Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Enes Handžić and Senad Dautović

Court	Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Special Department for War Crimes, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Case number	KT-RZ 162/05
Decision title	Indictment
Decision date	7 December 2007
Parties	Enes Handžić Senad Dautović Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Categories	War crimes
Keywords	War Crimes against Civilians, war crimes against prisoners of war
Links	Indictment

Summary

Both accused, Enes Handžić and Senad Dautović, were found guilty of war crimes against humanity for their participation in the unlawful transport of civilians to camps, forced labour, inhumane treatments and murders, together with the civilian authorities of the Bugojno Municipality and the military units of the Army of BiH.

The case of Senad Dautović is currently on appeal.

Procedural history

By decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both accused were arrested on 17 April 2007. The indictments were confirmed on 11 December 2007. At the plea hearing held on 18 December 2007, both accused pled not guilty. On 23 January 2008, the case was merged with the one of Nisvet Gasal et al.

More procedural information can be found here.

Related developments

By a decision of the Court issued on 19 February 2009, the custody of both accused was terminated and prohibitive measures were imposed.

On 25 May 2011 the Trial Panel of Section I for War Crimes found Enes Handžić guilty of criminal offences of war crimes against civilians.

On 15 June 2011, Enes Handžić testified at the trial of Senad Dautović.

On 22 November 2011, the Court found Senad Dautović guilty of war crimes and sentenced him to 13 years of imprisonment. On 12 October 2012, both the Prosecution and the Defence appealed the verdict, which was granted on 7 December 2012 in part for the Prosecution and in entirety for the Defence. The retrial began on 20 January 2013.

Legally relevant facts

During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, clashes erupted between the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in the Bugojno Municipality on 18 July 1993. It was alleged that during these clashes Croatian civilians were arrested and detained in several different locations by the Army of BiH and the civilian authorities of the Bugojno Municipality between 18 July 1993 and 19 March 1994.

The first accused, Enes Handžić, was the Assistant Security Commander of the 307^th Brigade of the Army of BiH until the end of 1993, and afterwards a member of the Security Services of the West Operations Group of the Army of BiH. The second accused, Senad Dautović, was the Commander of the Bugojno Army Joint Command.

Core legal questions

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH proposed that the accused are found guilty for committing war crimes against Croatian civilians and prisoners of wars, as both of them, as superiors and responsible in respect of their duties and positions which they held at the indicated periods of time, have failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the commission of the criminal offences and to punish the perpetrators of these offences who were subordinate to them.

In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office also requested the extension of the custody of both accused, as stipulated in Article 132(1)(d) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (p. 99).

Specific legal rules and provisions

Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Article 29 (accomplices).
Article 173(1)(a), (c), (e) and (f) (war crimes against civilians).
Article 174(1)(a) and (b) (war crimes against the wounded and sick).
Article 175(1)(a) and (b) (war crimes against prisoners of war).
Article 180(1) and (2) (individual criminal responsibility).

Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Article 132(1) (grounds for pre-trial custody).
Article 137 (custody after the confirmation of the indictment).
Article 227(3) (contents of the indictment).

Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention):

Article 3(1)(a) and (c) (conflicts not of an international character).

Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention):

Article 3(1)(a) and (c) (conflicts not of an international character).

Court's holding and analysis

Both suspects were suspected of acting contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law by committing, participating in, inciting and abetting in the perpetration and commission of the criminal offences of unlawful taking of people to camps and other unlawful incarcerations, taking people to forced labour, looting the property of the population, murders, tortures, and inhumane treatments, as a part of a joint criminal enterprise with the civilian authorities of the Bugojno Municipality and the military units of the Army of BiH (p. 2).

In later decisions, both accused were found guilty of war crimes against civilians, Enes Handžić on 25 May 2011 and Senad Dautović on 22 November 2011.