CHIEF PROSECUTOR GORDANA TADIĆ AND OFFICIALS OF SPECIAL WAR CRIMES DEPARTMENT PARTICIPATE IN REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMES CASES

A regional meeting of prosecutors on co-operation in war crimes cases was held in Belgrade, organised by the United Nations Development Program-UNDP and the UK government, and hosted by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office.

The meeting was attended by about 50 officials from prosecutorial institutions in the region, Chief Prosecutor at IRMCT OTP Serge Brammertz, and senior officials from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both entities and the Brčko District of BiH, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and representatives of international organisations.

Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić and her deputies and heads of the Special Department for War Crimes, Milanko Kajganić and Diana Kajmaković, as well as the head of section, Sanja Jukić, presented the work and activities of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, as well as the results of the department, with an emphasis on the activities in cases in which regional and international cooperation has been achieved.

The central topics of the regional meeting related to key challenges and problems in co-operation, examples of successful co-operation, resolution of the issue of searching for missing persons, as well as prosecution of war crimes cases with elements of sexual violence and abuse.

The meeting also discussed the current cooperation in investigations and transfer of procedures, improvement of this cooperation, selection of cases for future actions, coordination of investigations, handling of requests for cooperation based on protocols and agreements and other important issues in the field of regional cooperation.

Some of the topics also referred to the application of the institute of mutual recognition, the improvement of cross-border access to witnesses, assistance in identifying and contacting witnesses and improving their security. The meeting also discussed the coordination of further steps in improving co-operation in investigations and the transfer of proceedings, as well as open issues for further bilateral and regional meetings.

Prosecutors from the region agree that the assistance and coordination of the IRMCT OTP is still needed in all matters related to regional cooperation, from the process of assigning cases, monitoring the development of these cases, as well as providing assistance in the process of searching for missing persons and using IRMCT-collected evidence in prosecutorial proceedings in the countries of the region.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH is interested in strengthening regional cooperation in the fight against impunity for war crimes, given that a certain number of indictees and suspects for war crimes in BiH are located in the countries of the region.