Bosnia and Herzegovina

Last Updated: 01 September 2013

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Summary action points based on 2012 findings

·         Despite legislative changes, more progress needs to be made in improving services for persons with disabilities including survivors.

·         Discrimination based on the cause of disability persisted and needs to be addressed, as certain categories of civilians with disabilities were not receiving adequate assistance.

·         Ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the victim assistance strategy is required.

Victim assistance commitments

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is responsible for significant numbers of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. BiH has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Conventional Weapons Protocol V, and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2012

8,075 mine/ERW casualties (1,801 killed; 5,822 survivors; 452 unknown)

Casualties in 2012

12 (2011: 22)

2012 casualties by outcome

3 killed; 9 injured (2011: 9 killed; 13 injured)

2012 casualties by device type

5 undefined landmine; 7 ERW

Details and trends

In 2012, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BHMAC) reported 12 mine/ERW casualties in BiH.[1] The 2012 casualty total was significantly less than the 22 mine/ERW casualties recorded in 2011[2] but was similar to the 14 recorded for 2010 and represented a continuing decrease in annual casualties from all other years. All casualties recorded in 2012 were civilians: 10 adult men, one woman and a boy. This marked 2012 as the first year since the end of the conflict that there were no casualties among deminers.

For the period 1992–2012, BHMAC recorded a total of 8,075 mine/ERW casualties: 1,801 killed, 5,822 survivors, and 452 unknown. From 1997 to the end of 2012, BMAC recorded 113 casualties among humanitarian deminers.[3]

Cluster munition casualties

BiH reported having identified 231 cluster munition casualties (43 killed, 188 injured) for the period 1992–2012. Most of these casualties were killed or injured during the war, but it was not reported how many of these casualties occurred during strikes or from unexploded submunitions.[4] At least 86 casualties during cluster munitions strikes were identified in BiH in 1995.[5]

Victim Assistance

There were at least 5,822 mine/ERW survivors in BiH.

Victim assistance since 1999[6]

From 1999–2004, most victim assistance targeting mine/ERW survivors was provided by international NGOs without adequate coordination, often resulting in unsystematic service provision. As post-conflict funding for NGO efforts began to wane after 2004, so did the international support for victim assistance. In 2009, a centralized database on survivors was developed from data provided by national and international NGOs, but the final database was found to be incomplete and inconsistent.

Medical assistance has been adequate since 2004, despite an overall dependence on international aid as a result of the conflict. Improvements have mainly been made in emergency response services, again due to international donor contributions. During the period, the quality of physical rehabilitation services remained variable, but overall satisfactory, despite incomplete rehabilitation teams, a lack of personnel trained to international standards, and a complex bureaucracy.

Government capacity to finance rehabilitation services has improved since 1999. State-run social centers and a network of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) centers created since 1998 provided psychosocial support as well as physical rehabilitation. These continued to endure a lack of capacity and community awareness. NGOs also provided this type of support.

Persistent gaps in economic reintegration remained during the entire period, partly due to high unemployment in general and unemployment of persons with disabilities at around 85%. Almost all of the economic reintegration activities were carried out by NGOs. However, the two entity governments introduced specific funds for persons with disabilities in 2007 and in 2011. Disability legislation existed but was not sufficiently enforced. Services for disabled military persons and pensioners were better than those for civilians.

Victim assistance in 2012

A decrease in all services provided by NGOs continued in 2012, mainly linked with the ongoing decline in international funding; however, there were continued improvements in the quality and availability of state services.

Assessing victim assistance needs

The national database maintained by BHMAC includes a survivor needs assessment compiled in 2009. Data was available for use by victim assistance service providers on request. Some data lacked detailed information on aid received, their age and sex, their needs, as well as their education, occupation, employment, and family members.[7]

Victim assistance coordination[8]

Government coordinating body/focal point

Mine Ban Treaty: BHMAC, as chair of the Landmine Victim Assistance (LMVA) Working Group

Convention on Cluster Munitions: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Coordinating mechanism

LMVA Working Group, including service providers, relevant ministries, NGOs, and international organizations

Plan

Victim Assistance Sub-Strategy 2009–2019

Coordination through the Landmine Victim Assistance (LMVA) Working Group, hosted by BHMAC, primarily consisted of information sharing by victim assistance actors. The main tasks of the LMVA Working Group were to promote the needs of survivors and the coordination, monitoring, and approval of the implementation of those victim assistance projects that received international donor funding. The group was also involved in the approval of statements for international meetings.[9]

The Victim Assistance Sub-Strategy 2009–2019 did not contain measurable or time-bound goals and objectives for monitoring.[10] A 2012 UNDP report noted that “the Landmine Victim Assistance Sub-strategy needs to be reviewed in order to transform it into a more viable and operative tool with clear targets, attainable goals and clearly defined responsibilities if it is to become an effective tool for addressing the needs of these victims.”[11]

