KTRZ - Specific criminal offence and perpetrator - war crime

Indictments filed: 18 indictments against 45 persons

Cessation of investigation: 17 cases against 114 persons

Non-conduct of investigation: 13 cases against 189 persons

Transferred to another prosecutor’s office for prosecution: 18 cases, 45 persons

Total number of resolved KTRZ cases at the end of the reporting period: 88 cases, 643 persons

Unresolved KTRZ cases at the end of the reporting period: 192 cases, 2272 persons

KTARZ – Unspecified criminal offence or perpetrator - war crime; resolved in total: 

Non-conduct of investigation: 186 cases

Resolved in another way: 190 cases

Transferred into a KTRZ case: 2 cases

Transferred to another prosecutor’s office: 17 cases

Unresolved at the end of the reporting period: 808 cases

KTNRZ – Specific criminal offence with unknown perpetrator - war crime; resolved in total: 

Non-conduct of investigations: 10 cases

Cessation of investigations: 2 cases

Resolved in another way: 24 cases

Transferred into a KTRZ case: 1 case

Transferred to another prosecutor’s office: 57 cases

Unresolved at the end of the reporting period: 242 cases

One or more persons are still unavailable in 90 KTRZ cases, of which 40 persons are persons with the standard marking ‘A’.

The total number of unresolved cases in the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina /PO BiH/ involving persons with standard marking A: 113 persons in 44 KTRZ cases. The PO BiH completed the cases involving a total of 698 persons with standard ‘A’ marking in various ways. Of this number, 337 persons were transferred to other prosecutor’s offices.

During 2024 the Special Department for War Crimes has invested significant efforts to act in the most complex wear crimes cases as well as to achieve goals of the Revised National War Crimes Strategy (hereafter: Revised National Strategy). The achievement of strategic goal VII of the Revised National Strategy, which refers to regional cooperation in the reporting period, is primarily reflected in the meetings of case prosecutors from the PO BiH with prosecutors from the region, all with the aim of acting in certain war crimes cases. 

In March 2024, a meeting was held at the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH between the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Head of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of the Republic of Serbia and his associates. The meeting parties discussed the prosecution of cases transferred from BiH to the Serbian judiciary, as well as cooperation in general in the joint fight against impunity for war crimes. In June 2024, a meeting was held in Belgrade between the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and the newly appointed Acting Chief Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of the Republic of Serbia. The meeting parties discussed the cooperation between the two prosecutor’s offices, which have had significant communication and cooperation in the fight against impunity for war crimes in the past period in coordination with the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) in The Hague. The meeting parties agreed to continue cooperation in the coming period, as the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and its Special Department for War Crimes and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of Serbia are working on cases that require mutual legal assistance and cooperation in order for the cases to be prosecuted and completed in the judicial institutions of BiH and Serbia.

By the end of 2024, several meetings of representatives of the IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor (hereafter IRMCT OTP) and representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH were held. Meetings were held with all the Prosecutors of the Special Department for War Crimes who act in priority cases in order to provide all the necessary support in collecting documentation, protected witness measures, obtaining unredacted transcripts and other circumstances related to giving opinions on the actions of certain formations, which are accepted as adjudicated facts in the Hague judgments.

Furthermore, representatives of the IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor met with the Chief Prosecutor and the Head of Department and informed the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH about the state of the War Crimes cases in the entities and the readiness of the prosecutor’s offices in BiH to deal with possibly more cases that would be transferred from the PoBiH to the entities (considering that only the most complex KTRZ cases remain in POBiH, but that constant work on KTARZ and KTNRZ cases, results with their entry to KTRZ registers. Such cases are often transferred to entity prosecutors’ offices and the Prosecutor’s Office of BD for prosecution).

Mechanisms for the improvement of regional cooperation were the topic of the 5th meeting of the Supervisory Body for Monitoring the Implementation of the Revised National Strategy, held in July 2024, at which the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH also participated. The aim of the meeting was to find ways to improve regional cooperation, especially in the cases of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH in which inaccessible persons are recorded, and which cases are in the investigation or reporting phase.

