BOSNIA - SNAPSHOT OF RECENT INL-FUNDED PROGRAMS

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001807 SIPDIS EUR/SCE(FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),INL (KIMMEL),S/WCI (VIBUL-JOLLES),INR (MORIN); EUR/ACE (DUNN),DOJ PASS TO OPDAT (ALEXNDRE) AND ICITAP (SWARTZ) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID EFIN KAWC KCRM KJUS BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - SNAPSHOT OF RECENT INL-FUNDED PROGRAMS Introduction/Overview -------------- ¶1. (U) The INL-funded programs implemented by OPDAT and ICITAP programs are critical to our efforts to strengthen rule of law in Bosnia, and more broadly speaking, the state. In keeping with the Embassy's priorities, much of this assistance is geared to state-level institutions (State Border Police, State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA),the State Court),though assistance is also provided to judicial and law enforcement officials nation-wide. This assistance is aimed at strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial institutions to investigate, prosecute, and sentence individuals who commit terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes. It is also aimed at strengthening the operational effectiveness of these institutions, such as by increasing police-prosecutor cooperation. This cable is the first in a series of periodic reporting cables on INL-funded rule of law and law enforcement programs. This report highlights the most important activities carried out by OPDAT in the last three months as well as recent ICITAP initiatives. OPDAT -- War Crimes -------------- ¶2. (U) In recent months, OPDAT contributed to the Embassy's in-depth analysis of the draft National War Crimes Strategy that was submitted to the working group tasked with drafting the strategy. The adoption of the strategy remains one of our top priorities since it is the remaining rule of law benchmark that Bosnia must fulfill before the Office of the High Representative (OHR) can close. As for training, OPDAT has not provided specific war crimes-related training in the past three months because the State Prosecutor's Special Department for War Crimes (SDWC) has been focused on drafting the strategy and because there has been some resistance to training. However, Acting Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barasin and SDWC Chief David Schwendiman have recently expressed interest in having OPDAT sponsor training on command responsibility and trial advocacy, among other issues, and in working with OPDAT to increase the sustainability of training programs. OPDAT plans to follow up with Barasin and Schwendiman on these issues in the coming weeks. (Note: The most significant war crimes-specific training conducted this calendar year involved separate study tours on March 31-April 4 and on July 21-25 to the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by twelve judges and prosecutors working on war crimes cases at the State Court and the State Prosecutor's Office as well as a few entity prosecutors. The goal of both visits was to increase the Bosnians' familiarity with the ICTY's operations, best practices, and topical legal issues, as well as to facilitate exchanges about ICTY transitional issues. End Note) Organized Crime/TIP/Terrorism-Related Programs -------------- -- ¶3. (U) On October 11-25, OPDAT sponsored a study tour to Pittsburgh and Boston for fourteen judges, prosecutors, and legal officers from state and entity-level judicial institutions. The study tour consisted of visits to a federal court (Pittsburgh) and an appellate court (Boston). In Pittsburgh, participants learned about pre-trial services, the probation system, victim/witness protection, the work of the US Attorney's Office, DEA, the FBI, IRS, the Marshall's Service, and the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS),and how the federal court deals with the issue of overlapping jurisdictions. In Boston, participants attended a criminal law session dealing with three cases, as well as separate trials in a homicide and a political corruption case, a bails/bond hearing motion, a jury selection, as well as juvenile, gun, and drug court hearings. ¶4. (U) These activities generated in depth discussions among participants about the merits of creating a probation system in Bosnia; the need to improve the orderliness of court proceedings, to increase the use of objections, and to develop alternative remedies; the possibility of introducing the concept of sidebar dissuasions during trials; ways in which Bosnia can decrease significant case backlogs; and the advantages of having greater interaction between members of the appellate panel, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, as well as other practices to improve the appellate panel's operations. (Note: The State Court's Appellate Panel is considered one of the Court's most serious weaknesses. It continues to garner national and international criticism for its structural flaws and its tendency to overturn or amend verdicts in favor of defendants more than sixty percent of the time. End Note) ¶5. (U) On November 14-16, OPDAT participated in training on terrorism-related cases sponsored by the Spanish Embassy for prosecutors and legal officers working in SDOC. OPDAT made a presentation on how to initiate and manage financial crimes cases, which garnered kudos from the head of SDOC. We understand that, as a result of OPDAT's presentation, SDOC plans to develop checklists for witness interviews, a sourcebook of local and international contacts to improve the department's efficiency, and other best practices referenced by OPDAT. Finally, at SDOC's request, OPDAT has been providing legal advice in connection with abuse of office allegations against a senior official. Improving the Judiciary's Efficiency and Effectiveness -------------- -------------- ¶6. (U) On November 17-20, OPDAT sponsored a study tour for ten State Court judges at the first instance and appellate level to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg. The tour was aimed at providing the judges, including President Meddzida Kreso, with a better understanding of how the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR) is applied so that they could advance Bosnia's harmonization with EU laws and standards. Anecdotes from internationals working at the State Court and the State Prosecutor's Office suggest that the locals are not sufficiently versed in the ECHR or with ECHR case law. With this in mind, OPDAT arranged a presentation by the Bosnian