Three regular meetings, sponsored by BHMAC of the LMVA Working Group, were held in 2012 the same as in 2011. Another special meeting was held in conjunction with a three-day workshop to revise the Victim Assistance Sub-Strategy 2009–2019. The meeting was funded by the ICRC. Government representatives of the key institutions dealing with these issues related to victim assistance participated in the workshop as well as civil society. The revised strategy remained in draft form as of May 2013.[12]

There is no body with a mission to monitor the implementation of the sub-strategy, and NGOs were not actively monitoring it. BHMAC itself does not have a monitoring mechanism to follow the implementation of the sub-strategy and all information related to implementation of the sub-strategy was obtained from voluntary reporting of NGO activities. BHMAC is not authorized to monitor the government activities in regard to the implementation of relevant legislation. However, other actors in the government sector regularly report on the progress of the implementation of legislation.[13]

BiH submitted a written statement on victim assistance at the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo in September 2012. By 1 July 2013, BiH had not submitted Mine Ban Treaty or Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 reporting for calendar year 2012.

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations were included in the LMVA Working Group and survivors were included in the implementation of services through NGOs.[14]

A survivor was included in the delegation of BiH at the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in June 2012 and in the delegation of BiH at the intersessional meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in April 2013.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[15]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2012

Ministry of Health, Federation of BiH

Government

Public health services; CBR

Ongoing

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Republika Srpska

Government

Public Health Services; CBR

Reduced co-payments for healthcare

Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Republika Srpska

Government

Employment and training

Ongoing

Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Federation of BiH

Government

Employment and training

Ongoing

Amputee Association (Udruženje Amputiraca, UDAS)

National NGO

Social and economic inclusion, information services, and legal advice

Ongoing; increased economic inclusion activities

Eco Sport Group (Eko sport grupa)

National NGO

Water sports, psychological/physical rehabilitation, social integration

Ongoing

Center for Development and Support (Centar za razvoj i podrsku, CRP)

National NGO

Socioeconomic reintegration

Project completed

Landmine Survivors Initiatives (LSI)

National NGO

Peer support, referrals, social and economic inclusion activities, survivors and disability rights campaigns, raising profile of the national Council for Persons With Disabilities

Program, ongoing, increased gender aspect in Victim Assistance and support to families of those killed in mine incidents

Posavina With No Mines (Posavina Bez Mina)

National NGO

Economic inclusion

Ongoing

STOP Mines, Pale

National NGO

Economic inclusion

Ongoing

Miracles Center for Prosthesis and Care, Mostar

International NGO

Prosthetics and rehabilitation

Ongoing

Emergency and continuing medical care

According to the European Commission (EC), corruption in public procurement is widespread and is a serious problem; there is also a special risk of corruption in public health services.[16]

In the Republic of Srpska in 2012, state co-payments for medical services for the civilian victims of war were reduced as a result of regulatory changes in the delivery of health services. These changes did not affect children.[17]

Rehabilitation including prosthetics

There were few changes in the quality and quantity of services providing orthopedic and prosthetic devices in 2012. However, in recent years there was an overall increase in the number of service providers, with new or renovated Centers for Rehabilitation and Centers for Mental Health, and an improvement in quality through staff training.[18]

Production of initial prostheses for survivors in the Republic of Srpska is only done in Banja Luka, which creates additional costs for those who have to pay for their own travel expenses because these are not covered by the fund for health insurance. The deadline for obtaining new replacement prosthesis with health insurance was extended from 36 months to 48 months, while for the people over 65 years old the prosthesis is valid for 60 months.[19]

Social and economic inclusion and psychological support

A law entitled Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities in the Federation of BiH, passed in February 2010, allows for a specific fund to support the law’s implementation.[20] Implementation of legislation ensuring the right to employment for persons with disabilities in the Federation of BiH was slow.[21]

Laws and policies

Little progress was made in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. [22] The Council for Persons with Disabilities includes 10 representatives of persons with disabilities and 10 representatives of state and entity ministries. There are no representatives of mine survivors in the council. NGO’s lobbied for improvement and implementation of the legal framework. Legislation was reportedly relatively well-regulated but is not actually implemented in practice.[23]

In Republika Srpska, the Law on Social Protection entered into force in May 2012. In the Federation, the Law on Payment of Outstanding Benefits was adopted. The Federation of BiH has a strategy for people with disabilities (2010–2014) and Republika Srpska has a strategy for persons with disabilities (2010–2015). However, the implementation of the entities strategies remained weak. No significant steps were undertaken to ensure consistency across the social protection systems of the entities and cantons in BiH.[24]

There remained clear discrimination between different categories of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities resulting from military service during the 1992–1995 conflict were given a privileged status above civilian war victims and persons who were born with disabilities. Entitlement to rights and benefits for disabled persons is not based on needs but on status. As a result, certain categories of persons with disabilities do not receive adequate financial benefits.[25] BiH’s initial report on the rights of persons with disabilities under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2012 notes that “the area of social welfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not resolved well, it does not even provide minimum security to citizens and does not define a social minimum for persons with disability either.”[26]

In 2012, amendments were made to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance of the Republic of Srpska. In it, certain war veterans had their pensions drastically reduced based on their type of disability classification.”[27]

