BiH Courts Capacity To Try War Crimes Confirmed

The trial of Boban Simsic in the BiH War Crimes Chamber
of theBiH
Court started this morning, at 9 am on September 14,
2005.

This is the first war crimes case to be tried in the BiH War Crimes Chamber.
The OHR welcomes it as a further step forward towards ensuring that those who
committed  war crimes in this country will be prosecuted justly and
according to the Law here in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
. The OHR fully supports

BiH Court
as a strong and
independent BiH institution.

The ability to prosecute war criminals in BiH’s own Courts is a key element
for reconciliation. Full cooperation with the ICTY is also a clear obligation
under

Dayton

. Mr. Simsic is accused
for war crimes against civilians committed in 1992 in

Visegrad

Municipality

.
It is now for the Court to determine his guilt or innocence based on the facts
of the case.

The establishment of an effective war crimes trial capability within BiH
represents an essential part of the establishment of the rule of law.

The Appelas Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 1 September rejected Milovan Stankovic’s appeal against
extradition for trial in the
BiH
Court

. Under the ICTY’s rules of Procedure Stankovic
will be transferred to the
BiH
Court

within 30 days. The Stankovic case is the first
case to be transferred frotm eh ICTY and stands as confirmation that the

BiH
Court

can provide the
highest international standards of justice in these, most difficult, criminal
cases.