Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SARAJEVO1212
2007-06-01 17:06:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Sarajevo
Cable title:  

BOSNIA: GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ON WAR CRIMINALS

Tags:  PHUM KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL ICTY BK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3037
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV
DE RUEHVJ #1212/01 1521706
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 011706Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6358
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHINGTON DC
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001212 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR(DICARLO),EUR/SCE(STINCHCOMB/HOH),
S/WCI(WILLIAMSON/LAVINE); NSC FOR BRAUN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL ICTY BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ON WAR CRIMINALS

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Murphy for reasons 1.4 (b
),(d)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001212

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR(DICARLO),EUR/SCE(STINCHCOMB/HOH),
S/WCI(WILLIAMSON/LAVINE); NSC FOR BRAUN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KJUS PGOV PINR PREL ICTY BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ON WAR CRIMINALS

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Murphy for reasons 1.4 (b
),(d)


1. (S/NF) Summary: In the past seven days two distinct but
significant events connected to bringing war criminals to
justice occurred in the Republika Srpska (RS). The first, a
major success, happened on May 31, when police from the
Republika Srpska (RS) apprehended ICTY-indicted Zdravko
Tolimir. He was transferred into ICTY custody at The Hague
today (June 1). The second, a major set back, occurred on
May 25 when convicted war criminal Radovan Stankovic escaped
from custody en route from Foca Prison to a local hospital.
Stankovic's escape is a serious blow to the credibility of
domestic law enforcement and judicial institutions and to the
reconciliation process in Bosnia. Stankovic's escape
highlights the need for a maximum security state prison.
Tolimir's arrest by RS authorities and the Stankovic escape
paint a mixed picture of RS handling of war crimes issues.
End Summary.

Zdravko Tolimir Arrested
--------------


2. (S/NF) Shortly after 4pm on May 31, Republika Srpska (RS)
Prime Minister Milorad Dodik called Ambassador to inform him
that RS police had detained ICTY-indicted war criminal
Zdravko Tolimir. According to Dodik, Tolimir was arrested at
an illegal border crossing near Bratunac and the RS police
intended to transfer him to The Hague. (Note: In 1995
Tolimir was Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Security
of the Main Staff of the Arm of Republika Srpska with the
rank of general. A close associate of Radovan Karadzic and
Ratko Mladic, Zdravko Tolimir was indicted in the ICTY for
genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination,
murder, persecutions on political, racial or religious
grounds, and forcible transfers and deportations. Many of

these charges relate to his role in events around Srebrenica
on/about July 11, 1995, and the extended 44-month siege of
Sarajevo. End Note)

Arrest Details Sketchy
--------------


3. (S/NF) We have received conflicting information about the
details of the arrest. Press reports suggest the RS police
cooperated with the Serbian police in detaining Tolimir.
Dragi Milosevic, head of the RS Police War Crimes Unit,
indicated that Tolimir was arrested alone and on foot near
the Serbian border with little money and without any passport
or other documentation. It is unclear at this time if
Tolimir was brought to the Serbian border against his will,
or whether as some have claimed, he was caught attempting to
secure medical assistance. Tolimir was held in Banja Luka
overnight and then transferred to Sarajevo Camp Butmir.
Early this afternoon (June 1) Tolimir was transferred by a
EUCOM aircraft to the Netherlands. At 15:55 local time
today, we received confirmation from General Wightman's
Office that Tolimir arrived at The Hague.

Stankovic escapes from Foca Prison
--------------


4. (C) Early afternoon on May 25 during transport from Foca
prison to a hospital for unspecified medical treatment,
Radovan Stankovic allegedly overpowered nine guards and
escaped in a waiting getaway vehicle. Stankovic, the first
11bis case transferred from ICTY to the BiH State Court, had
been convicted of crimes against humanity for multiple acts
of enslavement, rape, torture and murder in Foca and had been
sentenced to 20 years incarceration. The escape vehicle was
found later that evening not far from the Montenegrin border.
According to the RS Police, Stankovic telephoned someone in
the Foca Prison later that same night. They claim the call
was traced to a location in Serbia. Because Stankovic is
from Foca, there was immediate speculation that the escape
was an inside job. Foca Prison Director Aleksandar Cicmil
denied allegations that some of the prison guards were
Stankovic's relatives, but he did not exclude the possibility
that Stankovic had smuggled a mobile phone into prison and
used it to arrange the escape.


