OSCE Mission to Croatia report finds ethnic Serbs "disadvantaged" in war crime trials

ZAGREB, 1 March 2004 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia has prepared a report based on monitoring of some 75 war crime trials during 2002 which shows that defendants of Serb ethnicity are disadvantaged at all stages of judicial proceedings compared to Croats.

The report, to be released today on the OSCE Mission's website, acknowledges some improvements in recent years, but concludes that further reform is necessary in order to achieve the even-handed administration of criminal justice in war crime cases.

"There must be one standard of criminal responsibility applied equally to all those who face war crimes charges before the Croatian courts, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation", said Peter Semneby, Head of the OSCE Mission. The report suggests that further reform is needed in order to meet this goal, which the authorities have pledged to pursue.

The report's analysis and conclusions are based on first-hand court monitoring by Mission staff during 2002 at 12 county courts and the Supreme Court. The proceedings monitored by the Mission account for 80 to 90 per cent of all war crime proceedings reported by the Chief State Prosecutor in his 2002 Annual Report. This is a sufficiently representative sample from which general conclusions can be drawn.

Some of the report's findings are that:

- Serbs are much more likely than Croats to be convicted when put on trial. 83 per cent of all Serbs put on trial for war crimes (47 of 57) were found guilty, while only 18 per cent of Croats (3 of 17) were convicted. According to preliminary findings, the differential appears to have decreased somewhat in 2003.

- While there is no imperative that an equal number of Serbs and Croats should face prosecution, Serbs represented the vast majority of defendants at all stages of judicial proceedings. For example, in 2002 Serbs represented 28 of 35 arrests; 114 of 131 persons under judicial investigation; 19 of 32 persons indicted; 90 of 115 persons on trial; and 47 of 52 persons convicted. From preliminary data, this trend appears to continue in 2003.

- Trials in absentia, used primarily for Serbs, continued. Many of these trials have a large number of defendants, which means that the principle of individual guilt is often not observed. Nearly 60 per cent of all Serb convictions were convictions in absentia. This trend continues, according to preliminary data for 2003, particularly in Zadar.

- Procedural shortcomings in lower courts are proven by the high reversal rate (95 per cent) of Serb convictions which are examined by the Supreme Court. Also, in re-trials, a majority of Serbs previously convicted are exonerated. The Supreme Court's reversal rate in 2003 appears to have decreased, but more than half of all verdicts in war crime cases were sent back for re-trial due to errors by the trial courts.

Half of the Serbs arrested for war crimes in 2002 were recent returnees. This trend appears to continue in 2003. Ambassador Semneby also pointed out that "the lack of even-handedness in the treatment of war crimes in the courts continues to be an obstacle to refugee return."

The Mission's concerns have been validated by senior Government officials. The Chief State Prosecutor has acknowledged irregularities and has mandated a review of approximately 1,850 pending war crime cases.

A similar report containing the Mission's observations about war crimes trials conducted in 2003 will be forthcoming.