Following the participation of representatives of the IRMCT OTP at the Supervisory Body meeting in early July 2024, at which the issue of providing mutual legal assistance in war crimes cases, i.e. the issue of resolving war crimes cases through regional cooperation mechanisms was discussed, a meeting was also held with representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. In the past period, the Supervisory Body has paid special attention to the strategic objective VII of the Revised National Strategy "To improve the cooperation achieved with countries in the region on war crimes cases with the aim of progress in the entire region". Given the number of unresolved cases/unavailable persons before courts and prosecutors’ offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina in war crimes cases as of 2023, the Supervisory Body noted the necessity of improving the functioning of existing and finding new mechanisms of regional cooperation.

In September 2024, a delegation of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, led by the Chief Prosecutor, participated in a regional conference of war crimes prosecutors held in Podgorica, organized by the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro, with the support of the EU and UNDP. The Chief Prosecutor of the IRMCT, Serge Brammertz, and his associates also participated in the conference. The topics of the conference were regional cooperation of prosecutors in work on war crimes cases, the possibility of exchanging evidence, access to witnesses and evidence, execution of letters rogatory, as well as modalities of joint fight against impunity for war crimes caused by the unavailability of suspects or accused persons located in the countries of the region. The aforementioned conference emphasized the importance of regional cooperation for the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, given that in mid-2024, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina had 115 KTRZ cases registered with 344 unavailable persons, of which 40 persons had the standard marking "A", where most of such persons were located in the countries of the region. The conference parties also discussed the possibilities of transferring cases, in accordance with memorandums and agreements on cooperation, as well as the prosecution of crimes of sexual violence in conflict all with the aim of ensuring that war crimes committed do not go unpunished.

In early November, a working meeting of delegations of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro was held at the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, during which an Agreement on Understanding and Cooperation in the field of Support for Witnesses, Injured Parties and Victims for their Participation in Criminal Proceedings for War Crimes was signed.

In November 2024, a meeting was held at the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH between the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, Milanko Kajganić,the State Attorney General of the Republic of Croatia, Ivan Turudić and the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office of Republika Srpska, Željka Radović. The meeting parties discussed the continuation and improvement of joint cooperation in war crimes prosecution, as well as prosecution of organized crime and corruption. The focus of the meeting was on overcoming issues in cases in which suspects and accused are unavailable.

In this regard, in March 2024, a complete analysis of all KTRZ cases in the investigation and report phase, in which inaccessible persons were recorded, was performed. This analysis and review of the cases not only determined the number of cases that are eligible for transfer to the countries of the region, but also emphasized that the Prosecutors of the Special Department for War Crimes of POBiH are working on the mentioned cases regardless of the fact that one or more persons in those cases are inaccessible and regardless of the fact that there is still no response to some MLA Requests, taking into account the fact that in some cases there are both accessible and inaccessible suspects.

During 2024, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has informed the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor) about all sent requests for mutual legal assistance and requests sent to the competent institutions of the countries of the region in line with concluded protocols, and the IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor provides assistance to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH in facilitating the execution of those requests.

As of 31 December 2024, a total of 15 KTRZ cases of Department I that were transferred to other jurisdictions were resolved through regional cooperation. Of these, a total of 8 cases were transferred to the competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia, 7 in the investigation phase and 1 in the reporting phase. 1 KTRZ case in which the indictment was confirmed was transferred to the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia, 2 transferred in the investigation phase and 4 in the report phase. 

The activities undertaken in the priority cases set for 2024 have significantly contributed to the realization of strategic objective I IV of the Revised National Strategy, especially in terms of efforts to exhaust all procedural and legal possibilities in complex priority cases aimed at fully resolving the criminal event and issuing an indictment.

In the process of achieving the strategic goal III, a review of the complexity of all KTRZ cases was carried out in the Special Department for War Crimes with the aim of priority prosecution of complex war crimes cases by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, all in accordance with the provisions of the Revised National Strategy. All KTRZ, KTARZ and KTNRZ cases are updated twice a year for easier monitoring of the work on the mentioned cases and determination of priorities. In January 2025 the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH informed the Standing Committee for the Efficiency and Quality of Prosecutor’s Offices of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (Standing Committee of the HJPC of BiH) about these cases and other detailed information.

