Association of Camp Inmates in BiH: Lawsuits Often Dismissed Due to Inconsistent Case Law in FBiH and RS

The Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina held a conference today on Vlašić on the topic of reparations and the prospects of lawsuits that BiH camp inmates have filed against entity authorities and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The President of the Association of Camp Inmates in BiH, Jasmin Mešković, said that in the past few years, former camp inmates who were harmed by war crimes committed in BiH have filed lawsuits against state and entity authorities to secure compensation for the damage they suffered during the war. 

- The claims are primarily aimed at compensation for non-material damage due to physical and mental pain suffered, fear experienced, and unlawful deprivation of liberty, detention in captivity, as well as other crimes - he pointed out. 

He emphasized that the claims have encountered numerous legal dilemmas in court practice, adding that the result is inconsistent case law in the Federation of BiH and the RS. 

- The key problem in the RS is that our cases are dismissed due to statute of limitations. An example of this is the District Court in Bijeljina, where a judge of Serbian ethnicity dismisses camp inmates' lawsuits for non-material damage due to statute of limitations, while the neighboring office in the same court, where a judge of Bosniak ethnicity, issues rulings in our favor - he explained. 

He added that lawsuits in the Federation of BiH are proceeding according to the planned schedule, but they are encountering minor problems due to the scheduling dynamics of second-instance verdicts. He also stressed that he is encouraged by the clear commitment of lawyers to see the process through to the end. 

- At today's conference, we tried to find the best way to resolve the issue of lawsuits, which are a necessary evil and a consequence of the lack of a law on the rights of torture victims - said Mešković. 

Mešković pointed out that politics in BiH is stronger than all international conventions on human rights. 

- It is very important to lobby for the adoption of a law on the rights of torture victims, in the sense that representatives of the entity ministries of justice propose the best legal solution when it comes to camp inmates' lawsuits - he said. 

Today, there was also discussion about forming a fund for reparations and compensation for victims, or forming a fund that would serve to pay the costs for lawyers working on the lawsuits. 

- It is quite certain that the problem of reparations and compensation for camp inmates in BiH cannot be resolved without the participation of state and entity authorities, and therefore it is necessary to hold talks with the BiH Presidency, the Council of Ministers of BiH, the prime ministers of entity governments, and the presidents of the RS and the Federation of BiH, and in this way find solutions to these problems - pointed out one of the lawyers of the Association of Camp Inmates in BiH, Damir Alagić.

He added that organizations that have so far had experience in obtaining reparations and compensation should be contacted, referring to associations of camp inmates from World War II that managed to resolve this problem after 50 years.

- I hope that the solution to our problem will not take that long, but looking at the situation as it is, i.e., the organization of the state and court practice in BiH, it is certain that this will be a long and painful process - said Alagić, emphasizing that anyone who promised a quick collection of non-material damage was not telling the truth and led camp inmates into a great delusion. 

CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS

Several conclusions were adopted today-

-  In the process of realizing individual claims of camp inmates for compensation for non-material damage, the contractual relationship between the lawyer and the plaintiff is paramount, while, in this relationship, the Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina appears in the role of a service, both to lawyers and plaintiffs,

- Communication / the plaintiff-lawyer relationship is direct and immediate and in accordance with the law on legal profession and the code of legal ethics

- The Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the legal team, will try, in cooperation with EU representatives in BiH, to organize an international conference on reparations where the emphasis will be on BiH's international obligations towards the population of torture victims, finding ways and possibilities, all in cooperation with other related organizations from the country and the world.

- The Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, within its capabilities, will continue to co-finance individual lawsuits of camp inmates. 

- The Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina will, with the full cooperation of the team of lawyers, define models of communication and contacts with the legislative and executive authorities throughout BiH. The Council of Ministers, the Government of the FBiH, the Government of the RS, the President of the FBiH, the President of the RS, relevant ministries and other institutions... with the aim of finding an adequate solution for resolving the issues of camp inmates – torture victims.

-  Bosnia and Herzegovina is obliged, based on numerous international acts, to urgently proceed with the implementation of reparations for torture victims, which implies the obligation to ensure full and effective reparation measures for victims of human rights violations, including compensation, material and non-material damage, as well as other forms of reparation aimed at enabling restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction, including the restoration of the dignity and reputation of victims, and representing a guarantee for non-repetition of crimes. Bosnia and Herzegovina has not fulfilled this obligation and acts contrary to the provisions of the said conventions with the aim of avoiding the implementation of reparations and rehabilitation of victims, thereby openly victimizing this population. In order to ensure effective, adequate and fair reparation, it is necessary to adopt the Law on the Rights of Torture Victims in BiH and secure funds from which its implementation will be financed. 

- For the above purpose, we demand that Bosnia and Herzegovina immediately proceed with taking all necessary measures to provide mechanisms that will ensure reparation for victims, the adoption of the Law on the Rights of Torture Victims, and the undertaking of concrete measures including lobbying international and domestic funds and institutions to secure funds with the aim of establishing a fund for reparations for torture victims. 

- If this issue is not resolved systematically, the state and entities will be brought into a situation where courts will continue to be the only places where victims can realize their rights, which represents an unnecessary burden on courts with these numerous cases, and at the same time additional traumatization of victims, and which procedure will, ultimately, result in positive judgments that are legally founded and justified. In order to implement conventions and resolutions, it is necessary to make access to courts available to victims and to ensure as efficient and effective a court procedure as possible, for which purpose it is necessary to adopt appropriate regulations regarding court costs (fees, expert witness costs, representation fees, free legal aid), to make the procedure itself as painless, simple and fast as possible for the victims themselves, through appropriate amendments to the Civil Procedure Act, in which sense we propose that these procedures be regulated as a special type of procedure. It is also necessary to adopt new orientation criteria for determining compensation that will be appropriate for this type of non-material damage, given that they do not exist, so courts do not have uniform practice.