Legislation at all levels prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. However, in practice there was discrimination against persons with disabilities in all the areas of employment, education, access to health care, transportation, and the provision of other state services.[28] In its initial reporting to the CRPD, BiH reported that “[t]he most important mechanism in protection from discrimination is the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination”[29] However, the EC reported that the anti-discrimination law is in place but does not include disability as a category for discrimination. The law allows for a broad range of exceptions and only limited steps have been taken to ensure its implementation.[30]

Persons with disabilities faced poor recognition of their rights and needs for accessibility. Physical accessibility is still a major problem in BiH and is not included in the priorities for addressing the challenges faced by people with disabilities. There are no action plans to address the removal of physical barriers.[31]

BiH has legislation to ensure physical access to persons with disabilities. In the Federation of BiH, the law mandated that all public buildings must be retrofitted to provide access by mid-2011 and new buildings must also be accessible. In practice, however, buildings were rarely accessible to persons with disabilities, including several government buildings. Republika Srpska had comparable laws for public accessibility, but few older public buildings were accessible.[32]

BiH ratified the CRPD on 12 March 2010.

 



[1] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, Senior Associate, Victim Assistance, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[2] BHMAC, “Annual Report 2011” (“Izvještaj o protivminskom djelovanju u Bosni i Hercegovini za 2011. Godinu”), Sarajevo, 2012 p. 6.

[3] In 2012, BHMAC recorded 7,981 mine/ERW casualties (1,662 killed; 6,317 survivors; two unknown). Monitor analyses of data in BHMAC, “Annual Report 2011” (“Izvještaj o protivminskom djelovanju u Bosni i Hercegovini za 2011. Godinu”), Sarajevo, 2012 p. 6; and email from Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 15 August 2011. According to BHMAC, survivors who had died of other causes since the mine/ERW incident were not included in the final data. Interview with Zoran Grujić, BHMAC, in Geneva, 24 June 2010.

[4] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012; and statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Working Group on Victim Assistance, Geneva, 16 April 2012.

[5] Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: Handicap International (HI), May 2007), p. 60. Some 60 more casualties were reported during an aerial strike in which cluster munitions were used along with other weapons.

[6] See previous country reports and country profiles in the Monitor, www.the-monitor.org; and Voices from the Ground: Landmine and Explosive Remnants of War Survivors Speak Out on Victim Assistance, (Brussels: HI, September 2009), pp. 40-41.

[7] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Working Group on Victim Assistance, Geneva, 16 April 2012; Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report, (for Calendar year 2011) Form H.

[8] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report, (for Calendar year 2011) Form H.

[9] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[10] See BHMAC, “Victim Assistance Sub-Strategy in BiH: 2009–2019” (“Podstrategija  za pomoć žrtvama mina u Bosni i Hercegovini: 2009–2019”), Sarajevo, undated but 2010.

[11] UNDP, “What Does It Take to Absorb the Convention on Cluster Munitions? The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Sarajevo, April, 2012, p. 36.

[12] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] BHMAC, “Annual Report 2012” (“Izvještaj o protivminskom djelovanju u Bosni i Hercegovini za 2012. Godinu”), Sarajevo, 2013, p. 16; International Trust Fund: Enhancing Human Security (ITF, formerly International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance), “Annual Report 2012,” Ljubljana, 2013, pp. 54–57; LSI, “Annual Report 2012,” Tuzla, May 2013, p. 11; and Eco Sport Group, “Projects,” www.scuba.ba.

[16] EC, “Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012 Progress Report: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012–2013,” Brussels, 10 October 2012, p. 15.

[17] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Statement of BiH, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 June 2011; and Anes Alic, “BiH disabled needs lack initiative,” SETimes, 28 January 2012, www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/01/28/feature-02.

[21] Anes Alic, “BiH disabled needs lack initiative,” SETimes, 28 January 2012, www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/01/28/feature-02.

[22] EC, “Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012 Progress Report: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012–2013,” Brussels, 10 October 2012, pp. 18–19.

[23] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[24] EC, “Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012 Progress Report: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012–2013,” Brussels, 10 October 2012, pp. 18–19.

[25] United States (US) Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Washington, DC, 16 April 2013; and EC, “Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012 Progress Report: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012–2013,” Brussels, 10 October 2012, pp. 18–19.

[26] BiH, “Initial Report on the Implementation of the UN Convention” (“Inicijalni izvještaj o primjeni UN Konvencije”), May 2012, p. 13, cited in UNDP, “What Does It Take to Absorb the Convention on Cluster Munitions? The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Sarajevo, April, 2012, p. 33.

[27] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[28] US Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Washington, DC, 16 April 2013.

[29] BiH, “CRPD-C-BH-1,” October 2012. The Law is found in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 59/09.

[30] EC, “Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012 Progress Report: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012–2013,” Brussels, 10 October 2012, p. 19.

[31] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Esher Sadagic, BHMAC, 27 May 2013.

[32] US Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Washington, DC, 16 April 2013.