In order to prioritize the prosecution of more complex war crimes cases by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, based on the decisions of the Court of BiH on the transfer to the entity prosecutor’s offices and the Brčko District of BiH in accordance with Article 27a of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH transferred the proceedings in 5 KTRZ cases against 11 persons. During 2024, the proceedings were transferred to the entity prosecutor’s offices and the Brčko District of BiH in 57 KTNRZ cases and 17 KTARZ cases.

In accordance with its obligations assumed from the Revised National Strategy and Annex B, the PO BiH carried out necessary checks and prepared summary updated information on the cases in which persons with the standard marking ‘A’ as assigned to them by the ICTY prosecutor (the ‘standard marking ‘A’ – sufficient evidence’) were recorded. In accordance with the conclusions of the HJPC BiH, the PO BiH regularly submits to the Standing Committee of the HJPC BiH information on cases in which persons with the standard marking ‘A’ are registered. As of 31 December 2024 the total on number of persons with the standard marking ‘A’ is 113 in 44 KTRZ cases. The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH completed the matter concerning 698 persons with the standard marking ‘A’ in various ways including the transfer of proceedings to other prosecutor’s offices in BiH for a total of 337 persons.

In the reporting period, ending with 31 December 2024, a total of 297 persons in 90 KTRZ cases of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH are still listed as unavailable, of which 40 persons are persons with "A" standard markings. The listed persons are located in the countries of the region and other countries of the world. The Prosecutors regularly undertake activities provided for by law concerning such individuals (sending MLA requests, issuing arrest warrants, etc.). The Prosecutor’s Office will focus its work in 2025 on transferring as many of these cases as possible to prosecutors’ offices in the region, at the investigation stage. A tabular overview of the status of persons with "A" standard markings in the entity prosecutor’s offices, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Brčko District of BiH and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, ending with 31 December 2024 is highlighted at the end of this Information.

In accordance with the Mandatory Instruction of the Chief Prosecutor, the indictments are published on the Prosecutor’s Office’s website, which has increased the transparency of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has also published information on persons who have been given the standard marking "A" by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

At regional meetings, representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH emphasize that prosecutors’ offices in the region need to make additional efforts in searching for and determining the fate of missing persons. During 2024, proceedings continued in the case of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH No. T20 0 KTARZ 0011667 16, which is under the supervision of the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and the Head of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. In this case information on the possible locations of individual and mass graves in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina is collected and verified. Pursuant to the aforementioned case, SIPA formed the Operational Team "TERRA", whose members act on the orders of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. In the case number T20 0 KTARZ 0011667 16, from its formation to date, a total of 110 persons were found and exhumed. During 2024, 4 bodies were found and exhumed.

For the purpose of acting in accordance with the strategic measure VIII of providing protection and support to victims and witnesses as set out in the Revised National Strategy in addition to the constant assistance of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH regarding the protection of witnesses testifying in cases of war crimes that are brought before the judiciary in the countries of the region, representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH participated in the project of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC BiH) and the OSCE of BiH on monitoring the work on war crimes cases within which a coordinating body was formed to improve the cooperation of witness support departments in courts and prosecutor’s offices throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Chief Prosecutor and the Head of the PO BiH War Crimes Department regularly overviewed the implementation of the provisions of the Revised National Strategy and, as necessary, reported on the work on war crimes cases to the Supervisory Body for Monitoring the Implementation of the Revised National Strategy and the Standing Committee of the HJPC BiH.

 In the reporting period, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH made available and enabled all prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to have insight into and access to the data of the comprehensive Centralized War Crimes Database, and acted promptly on all requests, thus realizing the strategic goal of the II Revised National Strategy.

Investigations in war crimes cases are demanding and lengthy and involve a large number of suspects, a certain number of whom are unavailable to the judicial authorities of BiH. Also, certain problems are posed by witnesses and injured parties who have their permanent residence or temporary residence outside the territory of BiH and do not show willingness to testify or their arrival is difficult due to objective circumstances. It is important to emphasize that war crimes cases are mostly proven through witnesses. A certain number of witnesses are in poor health and are of advanced age, which affects their willingness to testify, which is why in such situations the Prosecutor’s Office provided assistance to witnesses through the Witness Support Department.

During 2024 the training of Prosecutors and professional staff of the Special Department for War Crimes organized by domestic and international organizations continued aiming to improve the efficiency and quality of work on war crimes cases.

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