SARAJEVO - CRIMES MULTIPLY, POLICE POWERLESS

After the Latest Wave of Terrorism

AIM Sarajevo, 5 September, 1997

In the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, series of incidents, murders linked to the return of refugees and banished persons, as well as coexistence in this space, swiftly follow each other. Innocent returnees are exposed to provocations and abuses, and not a small number of them have paid for the situation in the Federation with their lives. And while incidents and murders multiply, the police manages to do nothing but register them. That is why the public is, quite justly, very embittered and irritated.

Such a conclusion is only logical after the last six murders registered in the Central Bosnian canton, since not a single one of them has been clarified to this day. That is, not a single one of excesses which have jeopardized the process of return of refugees to Jajce, Bugojno, Stolac, to the last incident registered in Sarajevo when an unidentified object exploded in front of the vicarage of St. Ignjacije at Grbavica and caused great damage to the building.

The murders and the situation in the Federation and the Central-Bosnian Canton were the topic of the recent press conference held in Sarajevo by Vladimir Soljic, President of B&H Federation. In the attempt to talk about these incidents solely as criminal acts, he nevertheless did not fail to mention that among the victims, five were Croats. Representatives of the authorities from among the Croat nation at the press conference were reproached for having been silent about numerous maltreatments of the Croats after their return to central Bosnia. Soljic found pretext for it in their wish not to cause disturbances. He stressed the publicly proclaimed policy of the authorities of the Bosniac people who were on the one hand organizing the return, and on the other demonstrations of the people who were trying to prevent return of refugees.

To what extent silence has contributed to the improvement of the situation and relations in the Federation, it is hard to tell. One thing is for certain, and this is that nothing has been done to bring some light to the developments and name the culprits, which would help create a better climate for return of the people to their homes.

At the Forum of the B&H Federation, chaired recently in Sarajevo by the head of the USA mission Robert Beecroft and former deputy of the high representative, ambassador Gerd Wagner, it was among other agreed that by 1 September this year municipal authorities and police carry out a profound investigation about the incidents in Bugojno and Stolac, and make the findings public, and instigate criminal proceedings against the perpetrators.

However, to this day, there has been no explanation of these cases, but in the meantime, new ones occurred, more bloody and tragic, like the recent double murder of returnees to Travnik. Undermining of coexistence and excesses have escalated. One of the undertaken obligations on the top federal level has not been met again. Nobody seems to be concerned about it, least of all those in charge, to none of whom it has even occurred that they should resign, as a moral act. It is true, though that prime minister of the B&H Federation, Edhem Bicakcic, sent word to the police from the last session that he expected a "report for the next session on the results", that is, whether the process of constitution of joint police had been completed. But not a thing was said about the obligation to publicize findings about the mentioned incidents, as demanded by the Forum of the Federation.

It seems most likely that another in the series of undertaken obligations before international mediators will remain just a dead letter, especially because so far no report of the police has arrived at the office of president of the Federation, Vladimir Soljic, in compliance with the mentioned undertaken obligation. At the office of the president, however, they say that the federal Ministry of the interior sends daily reports on the security situation in the Federation and actions performed. These reports contain an abundance of data about successfully performed operations, but resolving of the cases which irritate the public connected to Travnik, Jajce, Bugojno, is not at all going smoothly. New cases are simply pushing the previous developments to the margins.

All this could soon be on the agenda of the highest decion-making authority - the parliament of B&H Federation. Indeed, for the next session scheduled to take place in about a fortnight, the parliament is expected to discuss the work of the government of B&H Federation in both its chambers. As part of the discussion, the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should also be on the agenda and publicly considered, especially because the highest administrative agencies of the Federation do not conceal concern because of the situation and believe that time has come for the parliament to speak out.

On the other hand, the need for it is imposed also by increasing reprimands by the opposition parties of the ruling HDZ and SDA, which are partly blamed for all the incidents and events. Resignations are publicly demanded, like for instance by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of B&H.

"We in the SDP do not claim that orders for deliberate, politically calculated provoking of terrorist actions are given from the top of the national parties. It is a fact that terrorism is escalating, and intimidation of returnees is becoming part of the campaign of the ruling national parties. That is why more 'excesses' and dead bodies are only to be expected until the elections", claimed Karlo Filipovic, secretary general of the SDP at the last press conference.

This warning has hardly reached the public when the new incident happened in Sarajevo.

Fear of the citizens is growing, and impotence of the police and the authorities is becoming more and more evident. This is true especially because there are indications that the explosive device planted in front of the vicarage of St. Ignjacije was identical to the one which damaged the Catholic religious building in Marijin Dvor. Perpetrators of that criminal act have never been named.

All things considered, it is obvious that time has come for the representatives in the authorities of B&H Federation to reconsider very seriously the policy they are pursuing and come out in public with serious arguments, and loudly and clearly point out at the culprits and the perpetrators of the crimes. It is necessary to finally put an end to politicizing especially of the cases which concern human lives, in other words, to stop justifying political moves and failing to act in the interest of the people, when the people are paying for that interest with their lives.

Mirjana MICEVSKA

(AIM, Sarajevo)