5. (C) The Stankovic escape prompted numerous accusations

SARAJEVO 00001212 002 OF 003


about who was at fault. BiH State Court President Meddzida
Kreso laid the blame on the Foca Prison Administration, which
falls under the jurisdiction of the RS Ministry of Justice
(MoJ). Others, particularly Bosniak political leaders,
blamed the RS police. (Note: RS police were not involved in
Stankovic's transfer from the prison to the hospital. The
prison guards involved work for the RS MoJ, not the RS
Ministry of Interior. End Note.) RS Prime Minister Dodik
attacked the State Court for having sent Stankovic to a
prison in his hometown in the first place. Kreso explained
that Stankovic was sent to Foca prison based on the 2005
Justice Ministry Book of Rules guidelines, under which
prisoners are assigned to jails on the basis of their place
of origin. (Note: We are told that in light of the Stankovic
escape the Council of Ministers at its next session will
discuss amendments to the law on implementation of criminal
sanctions and imprisonment. End Note)

RS Actions to Capture Stankovic
--------------


6. (C) Dodik claims the RS police are doing all they can to
track down Stankovic. Privately, RS Minister of Interior
Stanislav Cadjo told us that the RS Ministry of Justice, in
charge of the entity prison system, had made mistakes, but
that the RS police quickly responded once they were notified
of Stankovic's escape. According to Cadjo, the RS police
quickly notified other police agencies of the event, sealed
off transport routes, and sought cooperation from Serbian and
Montenegrin authorities. Although press reports blame a five
day delay in issuing an international arrest warrant on the
RS police's failure to request one, responsibility for
issuing such a warrant falls to the state. According to OHR,
the 5-day delay was the result of a bureaucratic dispute
between the state-level Ministry of Justice and Ministry of
Security over which Ministry was supposed to issue the
warrant.

SIPA Actions
--------------


7. (C) The State Investigative and Protection Agency (SIPA)
has created a task force headed by Criminal Investigation
Division Director Dragan Lukac and supervised by BiH Chief
Prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic to coordinate the hunt for
Stankovic. The SIPA Task Force has asked EUFOR and Bosnia's
Intelligence Security Agency to provide them with any
available intelligence. According to one source, SIPA is
excluding RS police from its investigation. SIPA has
contacted Serbian police and a delegation is scheduled to go
to Belgrade to discuss the issue. However, as of today SIPA
has no confirmation of Stankovic's current whereabouts.

Immediate Fallout
--------------


8. (C) According to RS sources, Head of Foca Prison
Aleksandar Cicmil has been fired and the nine guards on duty
when Stankovic escaped are on suspension, pending
investigation. OHR has asked EUPM to provide investigators
that will examine how this even could have happened and to
monitor any subsequent disciplinary and criminal proceedings.
OHR will also examine the MoJ Book of Rules relating to the
execution of criminal sanctions. Due to the threat Stankovic
poses to those involved in his case, the State Court
announced that the Presiding Judge in his case, Davorin
Jukic, and Lead Prosecutor Vaso Marinkovic would be placed
under protective custody.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) Zdravko Tolimir's arrest and Radovan Stankovic's
escape present a mixed picture in terms of the RS performance
in handling war criminals. The Tolimir arrest is significant
not only because he was one of six ICTY indictees who until
yesterday remained at liberty, but also because Tolimir was
the first major war-crimes suspect ever arrested by the RS
police. In the past, RS authorities had arranged for war
crimes suspects to turn themselves in. Stankovic's escape
highlights systemic weaknesses in the RS's prison system. If
it was an inside job, the escape suggests sympathizers with

SARAJEVO 00001212 003 OF 003


war criminals remain employed within the RS bureaucracy.
Just as disconcertingly, Stankovic's escape is likely to have
a chilling effect on witnesses in war crimes cases, who may
now wonder whether someone they testify against will actually
remain behind bars after a conviction. Finally ,the escape
highlights the need for the construction of a maximum
security State Prison to house convicted war criminals and
other high profile convicts. End Comment.
MCELHANEY