Overview

Bosnia and Herzegovina Annual Report The Red Cross programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are aligned with the aims of the IFRC`s Strategy 2020 to save lives, protect livelihoods, and strengthen recovery from disasters and crises; enable healthy and safe living; and promote social inclusion and culture of non-violence and peace. The capacity-building efforts are specifically linked with Enabling Action One to build strong National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 06:00 GMT

• Wartime rape victims unrecognised by Bosnian state

• Suffer from stigma, lack of state support

• Perpetrators still free, trauma only worsening

By Maja Zuvela

TUZLA, Bosnia, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Fika was 15 years old, and her sister 17, when they were captured and repeatedly raped by Bosnian Serb soldiers who swept through eastern Bosnia early in the country's 1992-95 war.

4 December 2012 – The United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s today reaffirmed the life sentence of a Serbian paramilitary leader, Milan Lukic, who was previously found guilty of inhumane acts including murder, cruel treatment and violations of the laws of war.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) dismissed all of Mr. Lukic’s eight grounds of appeal. The affirmation of Mr. Lukic’s sentence is the first time the Tribunal has upheld a sentence of life imprisonment, according to the court.

Summary

The present report covers the period from 21 April to 26 October 2012. In contrast to the promising trends seen during the last reporting period, the political dynamic in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the reporting period stagnated, reverting to the prevailing trend of the last six years. Not only was there little progress towards closer integration with the European Union, but direct challenges to the General Framework Agreement for Peace, including to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, intensified significantly.

INTRODUCTION

“We have women who may be living among us and who are victims of (wartime) rape. But if you’re not recognized and feel like a victim again, it is easier for you to stay quiet. So everyone stays silent about it. And that is the most distressing side of it, when everyone is silent.”

AI index: EUR 63/014/2012

1992-1995

• During the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Amnesty International documented testimonies of many women subjected to systematic rape, as well as sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and other crimes of sexual violence. Since then, Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the authorities of BiH to investigate and prosecute those responsible and to provide survivors with effective reparation, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation and guarantees of non-repetition.

2008-2009

16 May 2012 – The trial of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief facing charges of genocide and other war crimes, got under way today in the United Nations tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Security Council
6771st Meeting (PM)

Council Members Warn Divisive Nationalistic Rhetoric Could Reverse Gains during ‘Early Days in Life of New Government’

Bosnia and Herzegovina was on track for a “breakthrough year” if the momentum built up by a number of recent positive developments could be sustained throughout 2012, the High Representative for that country told the Security Council this afternoon.

Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security, and Jordan Ryan from UNDP brought their collective expertise to an informal discussion on how to address current conflicts throughout the world by understanding the successes and mistakes of the world’s response to Bosnia twenty years ago.

Watch event video on UStream (recorded April 26th)