Spectacular Military-Police Operations
Bosnia:AIM Sarajevo, October 9, 2001
Antiterrorist Actions in B&H
On Monday, October 8 Bensaj Benkacen Medz (according to some data born in the Yemen and to other in Algeria) was arrested in Zenica. His identity card and travel documents show that he was born in 1960, while birth register gives 1962 as his year of birth. Minister of the Interior of the Federation of B&H (F B&H) Muhamed Besic stated that the arrested had connections with Abu Jabudal, Osama bin Laden's senior officer. He was charged with acquiring several passports (Medz had a new B&H passport issued on July 21, this year) from a number of states.
The state in the Bosnian territory populated by Bosniac majority in the last fifteen days could be described as "the emergency state". Troops of the international stabilisation forces (SFOR) made a number of arrests from Sarajevo to Visoko and Gorazde to Bihac, which were shrouded in mystery so that even the local authorities were not informed of what was going on. The culmination was a warning of the Federal Minister of Police, Muhamed Besic that "seventy Afghans, members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, are planning to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina, in search of a safe haven". But, the Minister warned them that they "will find hell" instead! However, spectacular military-police operation turned into a series of failures which produced sarcastic comments of the press, but also raised serious questions regarding the relationship between the international factor and local authorities, the state's credibility and whether this was a step back for the entire society in respect of human rights.
In late September, using armoured vehicles and helicopters and blocking the approach roads to surrounding villages the American soldiers launched a spectacular operation of taking the never finished airport near Visoko (40 kms north of Sarajevo), which lasted one day and night. Two guns and several shells left from the last war (of unknown type)were discovered as a result of this operation. Similar thing happened in Bihac. On September 22, in an action mounted by SFOR units, with the participation of FBI members, a Jordanian national Abu Kharroub Majed was arrested after "a prolonged surveillance and confirmation of data", as the official report of SFOR spokesman in Sarajevo stated. When Majed was released two days later, it turned out that he had been living in B&H for twenty years, had regular citizenship papers and worked for The High Saudi Committee for Children Without Parental Care (VSK).
On the day of his arrest the VSK was to pay financial aid for 519 orphans. But, exactly a week before another such payment was stopped in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, also because of an action of Italian carabineers. The SFOR raided the premises of High Saudi Committee in Ilidza (September 26) and arrested one office attendant and one unarmed guard (Almin Harbaus and Nihad Karcic) local staff employed by this humanitarian organisation. A day earlier one Jordanian and one Egyptian were arrested in a hotel in Ilidza. The only thing journalists were told at SFOR's press conference on October 2 (Daryll Morrell) was that a strong-box was discovered containing somewhere between DM 100 and 200 thousand.
Everything else remained secret, including the identity of the arrested. Only foreign troops took part in these operations. Neither the local police nor state officials knew about these delicate actions. "The SFOR arrested these people because we suspected that they might jeopardise SFOR and the secure environment which is necessary for the international community to be able to carry out its humanitarian mission here", was the official stand conveyed by the spokesman.
The arrested "belonged" exclusively to international troops. They were kept at an unknown place in one of the military bases and interrogated by the FBI agents on investigation mission in B&H and by military intelligence agents, but without the presence of legal counsels. The local police was reduced to the role of couriers who informed families and organisations of the arrested. To a journalist's question why was the identity of the arrested kept secret and why they were denied the right to defence (to have their legal counsels present during interrogation), the international officials replied that "the SFOR is not the police and does not conduct investigations" but "is only in charge of ensuring a "secure environment". This explanation was used to justify the violation of the right to defence and keeping the arrested in isolation.
Some years ago police forces from the territory of former Yugoslavia were allowed to keep suspects in police custody up to three days at maximum. Under the pressure of international organisations the Law on Criminal Procedure was changed and that period was reduced to 24 hours and a suspect was granted the right to refuse to answer any police questions without his lawyer being present. However, this democratic achievement was practically trampled on in B&H, while there are demands (Western officials) to extend this period to seven days. And all this is done under in the name of the fight against terrorism, although it is contrary to all contemporary achievements in the human rights field.
Numerous international and local organisations, which are actively working in B&H for the defence of human rights, are "deaf, blind and mute" in cases where local people are involved. Lawyer Almin Dautbegovic, hired by the family of arrested guard from the High Saudi Committee, was denied access to his client.
"It is incomprehensible that the arrested are denied the right to attorney who must be a part of every investigative procedure", said Dautbegovic failing to provoke any reaction of either the public or the judiciary. The local media also totally ignored this problem, which can be explained by the newly created circumstances. There was also no usual journalistic curiosity as to what had happened in the premises of the Saudi humanitarian organisation. That is why this organisation chose a move rather unusual in these parts. On October 2, in the daily "Avaz" (The Voice) it published a paid advertisement with a list of all local staff working for it, the amount of confiscated money and its intended use. The High Saudi Committee demanded a public apology for SFOR's raid, but none was made nor will be.
Similar thing happened with five Pakistani citizens who were banished >from the B&H before their valid residence visas expired. It turned out that they were suspicious as religious activists, although they were not connected with terrorism. In the magazine "Dani" (Days) Deputy Federal Minister Tomislav Limov warned that we shouldn't see a terrorist in every foreigner coming from Islamic countries. "In different and better times we will have to apologise to that state (Pakistan) and its nationals", said Limov thus proving that this was a result of an atmosphere of a witch hunt that has been created, but also of pressures the local police was exposed to.
And precisely these pressures are an indirect explanation of the urgent extradition of two Egyptian nationals (Arman Ahmed al Huseini, a.k.a. al Misry, and Al Sherif Hasan Muhamed Saad, called Sakr) to Egypt last Saturday, on October 6. Sakr was suspected of having committed a terrorist attack in Rijeka back in 1996. He was not extradited to Croatia because Croatia refused to surrender Mario Milicevic Baja who had been suspected of a terrorist attack on Joze Leotar, Deputy Federal Minister of the Interior. However, after Misry's detention was revoked on October 5, he was practically kidnapped at the gates of the Sarajevo prison and deported. For state TV his attorney stated that this was a flagrant violation of human rights, but no one in B&H cared for such "formalities".
Bosnia is labelled as a country "which provides safe haven to Islamic terrorists" and the authorities are doing their best so as to prove their commitment to the newly formed anti-terrorist coalition. True, at the request of Zlatko Lagumdzija, the international factor has made a concession. An agreement was reached with the SFOR that from now on suspicious citizens would be brought in by the local police. When it comes to Bosnia, long ago it ceased to be a vacation resort, as well as ground for the activities of the international terrorist network. However, this country's main problem is its porous border, because the State Border Service covers only two thirds of its borders. The announced arrival of seventy Bin Laden's followers launched by the Police Minister was probably meant to heat up the atmosphere regarding terrorist activities so as to ensure material support for the establishment of border services. America was first to send aid in equipment. However, more sensible people are warning: the fight against terrorism cannot be used as an excuse for the violation of human rights.
Emir HABUL
First on: 11012-006-trae-sar