BOSNIA: CITIZENSHIP REVIEW UNDERWAY AS NEGATIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001748

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH,
SAINZ, FOOKS, MITCHELL),EUR/PGI (REASOR),S/CT (KUSHNER),
DS/IP, DS/ITA , OSD FOR FLORE, NSC FOR BRAUN, HINNEN, USNIC
FOR WEBER AND GREGORIAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2016
TAGS: PTER ASEC PREL PGOV BG
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: CITIZENSHIP REVIEW UNDERWAY AS NEGATIVE
MEDIA ATTENTION GROWS

REF: A. 05 SARAJEVO 2930 B. SARAJEVO 890

SARAJEVO 00001748 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: DCM Judith Cefkin for reasons 1.4 (B),(D)


1. (S) SUMMARY: The Embassy has been working with the GBiH
for more than a year to address the potential threat posed by
mujaheddin improperly granted citizenship after the 1992-1995
war. The BiH Citizenship Review Commission, established in
January 2006 to review these cases, has received around 500
of 900 expected files from the Ministry of Security, and has
reviewed approximately 150 cases. The Commission has
determined that roughly 50 percent of these individuals
should be stripped of their citizenship, and has begun to
take action against some of them. Though individuals have
the right to appeal the Commission's judgment, these initial
determinations represent an important milestone in one of our
key counter terrorism objectives.


2. (S) Meanwhile, Parliament postponed voting on an amendment
to the BiH Citizenship Law that would ban anyone stripped of
citizenship from reapplying for it. The amendment, proposed
at our urging, was designed to close a loophole that could
allow mujaheddin stripped of BiH citizenship to regain it.
Unfortunately, the Council of Ministers' Legislative Review
Committee changed the language to allow those stripped of
citizenship to reapply after five years, provided they
qualify on other grounds. Allowing reapplication itself
would be a problem, but implementation is also a concern.
Bosnia's young bureaucracy adjudication culture is weak. As
a result, adjudicators might end up rubber stamping
applications and granting citizenship anew.


3. (S) Between now and the August parliamentary session, we
will raise our concerns about the "five year" language with
key Bosnian legislators, but the prospects for reversing the
decision are not bright. Even if the House of
Representatives strikes the language, the House of Peoples
might reinsert it. While not an ideal outcome, failure to
adopt any amendment would, from our perspective, be even
worse. It would leave in place larger loopholes that the
mujaheddin could exploit far more easily than the five-year
language. In this case, and for the moment at least, half a
loaf may be better than none. END SUMMARY

CITIZENSHIP COMMISSION MOVES AGAINST MUJAHEDDIN


4. (S) Bosnia's Ministry of Security (MoS) has transferred
500 of the 900 expected files to the Citizenship Review
Commission, which was established in January 2006 to address
the wartime legacy of foreign fighters (mujaheddin)
improperly awarded Bosnian citizenship. The MoS files are
supplemented by information provided by the Ministry of
Defense (MoD),as well as state, entity, and cantonal law
enforcement organizations. According to MoS Assistant
Minister and Commission Chair Vjekoslav Vukovic, law
enforcement agencies at all levels, with the exception of
Sarajevo Canton, have been responsive to Commission requests.
Vukovic attributes Sarajevo Canton's problems to
incompetence and disorganization rather than deliberate
obstruction. He also notes that the MoD has been slow to
provide useful information, but believes this reflects the
poor inventory of its archives.


5. (S) Vukovic is optimistic that the Commission will review
all 900 files and complete its mandate sometime early next
year. (Note: Bosnian press reports have inaccurately
estimated the Commission must review anywhere from 1,000 to
1,500 files. End Note). The Commission has already finished
reviewing approximately 150 cases and determined in that
roughly 50 percent of the individuals obtained their
citizenship irregularly and should be stripped of it. The
Commission has begun to notify some of these individuals, all
of whom have the right to an administrative appeal of the
Commission's decision. Vukovic predicts the Commission will
decide many cases summarily, since a large number of
individuals no longer reside in Bosnia or maintain
substantial ties here.

