OSCE Mission calls for reform of domestic war crime procedures in Croatia

ZAGREB, 22 June 2004 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia today issued two reports on war crime trials conducted in Croatian courts acknowledging recent improvements but concluding that additional reform is needed to provide for impartial domestic adjudication of war crimes in all Croatian courts.

The two reports provide an analysis based on statistical information as well as individual cases derived from the Mission's country-wide monitoring of war crimes proceedings.

Approximately 500 individuals were processed for war crimes before 12 county courts from 2002 until mid-2004.

The reports were jointly presented today by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Peter Semneby, and Croatia's Justice Minister, Vesna Skare Ozbolt.

"In connection with its co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), there has been an observable increased government commitment in 2004 to prosecute all war crimes perpetrators, regardless of national origin, as well as growing public acceptance of this approach," Ambassador Semneby said.

"However, the reports indicate that the national origin of defendants and victims continue to effect war crime proceedings."

"While there have been improvements in the past year, these reports show that additional measures are still needed to ensure that all parts of the Croatian judiciary are sufficiently prepared to impartially adjudicate war crime trials," he added.

"This is essential to achieve the Government's stated objective of a uniform standard of criminal responsibility, regardless of national origin, as well as a single standard of justice for victims."

The OSCE Mission Head commended efforts already undertaken by the Ministry of Justice, with the ICTY, to provide training for judges in the Zagreb, Osijek, Split, and Rijeka County Courts that may receive cases transferred from the ICTY.

He said that these efforts were likely to make it possible for the Croatian judiciary to handle the limited number of cases that are expected to be transferred from the ICTY in the near future.

He observed that other county courts will continue to conduct the vast majority of war crime trials and suggested that training and other reform initiatives should be extended to all judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers responsible for such cases so that a two-tier system of justice for war crimes does not develop in Croatia.

Other issues of concern include changed witness testimonies, unsubstantiated charges that are later abandoned, in absentia trials and discrepancies in the conviction rates between Croats and Serbs standing trial for similar offences.

A powerful indicator of the need for reform is the high rate of war crime verdicts overturned by the Supreme Court, requiring re-trial.

"This warrants targeted intervention to ensure fair trial for all defendants and even-handed administration of justice," said the OSCE Mission Head.

He particularly commended the ongoing efforts of the Chief State Prosecutor to review questionable war crime investigations and indictments, primarily against Serbs, and hoped that these efforts would result in a reduction in the number of faulty war crime trials.

In 2003 and in the first part of 2004, an increased number of old cases against Serbs have been dropped due to lack of evidence.

"It would be better if reviews of such cases could take place earlier in the process to avoid unnecessary arrests and detention of Serb returnees, which have a negative impact on the return process," Ambassador Semneby said.

The reports also identify the increasing need for inter-state co-operation between judicial authorities in order to address all war crime cases in Croatia.

Ambassador Semneby added that recent co-operation on witness testimony between judicial authorities in Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro was an encouraging sign of more wide-ranging co-operation.

The main observations of the Mission's reports are reflected in the European Commission's Opinion on Croatia's EU membership application issued on 21 April 2004.