BOSNIA: FORMER FOREIGN FIGHTERS ARRESTED; BUT CAN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000747

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR(JONES),
EUR/SCE(HYLAND/SILBERSTEIN/FOOKS); NSC FOR HELGERSON/WILSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KISL SCUL INR KJUS KCRM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: FORMER FOREIGN FIGHTERS ARRESTED; BUT CAN
THEY BE DEPORTED?

REF: A. 08 SARAJEVO 93

B. 07 SARAJEVO 2663

C. 05 SARAJEVO 2930

D. SARAJEVO 562

E. SARAJEVO 406

F. 07 SARAJEVO 107

G. 07 SARAJEVO 1583

H. 07 SARAJEVO 2487

I. SARAJEVO 101

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


1. (S/NF) Summary: Administrative delays and barriers to
evidence sharing may contribute to the release from the
Foreigners Affairs Service (FAS) Immigration Center of
several former foreign fighters, who have been deemed threats
to BiH national security. Currently the center holds eight
persons of North African and Middle Eastern origin, who had
their BiH citizenships stripped by the Citizenship Review
Commission (Refs A-C). Several had been picked up in early
May as part of the work of a Joint Task Force, which emerged
from a 2008 Law Enforcement Executive Trip to the U.S.
sponsored by the Department of Justice's International
Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program (ICITAP).
Minister of Security Tarik Sadovic, whose removal from office
is being contemplated by senior Party for Democratic Action
(SDA) officials, berated senior law enforcement agency heads
for circumventing him in the planning of this action. One
former foreign fighter, Awad Aiman, was recently released
after the State Court upheld his appeal and nullified the
CRC's decision stripping him of his citizenship. Contacts in
the FAS and State Court highlight poor coordination among the
institutions responsible for ruling on deportation and
immigration issues, which may force the FAS to release
additional individuals in the future. We are encouraging
contacts in institutions relevant to immigration and
deportation to meet to streamline coordination to prevent the
unnecessary release of these individuals.

The Arrests
--------------


2. (S/NF) A combined action by Federation police, state-level
Foreigners Affairs Service officers and the Intelligence
Security Agency (OSA) resulted in the arrest of three illegal
aliens of North African and Middle Eastern descent, who had
been deemed to threats to national security (Ref D). On May
4 Federation police arrested Syrian-born Awad Aiman and
Kuwaiti-born Abdulla Ba-Awra and brought them to the FAS
Immigration Center in Lukavica near Sarajevo. On May 5
police also delivered Algerian-born Benkhira Aissa to the
Center. A lawyer for Awad protested his client's detention
claiming that a court appeal was still pending against the
CRC's decision to revoke Awad's citizenship. FAS Deputy
Director Izet Nizam told the press that the three would
remain in the Center until their immigration status can be
resolved.

Work of the Joint Task Force
--------------


3. (S/NF) The joint police action had been agreed upon by
domestic intelligence and law enforcement agencies
participating in a Joint Task Force recently set up by the
directors several state-level and entity law enforcement
agencies. The Task Force, whose goal is to identify whether
the former fighters can be detained and deported, stemmed
from a project to improve police agency cooperation sponsored
by the SEED funded Department of Justice International
Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program (Ref E).
However, the decision to undertake this action, along with
the selection of targets and timing of arrests, is purely
driven by domestic intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Of the 48 persons of concern identified by the Task Force,
they chose to take action first against nine individuals
known to be residing in BiH illegally, while investigations
into the other 39 will begin. Federation police contacts
have provided us with biodata on those arrested as well as
outstanding targets. For the three arrested
already--Abdulla Ba-Awra (a.k.a. Hudeifa),DOB: 16 Aug 1974,
POB: Kuwait; Awan Aiman (a.k.a. Abu Ejmen),DOB 01 Apr
1964, POB: Mneem, Syria; Aissa Benkhira, son of Lakhdara,
DOB: 24 Jan 1968, POB: Gharaja, Algeria. The remaining
targets of the operation are: Choulah Zoheir, DOB: 13 Sep
1973, POB: Algeria; Youssef Amgad, son of Mohamed and Aisha,
DOB: 05 Jul 1966, POB: Kalubija, Egypt; Ibrahim Hosni, son of
Abdalla, DOB: 06 Jan 1961, POB: El Fayoum, Egypt; Kaddari
Mohamed, son of Idris and Idde, DOB: 01 Apr 1965, POB:
Tijart, Algeria; Ghlam Abed, son of Mustafa and Kamajrer
Turkije, DPB: 10 Feb 1956, POB: Gartouf, Algeria; Mournir
Silni (Omar Bedjaouvi) a.k.a. Abu Fadil, POB: 16 Feb 1963,
POB: Tunisia.

