AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR CONCRETE ACTION IN BOSNIA

MOSTAR, Aug 31 (Hina) - Amnesty International has called on the Stabilisation Forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina (SFOR) to stop "exercising" and actually arrest war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. The organisation has also called on the state authorities to reform the legislation and enable the prosecution of those responsible for the disappearance or abduction of more than 20,000 people in the country. #L# "After a year of public relations exercises, it is time for some real action," reads a message by Amnesty International to the SFOR. The statement was released on AI's web site. Seven years after the end of the war, the authorities in Bosnia- Herzegovina should adopt changes to its legislation to enable the processing of "disappearances", thus recognising the gravity of this type of human rights violations, states the US non-government organisation. AI particularly suggests that the new laws in Bosnia include such provisions which will regulate the prosecution of violations of international humanitarian law, which would be the task of a special department of the new national court, to be established with the help of the Hague tribunal by the end of the year. "Despite real progress in the exhumation and identification of the victims of 'disappearances' and abductions throughout Bosnia- Herzegovina there has been pitiful little progress in bringing responsible for these human rights violations and abuses to justice," AI stated. "Indeed the authorities - especially (but not exclusively) those in Republika Srpska - have shown almost a wilful refusal to end impunity for those suspected of 'disappearances', abductions and other human rights violations carried out in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina," reads the statement. To date, criminal investigations have been initiated only in a handful of 'disappearance' cases and only after overwhelming pressure and involvement by the international community, AI states. (hina) rml