Camp inmates in RS urgently need legal teams, they cannot fight unjust courts alone

Admir Čavka from the First March coalition in Banja Luka has appealed to all pro-Bosniak parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina to form legal teams as soon as possible to start negotiations between former camp inmates and the authorities in Republika Srpska, after courts in RS began rejecting inmates' lawsuits and imposing court costs, which in some cases reach up to seven thousand KM, on the inmates, placing many of them in a hopeless situation.

In an interview with the BiH news agency Patria, Čavka reminded that many Bosniak returnees to RS were detained in camps run by the army and police of RS during the Serbian aggression against BiH, and now, 20 years later, courts in RS are rejecting lawsuits for abuse against these same inmates and subsequently seizing their property to cover court costs.

- You have people who were imprisoned for months and subjected to the most brutal torture in camps under the control of the RS army and police during the '90s, and now, when the conflicts have stopped, and when the camp inmates tried to seek justice in courts, it has been denied to them, and the courts in RS have turned against them – says Čavka.

He explains that former camp inmates in RS already live on the edge of existence, and that these are mostly people who do not know their rights at all, which is why it is essential for pro-Bosniak parties, primarily Bosniak ones, to urgently provide them with free legal teams to represent them in their unjust fight against the authorities and courts in RS.

- A large number of former camp inmates do not even know that they have the right to appeal decisions of courts in RS to the Constitutional Court of BiH. Someone must tell them this, and someone must submit these appeals to the Constitutional Court of BiH on their behalf – says Čavka, adding that courts in RS are taking away the last possessions of many camp inmates, such as livestock, furniture, agricultural machinery, thus leaving them without a livelihood again.

This morning in Tuzla, camp inmates prevented the seizure of property belonging to Hasan Čeliković, a former inmate of the Batković camp, whose property was to be listed by bailiffs of the Municipal Court of Tuzla, on behalf of the Basic Court in Banja Luka, for the sale to cover court costs.

Tuzla camp inmates prevented the seizure of Čeliković's property.

The Association of Camp Inmates of BiH is doing everything it can to help former camp inmates achieve justice, but without the help of state institutions, this is proving to be slow and difficult. They remind that around 30,000 former camp inmates have sued RS, with compensation claims amounting to several billion KM. In the initial months, courts ruled in favor of the camp inmates, but after the authorities in RS realized that this would lead to the entity's bankruptcy, they began rejecting lawsuits.

The Association of Camp Inmates of BiH is calling for the urgent adoption of a law on victims of torture at the BiH level, without which it is impossible to protect the rights of former camp inmates and their families.

Interestingly, Montenegro has paid compensation to most Bosniak camp inmates who were imprisoned in camps located in Montenegro during the Serbian aggression against BiH, while RS is now rejecting lawsuits for similar cases, writes Patria.