CCPR/C/BIH/CO/1
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The State party should ensure that victims of mental torture are granted victim
of war status in both Entities and that the personal disability benefits received by
civilian victims of war are harmonized among the Entities and cantons and adjusted to
the personal disability benefits received by war veterans. The State party should include
in its next periodic report updated statistical information on the number of victims of
mental torture and/or sexual violence receiving disability benefits, disaggregated by sex,
age, ethnic group and place of residence, as well as on the amount of such benefits.
16.
The Committee is concerned about the incidence of trafficking in persons, especially
women and ethnic minority children, for purposes of prostitution or forced labour such as
organized begging in the streets, and about the leniency of the sentences imposed on
perpetrators of such acts of trafficking. It is also concerned about the failure to make adequate
budgetary provisions for the State party’s anti-trafficking programmes and the high
dependency of such programmes on international donors. (art. 8)
The State party should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of trafficking in
persons are effectively prosecuted; that judges, prosecutors and law enforcement
officers receive intensified training on the application of anti-trafficking and anticorruption standards; that sufficient funds are allocated from the State budget to
victim assistance and witness protection programmes; and that effective measures
are taken to combat the exploitation of children, especially Roma and other ethnic
minority children, for the purpose of street begging or other forced labour.
17.
While acknowledging the existence of significant legal guarantees against arbitrary
detention and possible ill-treatment, the Committee is concerned by the possibility of 72-hour
detention in police custody and the information suggesting that detainees are not always
informed of their rights, including the right of legal representation, at the stages of both
prosecutorial and judicial authorization for pre-trial detention, and by the limited access to
prosecutorial motions for detention. (arts. 7 and 9)
The State party should ensure that all personnel involved in the administration
of justice afford full implementation of the rights of those deprived of freedom and that
such persons are guaranteed full equality of arms.
18.
The Committee notes with concern that, under article 132 (d) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, criminal suspects can be placed in pre-trial detention
if the alleged offence is punishable by a prison sentence exceeding 10 years solely on the
ground that the judge finds that reasons of public security or security of property warrant
such detention. (art. 9)
The State party should consider removing from the Code of Criminal Procedure
of Bosnia and Herzegovina the ill-defined concept of public security or security of
property as a ground for ordering pre-trial detention.
19.
The Committee is concerned about the poor conditions of detention in Entity police
establishments and prisons which are frequently overcrowded, understaffed, insufficiently
equipped, and offer inadequate out-of-cell activities and exercise. It is also concerned about
poor material and hygienic conditions, lack of qualified staff and inadequate,
pharmacotherapy-based treatment of mental health patients and inmates, in particular at