OSCE Mission to BiH supports annual prosecutorial conference on criminal matters

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) organized two panels – on war crimes and on trafficking in human beings and gender-based violence – at the three-day Annual Prosecutorial Conference on Criminal Matters, held on 1-3 October 2018 in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The panel on war crimes focused on challenges in transferring war crimes cases from the BiH Court to courts and prosecutor’s offices on the entity .The panel on trafficking in human beings and gender-based violence focused on improving the practices of BiH prosecutors’ offices in tackling cases in these areas.

“Trafficking in human beings is a complex crime and a serious human rights violation with many gender-related aspects. This panel was an opportunity to emphasize the importance of having improved and more efficient practices in tackling this issue, as well as of gender-based violence issues,” said Boris Topić, Anti-trafficking Officer in the OSCE Mission to BiH.

The OSCE Mission to BiH used this opportunity to present the latest relevant OSCE reports to over 200 prosecutors and judges from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina: Assessment report: Migrant and Refugee Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Report of the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings on Identifying and Protecting Human Trafficking Victims in Mixed Migration Flows as well as the Training Manual for Judges and Prosecutors on Trafficking in Human Beings.

The OSCE Mission to BiH will continue to advocate for the strengthening of victim-centred criminal justice responses to human trafficking cases, in line with international standards.