ZAGREB, Sept 1 (Hina) - The murder of Hague witness Milan Levar shows that the issue of protection of Hague witnesses has not been completely resolved, participants in a seminar on war victims and witnesses of the international war
crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY) concluded in Zagreb on Friday.
ZAGREB, Sept 1 (Hina) - The murder of Hague witness Milan Levar
shows that the issue of protection of Hague witnesses has not been
completely resolved, participants in a seminar on war victims and
witnesses of the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague
(ICTY) concluded in Zagreb on Friday. #L#
The two-day ICTY seminar, which is organised by the Croatian
Helsinki Committee (HHO), gathered several dozen experts from
Croatia and ICTY representatives.
Attorney Cedo Prodanovic believes the request the ICTY Prosecution
submitted two years ago asking the Croatian Interior Ministry to
protect Levar had not been sufficient. "This has only formally
shifted responsibility from the Tribunal," Prodanovic said.
HHO president Izet Aganovic said the ICTY had to request feedback on
the protection of individuals provided by a state at the tribunal's
request.
Aganovic wondered about the fate of witness Miro Bajramovic, who
had testified about alleged crimes against Croatian Serbs at
Pakracka Poljana, whose whereabouts have been unknown for some
time, however, according to the ICTY representatives, the Tribunal
had no information on Bajramovic's whereabouts.
"The tribunal... has to pay more attention to the protection of
witnesses after their return," Prodanovic said. He reminded that
experience had shown that the identity of protected witnesses was
discovered sooner or later.
The case of the incumbent Croatian President Stipe Mesic, who also
testified in The Hague three years ago, and whose identity was not
protected, also shows that there is a grey zone as regards witness
protection, Prodanovic warned. He added that Mesic was currently
sufficiently protected.
The head of the ICTY department for victims and witnesses, William
McGreeghan, said the tribunal had mechanisms of protection of
witnesses and was doing all it could, but countries the tribunal was
cooperating with had to provide protection for witnesses upon their
return from The Hague. The tribunal does not have sufficient means
for such protection, he said.
Judge Damir Kos warned that it was not clear when the protection of
potential witnesses began or who was responsible for witness
protection before and after the testimony, which can be an
aggravating factor when it comes to the readiness to testify.
Rada Boric of the Centre for War Victims said the Centre's
experience showed that women were not willing to testify if the ICTY
did not offer them protection.
The ICTY representatives spoke about the work of the department for
witnesses, which in the past several years secured the testimonies
of hundreds of witnesses in The Hague. That is extensive work which
includes accommodation and different forms of protection,
including the most radical ones, such as emigration to third
countries, they said. This measure has so far been applied in less
than 50 cases.
The Zagreb seminar on victims and Hague witnesses, which started
today, is the third of six meetings which are organised in the
region. After Podgorica (Montenegro), Banja Luka (Republika
Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Zagreb, the next seminar will be
held at the end of this month in Mostar (Federation of Bosnia-
Herzegovina). The Zagreb seminar is sponsored by the Danish
government.
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