lawyer assigned to the Court about Bosnia-specific cases and separate presentations on the mechanics of the Court, i.e. how cases are processed, and use of the Court's database. Participants also sat in on a rare oral argument in a case. Upcoming Activities -------------- ¶7. (U) Over the next three months, OPDAT plans to provide separate anti-corruption and anti-terrorism training for police and prosecutors in cooperation with ICITAP to beef up Bosnia's capacity in those key areas. (Note: SDOC is now working on four terrorism cases of interest to us, and has benefited from OPDAT and LEGATT's expertise. End Note). OPDAT will also sponsor training by the U.S. Marshall Service in asset forfeiture management, a grossly underdeveloped subject area in Bosnia. Over the past six months, SDOC has significantly increased the number and value of forfeited assets, a trend that is expected to continue in the future; however, it remains frustrated with the manner in which these assets are managed. In addition, in response to a request from Acting Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barasin, an interim Legal Advisor arrived on November 30 for a six-month tour to mentor and provide training to SDOC prosecutors and legal officers to increase their capacity to effectively prosecute complex terrorism, organized crime, narcotics, and other cases. ¶8. (U) OPDAT will also sponsor a follow-up round table in December for program managers responsible for judicial and law enforcement training from bilateral missions, the European Commission (EC),the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),and other international organizations. The initiative is aimed at improving donor coordination with regard to training and other educational opportunities and to increase the sustainability of training programs. Finally, OPDAT and other members of the Embassy community will analyze the results of an upcoming Swedish-funded study of international assistance provided to the State Court and the State Prosecutor's Office and a review of the reforms that need to be sustained. We expect to factor in issues and lessons learned from the study into future OPDAT programming. ICITAP - Federation Forensics Laboratory -------------- ¶9. (U) Regarding ICITAP-sponsored activities, the Ambassador participated in a donation ceremony at the Federation Forensics Laboratory on November 14. In the ceremony, ICITAP officially donated equipment totaling USD 395,000. The donation included the renovation of the laboratory facilities (USD 296,000) and specialized equipment for the five main departments of the lab: Fingerprint, Photography, Ballistics, Toxicology and Biology (USD 99,000). These departments now have the tools essential for performing basic trace evidence analysis. Rebuilding and modernizing the lab's capacity to process forensic evidence is a critical element in building strong cases against organized crime rings, terrorist organizations, and other criminals. ¶10. (U) ICITAP has been working with the EC to provide training for laboratory staff. In 2007, in conjunction with the EC, ICITAP funded the travel of two DNA technicians to the U.S. for training provided by the FBI at their Quantico Training headquarters. Follow-up training was provided by an FBI DNA expert traveling to Bosnia to install software and put the DNA equipment donated by the EC into operation. On November 26-28, ICITAP, in partnership with the European Union Police Mission (EUPM),conducted a three-day DNA training class for technicians working at the laboratory. This training will help recently-hired technicians perform DNA analysis, and will enable these local staff members to train new recruits as thy are added to the laboratory staff. ¶11. (U) ICITAP has no current plans to make additional equipment donations to the lab. However, it will provide additional training as appropriate, and will work closely with the EC and EUPM over the next several years to monitor the lab's progress toward achieving ISO 17025 certification (the EU and international standard). The expectation is that the EC and EUPM can provide needed equipment with ICITAP focusing on training. ¶12. (U) The lab currently belongs to the Federation, though it cooperates to some extent with the Republika Srpska (RS) forensics lab in Banja Luka. ICITAP and the EC have designed assistance so that the labs have complementary capabilities. For example, only the Federation lab is capable of performing DNA analysis. The eventual goal is to make both laboratories part of the one state-level forensics agency which was mandated by the 2008 police reform agreement. Progress in creating the forensics agency has been slow, as evidenced by the fact that the government still has not named a director of the agency. The embassy will continue to push the BiH government to flesh out the forensics agency and name a director as soon as possible. Meeting with EUPM Advisor Donley -------------- ¶13. (SBU) We met on November 19 with Brian Donley, the EUPM Advisor to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA),to discuss developments in SIPA and US-EU cooperation to improve the capabilities of the agency. Donley argued that, despite obstruction by RS officials, SIPA continues to make steady progress. He gave high marks to SIPA director Mirko Lujic, an ethnic Serb, for resisting pressure from RS officials to gut the agency. Donley said that SIPA scored an important breakthrough by cracking a counterfeiting ring that was selling forged national identity ("CIPS") documents. According to Donley, RS police officials had long insisted that they had superior capabilities and should take the lead in investigating CIPS counterfeiting, but their investigation did not produce any results. When SIPA took over the investigation, the state-level agency succeeded in identifying several locations where CIPS fraud was taking place, including one where RS police officials were involved. ¶14. (SBU) Donley noted that CIPS officials stationed in the RS played an important role in uncovering the CIPS fraud, thus demonstrating that the RS Branch Office of SIPA in Banja Luka could provide valuable assistance in an investigation in spite of the refusal of the RS entity police force to share information with SIPA. Donley said he and ICITAP SIPA advisor Vincent Amorezano are focusing on increasing SIPA's access to criminal intelligence by encouraging cantonal and federation police to enter data into the centralized database controlled by SIPA which was provided by ICITAP and the EC. ENGLISH