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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

criminal. Local journalist associations 

documented nearly 40 cases of direct 

pressure, verbal threats and physical attacks 

against journalists by the end of the year.

CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

In November, the International Criminal 

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 

issued the first-instance verdict in the case of 

former Bosnian Serb leader, General Ratko 

Mladić. The ICTY found him guilty of 

genocide, war crimes, and crimes against 

humanity committed during the 1992-1995 

conflict and sentenced him to life 

imprisonment.

Also in November, the ICTY confirmed 

earlier sentences against six former Bosnian 

Croat political and military leaders. This was 

the final verdict passed by the tribunal prior 

to permanently shutting down in December, 

after 23 years of operation.

The domestic prosecution of war crimes 

remained slow, with a backlog of several 

hundred cases pending before various courts 

at the end of the year. Despite recent 

progress, the prosecutions continued to 

suffer from lack of capacity and resources, 

ineffective case-management and persistent 

political obstruction. A revision of the 2008 

National War Crimes Strategy to address key 

institutional deficiencies and to establish new 

deadlines for the completion of cases was 

under way at the end of the year.

Some progress was made in harmonizing 

entity laws regulating the rights of civilian 

victims of war, including victims of wartime 

sexual violence. However, public aid for 

victims of wartime sexual violence remained 

fragmented and dependent on residency; 

victims residing in Republika Srpska (RS) 

were excluded from the system of social 

benefits for civilian victims of war. The Draft 

Law on Protection of Victims of Wartime 

Torture in RS, intended to recognize victims’ 

rights, was adopted by the government in 

December, but it included provisions which 

could potentially discriminate against non-

Serb victims. There was no progress in the 

adoption of the Law on Protection of Victims 

of Torture at the state level by the end of the 

year. The Law would guarantee a specific set 

of rights and entitlement for victims of war on 

the whole territory of Bosnia and 

Herzegovina.

Criminal courts continued the recent 

practice of granting financial compensation to 

victims of wartime rape, bringing the number 

of final judgments awarding financial 

reparation for war crimes in criminal 

proceedings to four. However, the 

compensations had not been paid by the end 

of the year. The convicted perpetrators 

lacked funds and there was no alternative 

mechanism to compensate survivors of 

criminal acts in cases where convicted 

perpetrators were not able to pay damages.

Most victims continued to be required to 

pursue compensation claims in separate civil 

proceedings, where they had to reveal their 

identity and incur additional costs. The 2016 

Constitutional Court ruling that the statute of 

limitations applied to reparation claims 

directed against the perpetrators and not the 

state – even in war crimes cases – resulted in 

widespread dismissal of claims in 2017, 

further limiting victims’ ability to claim 

compensation and leaving them liable for 

high court fees.

Although over 75% of missing persons from 

the war had been exhumed and identified, 

there were still 8,000 people missing in 

connection with the conflict. The process of 

exhumations continued to encounter 

significant challenges, including reduced 

funding and limited expertise. The Law on 

Missing Persons remained unimplemented, 

with the Fund for Families of the Missing still 

awaiting dedicated resources.

BOTSWANA

Republic of Botswana

Head of state and government: Seretse Khama Ian 

Khama

The right to freedom of expression 

continued to be restricted. Asylum-seekers 

whose asylum claims were rejected 

continued to face detention. A landmark 

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ruling in the Lobatse High Court upheld the 

rights of transgender people. Two men were 

sentenced to death.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Journalists continued to be intimidated and 

harassed by the authorities. On 8 March, 

three journalists from the INK Centre for 

Investigative Journalism were briefly detained 

and threatened by plain-clothes security 

agents in the village of Mosu. The journalists 

had tried to access the area where the new 

home of President Khama was allegedly 

being constructed amid allegations of 

corruption. The security agents told them that 

the building site was a “restricted area” and 

that they would be shot on sight if they tried 

to return.

On 19 April, the Court of Appeal upheld an 

earlier decision by the High Court and turned 

down the application of a teacher who had 

challenged his dismissal from employment 

on the grounds that it violated his 

constitutional right to freedom of expression. 

The teacher was dismissed after he 

published an opinion piece in a newspaper in 

May 2011 on the country’s political situation, 

following a national strike by public sector 

employees. In February 2012, a disciplinary 

hearing had found the teacher guilty of 

contravening section 34(a) of the Public 

Service Act.

Outsa Mokone, editor of the Sunday 

Standard, continued to face a criminal 

sedition charge following his arrest in 2014 

after publishing articles alleging President 

Khama’s involvement in a road accident. In 

December 2016, he was released on bail and 

asked to appear at the magistrate’s court 

every two months and to seek permission 

before leaving the country. His legal case 

challenging the constitutionality of the 

sedition law was still pending at the end of 

the year.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Botswana’s restrictive encampment policy 

continued, denying refugees freedom of 

movement, work and local integration. 

Asylum-seekers faced lengthy refugee status 

determination procedures and asylum-

seekers – with both pending and denied 

applications – continued to be detained in 

the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants. 

The duration of detention averaged between 

six months and five years, far beyond the 

detention period stipulated in the Refugee 

Act.

On 13 April, the High Court ordered the 

release of two Somali asylum-seekers from 

the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants. 

They had been detained in the Centre since 

being denied refugee status in October 2015, 

having arrived separately in Botswana in 

June 2014. On 15 April, following their 

release, they were taken into custody at the 

Tlokweng police station after attempting to 

enter the Dukwe Refugee Camp, Botswana’s 

only refugee camp. On 25 April, President 

Khama declared them to be prohibited 

immigrants; they were subsequently detained 

at the first offenders prison in Gaborone, the 

capital, and have allegedly since been 

deported.

On 23 November, the Court of Appeal set 

aside the High Court ruling that the detention 

of 165 asylum-seekers and their relatives was 

illegal. As a result, the asylum-seekers sought 

refuge in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South 

Africa. Members of the group had arrived in 

Botswana between January 2014 and 

October 2016 and, after their asylum 

applications were denied, they had remained 

in detention in the Francistown Centre for 

Illegal Immigrants. The Attorney General 

made an appeal on 4 August.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, 

TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

In a landmark decision on 29 September, the 

Lobatse High Court ruled that the 

government’s refusal to change the gender 

marker in the identity document of a 

transgender man was unreasonable and in 

violation of his rights, including the right to 

dignity, freedom of expression and freedom 

from discrimination, and ordered the 

government to change the gender marker.

On 12 December, the Gaborone High Court 

ruled in favour of Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, a 

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