RAFSANJANI: ENEMIES' MEDDLING HAS AFFECTED IRAN-BOSNIA TIES

TEHRAN, Iran (May 29,2008) – The Chairman of the Iranian Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sai that the enemies lowered level of ties between Bosnia and Iran,the Iranian National News Agency (IRNA) reported.

Rafsanjani made the remarks during the meeting with the Bosnian Ambassador to Iran Senahid Bistric.The current level of economic and commercial ties between Bosnia and Iran is very low,Rafsanjani said.

Talking about 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia,he said it was very tough time for the Muslim World,especially for the Islamic Republic of Iran,adding that it eas the responsibility of the Islamic countries to prevent genocide in Bosnia.

The Bosnian Ambassador,for his part, appreciated the support made by the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia and said the supports were made during "your presidency when most of other countries had adopted an indifference attitude."

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from August 17, 1989 to 1997, and was the first President of Iran to step down officially, having completed his term in office. Until the election of Rafsanjani, Ali Khamenei was both the President and Supreme Leader, and officially stepped down as President of Iran, about two month prior to completing of his presidential term.

Rafsanjani is currently the Chairman of the Iranian Expediency Council. The Iranian Expediency Council is an advisory body for the Iranian Supreme Leader. It has ultimate adjudicating power in disputes over legislation between the Iranian Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) and the Iranian Guardian Council. The Supreme Leader appoints the Council's members, who are prominent religious, social and political figures.
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BOSNIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER SVEN ALKALAJ VISITS UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, USA (May 29,2008) – The Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj, who is in a working visit to the United States, had meetings yesterday at the U.S. State Department and the U.S. National Security Council.

In a meeting with Daniel Fried, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Euro-Asian Affairs, the current state of politics in Bosnia and the region was discussed.

Fried and a representative of the U.S. National Security Council Burt Braun welcomed the reforms taking place in Bosnia, especially in the light of the upcoming signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and visa liberalization negotiations between Bosnia and the EU.
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CENTER FOR JUDICIAL DOCUMENTATION OPENED IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) – The Bosnian High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council opened on Tuesday the Center for Judicial Documentation in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The center is founded with the support of the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation and with technical support of the Spanish Documentation Center, the Spanish High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and the European Commission.

”The Center for Judicial Documentation is of great importance for us now that we are getting closer to the EU”, stated Branko Peric, the President of the Bosnian High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council.

The Spanish Ambassador to Bosnia, Jose Maria Castroviejo y Bolivar pointed out that his embassy is proud with this project.

”Judicial system in Bosnia underwent a number of transformations. It is still very complicated and there is no similar example in other European countries”, stated Spanish Ambassador.

The project is worth 300.000 Euros.

All data available to the center are on disposal via web page http://pravosudje.ba/csd
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: SLOW PROGRESS IN TERMS OF IMPROVEMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) – Many perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia continued to evade justice, and thousands of enforced disappearances remained unresolved.Progress was made in the domestic prosecution of war crimes, including in proceedings at the Bosnian State Court, as it is stated in the Report of the Amnesty International on Human Rights in Bosnia in 2007.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) continued to try perpetrators of serious violations of international humanitarian law. Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic died at the Tribunal Detention Unit following a heart attack on 11 March. He had been on trial before the ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, and for genocide in Bosnia.

Under a 'completion strategy' laid down by the UN Security Council, the ICTY was expected to conclude all cases in 2010. As a result of the tight deadlines imposed by the strategy, the Tribunal continued to refer cases involving lower level perpetrators to national jurisdictions in the former Yugoslavia. In 2006 cases involving seven suspects were transferred to Bosnia.

The War Crimes Chamber within the Bosnian State Court, set up to try particularly sensitive cases or cases referred by the ICTY, issued its first convictions.

According to estimates of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), approximately 13,000 people who went missing during the 1992-95 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia were still unaccounted for. Many of them were victims of enforced disappearances, whose perpetrators enjoyed impunity.

Of an estimated 2.2 million Bosnian citizens displaced during the war, more than a million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were estimated to have returned to their homes. Progress on returns was limited. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, registered approximately 3,600 returns between January and October. Of these, some 3,000 returned to areas where they were part of a minority community.

Six men of Algerian origin, unlawfully transferred in 2002 by the Bosnian authorities to US custody, remained in detention in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In April, following a complaint by the wife of one of the detainees, Hadj Boudellaa, the Human Rights Commission within the Bosnian Constitutional Court concluded that the Bosnian authorities had failed to implement a 2002 decision of the Bosnian Human Rights Chamber in the case.

They had failed to use diplomatic channels to protect the rights of the detainee, provide him with consular support, and take all necessary steps to ensure he would not be subjected to the death penalty, including by demanding from the US government for guarantees to that effect.
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BOSNIA TO DEMAND AT LEAST 4 BILLION USD FROM GENOCIDAL SERBIA AS A COMPENSATION FOR STOLEN PROPERTY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) - Bosnia will demand at least USD 4 billion from the genocidal Serbia, as a claim for movable property Bosnia lost after the break-up of Yugoslavia. The property used to belong to the Yugoslav Army (JNA), and was taken to the genocidal Serbia during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Its value has never been assessed, and there are several versions of how much it was actually worth. According to the most “conservative” valuation method, the Bosnian Defence Ministry says, it was worth USD 4 billion, but if the Croatian method of valuation was used, Bosnia could demand to be paid USD 8 billion indemnity.

However, this is a very delicate political issue which the genocidal Serbia has been ignoring so far. The fascist country has already received a similar claim from Croatia, worth USD 10 billion. Croatia claims Slovenia also opposes to opening the issue of distribution of military property, because she, like the genocidal Serbia, kept a large portion of it.
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INTERIM AGREEMENT BETWEEN BOSNIA AND EU TO BECOME EFFECTIVE ON JULY 1

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) - The interim agreement between Bosnia and the European Union (EU) will become effective on July 1, containing parts of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

What this means, Head of the Bosnian Direction for European Integrations Osman Topcagic explains, is that a new tariff policy on trade exchange with the EU countries will come into force, as well. In other words, some tariffs will be cut or entirely cancelled for certain goods coming from the EU.

The Bosnian economy will benefit from import tariffs being cancelled on primary materials and manufacturing components, equipment and machinery used in production, he stresses, but at the same time domestic producers will face more competition.
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BOSNIA TO SPEND OVER 2 BILLION BOSNIAN MARKS THIS YEAR ON FOOD IMPORT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) - In the first four months of 2008 the local traders in Bosnia spent 720 million Bosnian Marks on imported food and beverages. Cereals and their products accounted for the biggest share – 155 million Bosnian Marks. Fruit and vegetables were the second most imported items, worth 92 million Bosnian Marks, and followed by coffee, tea, spices, sugar, dairy products, eggs, meat, and so on. 32 million Bosnian Marks was spent on imported cooking oil.

At the same time, official statistics show, Bosnia’s food exports amounted to 89 million Bosnian Marks, which means that the export/import ratio was only 12 per cent.

If the trend continues, Bosnia will spend somewhere around 2.1 billion Bosnian Marks by the end of 2008 on food, beverages and oil alone. Retail mark-up is sometimes as high as 30 per cent.
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