BOSNIA - HIGHREP USES BONN POWERS TO STRENGTHEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001503 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (STINCHCOMB, HOH), S/WCI (WILLIAMSON/LAVINE); NSC FOR BRAUN E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2011 TAGS: PGOV PHUM ICTY KAWC KCRM KJUS PREL BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HIGHREP USES BONN POWERS TO STRENGTHEN WAR CRIMES LAWS REF: A. SARAJEVO 1212 ¶B. SARAJEVO 677 Classified By: DCM Judith B. Cefkin. Reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Only the second week into his tenure as High Representative, Miroslav Lajcak will use the Bonn Powers on July 10 to amend state-level legislation in order to strengthen Bosnia,s ability to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Lajcak will also call upon Republika Srpska (RS) and Federation governments to harmonize their entity-level laws with the changes he is imposing at the state-level. In addition, Lajcak will announce the removal of a senior RS police official at ICTY,s request, the opening of 99 new war crimes investigations, including 79 related to Srebrenica, and the suspension of 36 RS police officers. Goran Vasic, head of the Criminal Investigative Division of the RS Police, is supposed to appear at the July 10 press conference with Lajcak to signal RS government support for the HighRep,s actions. The cooperation of key RS officials represents the fruit of several weeks work by the Deputy HighRep prior to Lajcak,s July 1 arrival, but also Lajcak,s decision to lay the political groundwork for his use of the Bonn Powers during a recent visit to Banja Luka. The impositions are a welcome signal that the new HighRep, unlike his predecessor, is prepared to use the Bonn Powers, and that he has the political skills required to use them effectively. END SUMMARY Strengthening War Crimes Prosecutions, Witness Protections -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) On July 6, newly-appointed High Representative ("HighRep") Miroslav Lajcak informed the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board ambassadors that he planned to exercise the Bonn Powers on July 10, imposing amendments to the BiH Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),the BiH Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (the penal code) and the BiH Law on Travel Documents and Identification (LTDI). The amendments, which have previously received strong but ineffectual support in Bosnian legal circles, will expand the investigative resources available to the prosecutor and impede suspects from fleeing the country to escape justice. The HighRep plans to justify his use of Bonn Powers by arguing that the legislation is needed urgently to facilitate action by Bosnian prosecutors and is unlikely to be adopted by state-level government in time to benefit new investigations or prevent the escape of suspects. Strengthening State-Level Laws to Tackle War Crimes -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Amendments to the CPC will broaden the definition of "investigator" so that evidence gathered by a wider range of court officials will be admissible in court. They will also empower BiH authorities to seize the passports of suspected war criminals once they are formally under investigation. The amendments to the LTDI will provide the basis for the HighRep to order government official to seize passports and travel documents in order to prevent activities which obstruct, or threaten to obstruct, implementation of the Dayton Accords (i.e., the possible flight of war crimes suspects). (Note: Prosecutors and war crimes victims have long been frustrated with suspects' ability to flee to safety across the border. End Note). ¶4. (C) The HighRep's amendment to the BiH Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions will require the state penal law to be applied to persons convicted by State Court, but serving their sentences in entity prisons because there is no BiH State Prison. Under this provision, convicted war criminals and other serious offenders will be excluded from eligibility for weekend passes, work release and other unsupervised opportunities to interact with the public, and potentially to intimidate victims, retaliate against witnesses or flee the country. These changes are related directly to the Stankovic escape, which continues to generate widespread public outrage (REF A). The HighRep will ask the Federation, RS and Brcko District law makers to harmonize SARAJEVO 00001503 002 OF 002 their criminal procedural codes and laws on the execution of criminal sanctions in line with the State-level changes being imposed. RS Agrees to Suspend Srebrenica List Suspects -------------- ¶5. (C) After announcing these amendments to State-level law, the HighRep will immediately use his new authority to order local authorities to confiscate the passports of 86 individuals whom the ICTY and BiH prosecutors have identified as flight risks. The 86 individuals are among 99 into whom the State Prosecutor has recently opened war crimes investigations, including some 79 related to Srebrenica (REF B). Lajcak will make public that these investigations have been launched. The HighRep also informed the Steer Board that, following a series of discussions with RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and his government, the RS has agreed immediately to suspend 36 RS police officers. These are among the 99 individuals now being investigated by the State Prosecutor. OHR reports that RS Police Director Uros Pena has already begun this process, and the RS Ministry of Civil Affairs is prepared to seize their travel documents upon receiving the HighRep's order. Finally, acting on the July 5 written request from the ICTY Prosecutor's Office, the HighRep also plans to remove a senior RS police official accused of obstructing ICTY cooperation and assisting a Person Indicted for War Crimes (PIFWC). Goran Vasic, head of the Criminal Investigative Division of the RS Police, will appear with Lajcak at his press conference announcing the impositions in order to underscore RS support for his actions. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) In direct contrast to the hands-off approach of his predecessor, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, newly-appointed HighRep Lajcak has moved swiftly to use the Bonn Powers, a welcome development from our perspective. Lajcak's apparently deft political management of the imposition also contrasts favorably with the ham-handed approach his predecessor took with the Potocari law (REF . Lajcak's decision also suggests that under his leadership, the OHR intends to be more proactive on war crimes issues, particularly the Srebrenica list. The timing of his announcement, one day before the July 11 commemoration of the Srebrenica massacre, is no doubt intended to reinforce this message, which should be welcomed by many in Bosnia. Nonetheless, OHR officials are anxious that Bosniak political leaders might downplay the significance of Lajcak's measures or turn this into an occasion to attack the Serbs and the RS, which could undercut the work OHR has done to secure Serb cooperation. MCELHANEY