility issues facing the international community’s latest effort to spur reconciliation between the ethnic factions in BiH.
Abduladhim Maktouf, the first war crimes defendant to be tried in the BiH State Court, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. However, Maktouf”s history shows how war and crime mixed in odd ways in Bosnia-Herzegovina and how the first war crimes case was about much more than war crimes.
The new BiH War Crimes Court Chamber and truth and reconciliation commissions are promising the hope of changing hearts on all sides of the conflict. But court observers, international experts and even members of the court itself, agree that there are many logistical and political problems that threaten the success of the court, even with the backing of €16 million in international donations for the next two years.
A Rwandan prosecutor seated earlier this year as one of eight international judges for the new War Crimes Chamber has come to Sarajevo with uncommon experience dealing with genocide. But Judge Gerald Gahima has left behind in Africa some unanswered questions about his finances and his conduct in office.
A nationwide poll shows that BiH is skeptical that a new War Crimes Chamber in Sarajevo will do much to promote forgiveness among Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.
A local film industry is still a dream to many Bosnian filmmakers. Many are asking if the government is doing enough to support the building of an industry that could be a major economic help to the country as well as a source of pride in its post-war future.
The usual divisive politics between BiH’s two entities has left Republika Srpska with practically no filmmaking at all, except for student films.
Reading about a country’s culture is a little like being told about the flavor of an apple without tasting it. But that’s all children in both BiH entities can do because their teachers are not taking them to see the other entity’s culture. Cultural education, like so much else in BiH, is still controlled by the heritage of political agendas from the war.
From unexcavated buildings under the village of Mošunj to Sarajevo’s National Museum, economic opportunities are being overlooked from a heritage BiH citizens and their children are not even aware is slipping away forever.
If Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia cannot come up with an agreement on cooperating on extradition and other war crime issues, the new State Court of BiH may end up just trying Bosniaks. Without regional cooperation, can justice be served?
Bosnia-Herzegovina is set to receive its first cases from the ICTY. While the new War Crimes Chamber of the Court of BiH has international judges and experts, new facilities and €16 million for two years of funding, the majority of cases will go to district and cantonal courts that are overburdened, under funded and dangerously incapable of handling these complex cases.
In 2003, the new War Crimes Chamber of the BiH State Court had 13 international donors to fund it, and the head of the High Representative’s Rule of Law Office promised that the appointment of judges was at hand.
Prisoners may be better off staying in The Hague than face being sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina”s dangerous and crumbling prison system. The disparity in detention facilities between the new State Court War Crimes Chamber and the resources available to the lower courts is just one of the credibility issues facing the international community’s latest effort to spur reconciliation between the ethnic factions in BiH.
Abduladhim Maktouf, the first war crimes defendant to be tried in the BiH State Court, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. However, Maktouf”s history shows how war and crime mixed in odd ways in Bosnia-Herzegovina and how the first war crimes case was about much more than war crimes.
The new BiH War Crimes Court Chamber and truth and reconciliation commissions are promising the hope of changing hearts on all sides of the conflict. But court observers, international experts and even members of the court itself, agree that there are many logistical and political problems that threaten the success of the court, even with the backing of €16 million in international donations for the next two years.
A Rwandan prosecutor seated earlier this year as one of eight international judges for the new War Crimes Chamber has come to Sarajevo with uncommon experience dealing with genocide. But Judge Gerald Gahima has left behind in Africa some unanswered questions about his finances and his conduct in office.
A nationwide poll shows that BiH is skeptical that a new War Crimes Chamber in Sarajevo will do much to promote forgiveness among Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.
A local film industry is still a dream to many Bosnian filmmakers. Many are asking if the government is doing enough to support the building of an industry that could be a major economic help to the country as well as a source of pride in its post-war future.
The usual divisive politics between BiH’s two entities has left Republika Srpska with practically no filmmaking at all, except for student films.
Reading about a country’s culture is a little like being told about the flavor of an apple without tasting it. But that’s all children in both BiH entities can do because their teachers are not taking them to see the other entity’s culture. Cultural education, like so much else in BiH, is still controlled by the heritage of political agendas from the war.
From unexcavated buildings under the village of Mošunj to Sarajevo’s National Museum, economic opportunities are being overlooked from a heritage BiH citizens and their children are not even aware is slipping away forever.
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