OSCE War Crimes Processing Project in BiH expands to two more jurisdictions

SARAJEVO, 23 May 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s War Crimes Processing Project has been further expanded to cover two additional jurisdictions in BiH. The expansion of the project to one additional cantonal jurisdiction and one additional district jurisdiction in the RS was made possible by the recent financial contributions of the government of Germany.

Initially launched in March 2013, the War Crimes Processing Project was designed to address the most urgent needs of the BiH justice sector while taking into account the ongoing transfer of war crimes cases. The project will now provide support staff to five Prosecutors’ Offices in the Federation of BiH and all five District Prosecutors’ Offices in Republika Srpska, as well as state-level institutions.

In addition to the provision of support staff, the project includes training for judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and war crimes investigators, as well as financial support for exhumations and investigations. This will strengthen capacities to expedite the processing of war crimes cases in a fair and efficient manner.0

The 15-month War Crimes Processing Project bridges the funding gap ahead of the 2014 release of European Union IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) funds programmed to further advance the processing of war crimes cases.It is being implemented by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, Italy and Germany.