BOSNIAN GOVT. TO PAY DAMAGES FOR TRANSFER OF TERRORISM SUSPECTS

SARAJEVO, Dec 16 (Hina) - The families of six naturalised citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina of Arab origin will receive damages totalling some 15,000 euros as compensation for the illegal transfer of their family members to the US authorities by the Bosnian authorities more than two years ago. #L# Bosnia's Council of Ministers made the decision on Tuesday on the basis of a binding ruling of the House of Human Rights, the highest human rights institution in the country, to which the families of the so-called Algerian group had complained. Five Algerians and one citizen of Yemen, who were granted Bosnian citizenship as members of the Bosnian army during the war, were arrested in the autumn of 2001 on suspicion of preparing an attack on the US and British embassies in Sarajevo. Despite an investigation which lasted several months, the Bosnian police and judiciary did not manage to provide valid evidence for the accusations, however, the US government demanded their transfer. The Council of Ministers -- Bosnia's government -- met this request, finding the legal basis for the transfer in suspicion that the circumstances under which they had been granted Bosnian citizenship were unclear. The suspects were handed over to US government officials in March 2002 and transferred to the US army base Guantanamo in Cuba. The transfer of the suspects provoked mass protests by radical Islamic groups who clashed with police in Sarajevo. The families of the suspects then lodged a complaint with the House of Human Rights, which ruled that their transfer to the US authorities had violated some of their basic rights, the more so as they theoretically faced the threat of death sentence if indicted for and convicted of terrorist activity. The House of Human Rights then ordered the Bosnian authorities to provide the suspects with legal assistance and pay them damages in the amount of 33,500 convertible marks, including interest. (hina) rml sb