PARLIAMENT FAILS TO CLOSE CITIZENSHIP LOOPHOLES

SARAJEVO 00001748 002.2 OF 003




6. (C) On June 19, the Council of Ministers (CoM) approved a
draft amendment to Bosnia's citizenship law that would bar
those stripped of citizenship from re-applying for five
years. The amendment was designed to close a loophole in
Bosnian law that might allow foreign fighters stripped of
their citizenship by the Commission to re-obtain it. The CoM
modified the proposed amendment for reasons that are unclear.
The original draft law (which the U.S. supported) would have
permanently banned those stripped of their citizenship from
reapplying. The new language would allow them to reapply for
citizenship after five years. In some cases, the
reapplication could be filed as soon as a year from now, as
some individuals lost their citizenship as early as 2002 via
previous review processes. The timing would be unfortunate,
as BiH's adjudication bureaucracy is currently weak. Past
experiences suggests that BiH officials could well fail to
adequately adjudicate re-applications, allowing foreign
fighters to re-obtain their citizenship.


7. (C) According to Elmir Jahic, Chair of the Parliamentary
Committee on Human Rights, Immigration and Asylum, the
five-year language was added by the CoM's Legislative Affairs
Committee, which reviews all CoM-proposed legislation, to
address "human rights concerns." Though Jahic haD portrayed
himself to us as a supporter of the original language, he
made no effort to restore it when his committee reviewed the
amendment prior to sending it to Parliament. On July 24, the
House of Representatives postponed its vote on the amendment,
citing unspecified technical reasons. Legislators
tentatively plan to take it up again during Parliament's end
of August session (no date has been announced).


8. (C) The House of Representatives might remove the
five-year timeline for reapplication from the law, but the
House of Peoples is likely to restore it. The more extremist
Bosniak representatives known to be sympathetic to the
foreign fighters' cause (foremost among them Hasan Cengic,
who is likely to retain his seat after the October elections)
are located in the House of Peoples, and probably would block
any measure that permanently barred those who lost
citizenship from reapplying. The Citizenship Review
Commission initially planned to wait until after the issue of
reapplication was settled before finalizing any cases, but in
part because of political pressure (mainly from Serbs),it
decided to act on a first tranche. We understand it will
continue to slowly release additional decisions over the next
several months.

NEGATIVE MEDIA ATTENTION GROWS


9. (C) Negative media attention on the Commission's work has
increased. Abu Hamza (aka AL HUSEIN IMAD, DPOB: 10 Aug.
1963, Mohassan, Syria),the Syrian-Bosnian self-proclaimed
spokesman for Bosnia's radical Muslim community and a
Commission target, has appeared on television and given
several press interviews over the last few months, beginning
in April (ref. B). In June, Amnesty International, the BiH
Helsinki Commission for Human Rights, and the International
Committee for Human Rights called into question the
citizenship review process. In a story widely carried by the
local BiH media, the groups demanded BiH authorities ensure
that people who lose BiH citizenship would not be transferred
to countries where they could face the death penalty, torture
or other inhuman treatment. This was the first instance of
international organizations officially commenting on the
review process.


10. (C) Shortly after the publication of the joint statement
by the human rights NGOs, the BiH Weekly "Patriot" published
an article listing the names and "final" decisions from each
case reviewed by the Commission so far. The "Patriot" is a
hard-line Serb nationalist weekly paper published in Banja
Luka, with suspected ties to the more radical elements of the
SDS. The story included specific details of each case and
identified current public office holders it alleges assisted
mujaheddin in acquiring BiH citizenship illegally. It
suggests someone provided the paper with access to Commission
files, perhaps in an effort to embarrass Bosniak politicians

SARAJEVO 00001748 003.2 OF 003


believed to be sympathetic to the cause of mujaheddin, and to
widen the already growing rift between moderate and extremist
Bosniak politicians in the run-up to the October elections.
News articles on the Commission, mostly negative in tone, now
appear regularly in the local press.

COMMENT


11. (S) Completion of the Citizenship Commission's work on
reviewing the citizenship claims of former mujaheddin and
closing of the final loophole in the citizenship law are top
USG counter terrorism priorities. Over the last several
weeks, the Citizenship Commission has made solid progress in
its work. However, the Council of Ministers' actions on the
Citizenship Law Amendment, and the increasing negative
attention from the media and human rights NGOs, have
diminished considerably the chances for a fully satisfactory
outcome. We will raise our concerns with sympathetic
parliamentarians, but we must also prepare contingencies to
deal with the likelihood that the "five year" language will
become law.


12. (S) Separately, the leak of information to the Serb
hard-line weekly "Patriot" is also disturbing, not least
because the individuals concerned could take pre-emptive
action, e.g., disappear or try to file advance asylum
applications. The timing is particularly unfortunate, as it
raises the profile of the Commission, and the sensitive issue
of Muslim extremists in Bosnia, at the beginning of what is
already a vitriolic, ethnic-baiting pre-election season.
MCELHANEY