Bosnia Genocide Herzegovina In

The case in the ICTY against Slobodan Milosevic, the former President of Serbia and Montenegro (FRY) who was charged with 66 counts of crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, remained ongoing at year's end. In February, the ICTY rendered decisions against Bosnian Serbs Miroslav Deronjic and Ranko Cesic for war crimes committed in 1992 at the Luka prison camp near Brcko. Deronjic was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Cesic to 18 years. Also in February, the ICTY also began the trial of Momcilo Krajisnik, a senior military official in the wartime Bosnian Serb army. He was charged with two counts of genocide and five counts of crimes against humanity. His trial was ongoing at year's end. In July, the ICTY concluded its case against Bosnian Muslim Generals Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura, both charged with war crimes against Bosnian Serbs and Croats in Central Bosnia in 1993-94. At year's end, the two were awaiting sentencing in The Hagu ... [Read More]

War Crimes Tribunal Will Not End Until Karadzic Tried - US Department of State
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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Religion and ethnicity are identified closely in the country. Despite the constitutional provisions for religious freedom, a degree of discrimination against minorities occurs in virtually all parts of the country. Discrimination is significantly worse in the RS, particularly in the eastern RS, and in Croat-dominated areas of the Federation. However, incidents of discrimination occurred in Bosniak-majority areas as well. In some communities, local religious figures contributed to intolerance and an increase in nationalist feeling through public statements and, on occasion, in sermons. At times minority religious believers, clerics, and properties associated with religious minorities sometimes became targets. Increasing refugee returns and the resulting growth in ethnic/religious minorities, combined with sustained pressure from the international community on nationalist political parties, led to severe tension and several violent incidents during the first half of the year. On May 5, a ... [Read More]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

All Federation Canton governments have agreed to an ethnically mixed police force in principle; however, many Cantonal governments continued to resist integration in practice. The Neretva (Mostar) Canton was an exception; the Interior Ministry in this Canton made significant progress in unifying the police force, including co-locating offices, shedding Croat nationalist insignia, and unifying portions of the budget under its direct control. In other cantons of Herzegovina, there has been far less progress in depoliticizing the police forces. Although Western Herzegovina (Livno) Canton hired significant numbers of police from among Serb returnees in several municipalities, Croat nationalists still dominated the command structure and budget process. A Serb appointed in late 2001 as police chief in the town of Drvar resigned in September. Both the Livno and Siroki Brijeg Cantons failed to remove Croat nationalist insignia from police uniforms, and they continued to fly Croat ... [Read More]

Bosnia and Herzegovina
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