Minister Sadovic berates FAS Director over the Arrests
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4. (S/NF) The FAS Director and Deputy Director, long-time
Embassy contacts, tell us that Minister of Security Tarik
Sadovic (Party for Democratic Action-SDA) called each of them
on several occasion to berate them for participating in this
"illegal" police action and demanding a list of all those
officers who participated. Sadovic, who has often been
chastised for his attempts to politicize the work of the
Ministry of Security, has not made any public protests of yet
(Ref F-I). (Comment: In the aftermath of his re-election as
SDA President, Suljeman Tihic has acknowledged to us that he
would like to replace Sadovic as Security Minister. However,
high-ranking officials in the SDA tell us they have so far
unsuccessfully encouraged Sadovic to resign, and it is
unclear if they are ready to remove him against his will.
Senior State and Entity law enforcement officials are
considering scheduling a formal meeting with OHR High
Representative Inzko to complain about his obstructionist
approach. End Comment.)

Coordination Problems in the Immigration Sector
-------------- --


5. (SBU) There are several institutions with key roles in
the process of deporting former foreign fighters, currently
residing in BiH illegally. The FAS has the mandate to
monitor their whereabouts, issue deportation orders, detain
them in the FAS immigration center, and oversee deportation.
The FAS also serves as the first level of appeal, if
detainees wish to appeal their deportation orders. The
Ministry of Security's Sector for Immigration serves as the
second level of appeal on deportation orders. Several of the
former foreign fighters also filed asylum claims with
Ministry of Security's Sector for Asylum and in past practice
deportation proceedings could not go forward until the asylum
petition has been adjudicated. The State Court serves as a
third level of appeal for deportation orders and is the
appeal body to review CRC decisions. Up until recent changes
in the laws governing aliens and asylum, filing an appeal
with the State Court, which often takes years to resolve,
stayed any possible deportation. In the absence of a
state-level supreme court, individuals often appeal decisions
of the State Court to the Constitutional Court or to the
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which in the
past has referred such cases to the BiH Constitutional Court
for review. The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) oversees
issues relating to citizenship and has a role in providing
documentation on how individuals obtained BiH citizenship.
The Intelligence Security Agency (OSA) provides the
determination on whether or not individuals pose threats to
national security.


6. (S/NF) Contacts in the FAS and State Court point out
coordination and information sharing issues that can
contribute to the release of such former foreign fighters.
The appeal process for deportation orders provides for short
turn-around times by the Ministry of Security (24 hours),
such that the MoS often fails to or cannot meet this
deadline. This failure can be exploited by defense lawyers
to annul proceedings. When the State Court must rule on a
case, it sometimes fails to receive or to request the proper
documentation from the FAS or MoS, such that judges might not
have enough evidence to side with the state against the
individuals. We have been told that judges often can not
obtain the classified evidence used by OSA to declare someone
a threat to national security or the documentation from MCA,
that had been used by the CRC to rule on stripping
citizenship. State Court contacts claim that this
contributed to the recent State Court decision restoring the
BiH citizenship to Aiman Awad and his subsequent release from
detention.

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


7. (S/NF) Although we applaud the initiative of domestic
authorities to organize and take action to deport these
potentially dangerous illegal aliens, we, along with many law
enforcement and justice sector contacts, are concerned about
the systematic inefficiencies that can force their release.
We understand the difficulties involved in coordinating the
sharing of classified information with all players involved
in the multiple levels of possible appeal, but believe there
are options for resolving the problem. We are encouraging
the institutions involved in the deportation process to
convene coordination meetings to streamline information
sharing to maximize BiH's ability within the range of its
laws, to deport illegal aliens, posing threats to national
security. End Comment

ENGLISH