BiH: The Law Insufficiently Responded to the Needs of the Victims of Wartime Torture/BiH: Zakon nedovoljno odgovorio na potrebe žrtava ratne torture

27 October, 2022 – The United Women Foundation, in cooperation with TRIAL International, held a panel discussion in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the topic “Improvement of the Law on the Protection of Victims of War Torture in Republika Srpska and its Implementation”. The discussion brought together representatives of the authorities, non-governmental and international organizations, associations of war victims, and experts in this field.

Significant progress was achieved in this area with the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Victims of War Torture in 2018 in Republika Srpska. However, the Law did not fully respond to the needs of the victims, which is reflected in the shortcomings of the legal text, as well as its application.

The limiting deadline for submitting an application for acquiring the status of victim of torture, which expires next year, is not acceptable, because it does not leave room for the victims to decide when they are truly ready to speak publicly about their traumatic experience, and due to that, it is necessary to remove this legal provision. Furthermore, some victims of war torture give up seeking the status of torture victim, because they do not have guarantees of identity protection. Victims of torture who have certain identity protection measures assigned within the framework of criminal proceedings face difficulties when submitting a request for victim status, which entails revealing their identity. For this reason,  it is necessary to amend the Law, which would ensure a special procedure for such cases.

The participants of the panel discussion invited the Ministry of Labor and Protection of Veterans and People with Disabilities of Republika Srpska to open a public call for the spa rehabilitation of torture victims provided by Law, as well as to clarify whether the victims are expected to cover part of the costs of such rehabilitation, which is unacceptable to them, due to poor economic status.

27. oktobar 2022 – Fondacija Udružene žene je u saradnji sa TRIAL International u Bosni i Hercegovini održala panel diskusiju na temu “Unapređenje Zakona o zaštiti žrtava ratne torture u Republici Srpskoj i njegovog sprovođenja”. Diskusija je okupila predstavnike/ce vlasti, nevladinih i međunarodnih organizacija, udruženja žrtava i stručnjake/inje iz ove oblasti.

Usvajanjem Zakona o zaštiti žrtava ratne torture 2018. u Republici Srpskoj postignut je značajan napredak u ovoj oblasti. Međutim, Zakon nije u potpunosti odgovorio na potrebe žrtava, što se ogleda u nedostacima zakonskog teksta, ali i njegovoj primjeni.

Ograničavajući rok za podnošenje zahtjeva za sticanje statusa žrtve torture, koji ističe naredne godine, nije prihvatljiv, jer ne ostavlja prostor žrtvama da odluče kad su istinski spremne javno govoriti o svom traumatičnom iskustvu, i radi toga je nužno da se otkloni ova zakonska odredba. Osim toga,  neke žrtve odustaju od traženja statusa žrtve torture, jer nemaju garancije zaštite identiteta. Žrtve torture koje imaju određene mjere zaštite identiteta dodijeljene u okviru krivičnog postupka se suočavaju sa poteškoćama pri podnošenju zahtjeva za status žrtve, koji podrazumijeva otkrivanje identiteta. Radi toga je potrebno izmjeniti Zakon kako bi se osigurao poseban postupak za ovakve slučajeve.

Učesnice/ci panel diskusije su uputili poziv Ministarstvu rada i boračko-invalidske zaštite Republike Srpske da raspiše javni poziv za Zakonom predviđenu banjsku rehabilitaciju žrtava torture, kao i da pojasni da li se od žrtava očekuje da snose dio troškova takve rehabilitacije, što je njima neprihvatljivo uslijed lošeg ekonomskog statusa.

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