Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
27
Amnesty International September 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
the crime. Other prosecution witnesses were unable to
recognize her in an identification line-up, even though
one of them claimed that local police officers had
shown him a recent photograph of her previously, in
contravention of Croatian criminal procedure. AI
expressed concern to the Croatian authorities that
Nataša Jankovi
’s detention appeared to be
unjustified and urged them to review the
reasonableness of the suspicion against her, as they are
obliged to under Article 5 of the European Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms. Nataša Jankovi
was released in mid-June
after all charges against her had been dropped.
In February the Supreme Court rejected the
appeal by Mirko Graorac, a Bosnian Serb who had
been convicted in renewed trial proceedings for war
crimes against prisoners of war and the civilian
population in June 2000. He is currently serving a 15-
year sentence. AI was concerned that Mirko Graorac’s
original trial before the Split County Court in 1996 did
not comply with internationally-recognized standards
of fair trial. The organization also believes that
renewed trial proceedings before the same court failed
to address the irregularities which took place during
the first trial.
In May AI wrote to the Croatian Minister of
Justice, recommending that the Croatian authorities
establish a procedure similar to the Rules of the Road
procedure which is in force in neighbouring Bosnia-
Herzegovina. This procedure - which expands on
provisions for war crimes prosecutions laid down in
the Dayton Peace Agreement - requires the Bosnian
authorities to refer arrest warrants or indictments
against alleged war crimes suspects to the Prosecutor
of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (Tribunal) to decide whether the presented
material is consistent with international legal
standards. Domestic criminal trials on war crimes
charges may only proceed after the Tribunal
Prosecutor has approved the case material. Although
the Tribunal has reportedly offered the setting up of a
similar system for Croatia several times, the Croatian
government has not taken up this offer. The Justice
Ministry did not respond to this suggestion by the end
of June.
C Z E C H
R E P U B L I C
Failure to investigate torture
and ill-treatment reports
In March AI published a report
Czech Republic:
Arbitrary detention and police ill-treatment following
September
2000
protests
(AI
Index:
EUR
71/001/2001) which described a number of human
rights violations, including arbitrary detention, police
ill-treatment and violation of detainees’ rights, which
affected hundreds of people who had been detained
following protests organized in Prague on 26 and 27
September 2000. The organization was particularly
concerned that the investigations into complaints
against police conduct could not be considered prompt
and impartial as required by the provisions of Article
12 of the United Nations Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. AI recommended, inter alia, that the
Czech Government should reform the mechanism of
investigations for offences committed by law
enforcement officials, and entrust the proceedings in
such matters to judicial bodies which can safeguard
thoroughness and independence of investigations and
accountability and transparency of decision-making
(i.e. on whether to prosecute the suspected law
enforcement officials).
In March Stanislav Gross, Minister of the Interior,
declined AI’s invitation to discuss the organizations
concerns and recommendations, and on 4 May he
stated: “It is beyond a doubt that the police did
well...But it goes without saying that minor errors can
occur in such major police operations”
12
. At the time
of writing AI had still not received any official
response from the Czech authorities concerning its
report and recommendations.
12
“Gross dismisses AI report” published in the Prague Post
Twenty seven criminal complaints were filed by
the Environmental Law Service (EPS), a non-
governmental human rights organization based in
Brno, on behalf of alleged victims of human rights
abuses during the protests. However, the EPS reports
that the Inspectorate of the Ministry of the Interior
decided to investigate only three cases of police ill-
treatment. All other complaints were referred to the
Department of Inspection and Complaints of the
Police Presidium, which is competent to investigate
only those officers who are suspected of
misdemeanours and are subject to disciplinary
measures.
The
Inspectorate’s
investigations
reportedly confirmed that police abuse may have been
committed in two Prague police stations. In one of the
investigations forensic experts established that a tooth
and two of the ten bloodstains found in the police
station belonged to a Polish national, on whose behalf
EPS lodged a complaint. He was one of the very few
victims questioned in the course of the investigation.
After he was shown passport photographs of the
suspected police officers he was said to have
recognized one of the officers responsible for the ill-
treatment. However, the Inspectorate was unable to
establish the identity of any of the perpetrators.
Similarly, the investigations carried out by the
Department of Inspection and Complaints of the
Police Presidium failed to established that any police
officer was responsible for a misdemeanour. These
failures have added to a perceived atmosphere of
impunity around the Prague police force, as illustrated
by the following incident. During the September
protests
a
plainclothes
police
officer
was
on 9 May 2001