by Vedrana ZIVAK
Although the report about the visit is being hidden from the public, our source close to the Ministry of Justice revealed some of its details. In addition to the abovementioned two, according to our source, the delegation talked with Mustafa ait Idir, and Boudella Hajj, but the two of them refused to answer their questions, that were identical for all of them. Thus, Pilav obtained answers only from Mohamed and Lakhdar, who explained, as our source claims, that before their arrival in BH they worked in Albania for the humanitarian organization "Red Crescent". They denied involvement in any type of terrorist activity, even though Americans are holding them in the military prison in Cuba as suspected terrorists.
Inhumane treatment in prison: Novi Reporter's source close to the BH Ministry of Justice revealed that all four captives from the so-called "Algiers group" complained about, according to them, inhumane treatment in the prison and inadequate medical assistance (one of them complained about certain guards who "do not treat him well"). However, he adds that their assertions were immediately denied by an American representative who witnessed all of the conversations. The report concludes that none of the collocutors knew how long they would be held in captivity and when the US Ministry of Defense would reconsider their status.
As a reminder, Nechle Bensayah, Boumediene Lakhdar, Mustafa ait Idr, Boudella Hadz, Saber Lahmar, and Belkasem Bensayah (the first four had their Bosnian citizenship cancelled and then reinstated) were suspected of planning terrorist attacks on the US embassy in Bosnia-Hercegovina. However, the Supreme Court of Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina acquitted them due to lack of evidence, after which they were immediately transferred illegally (as was later confirmed by the Human Rights Court of BH) to the American military base in Cuba. The then authorities in BH ignored the decision of the Human Rights Court of BH that banned forced extradition of the "Algiers group" without a proper judicial procedure.
The BH Human Rights Court decided that four BH nationals from the "Algiers group" had their right to freedom and personal safety violated, as well as their rights to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, and the right not to be exposed to the risk of death penalty, as Federation BH and BH did not demand from the USA to guarantee that death penalty would not be applied in their cases. The representative of the BH Ministry of Justice failed to talk with Lahmar and Bensayah, as, as he claimed, they are not Bosnian nationals. As we have learned, in the report Pilav stated that a representative of the US Department of Defense proposed that he also talk with Tariq Mahmood Ahmed Al-Sawah, born in 1957 in Alexandria in Egypt, who is also allegedly a Bosnian national. However, since valid proof of Bosnian citizenship could not be provided, Pilav did not talk with Al-Sawah. Pilav also mentioned that he was "informed that Al-Sawah had worked for 'World Islamic Relief' in Zagreb starting with 1992, that he was based in Croatia in 1992 and that he fought with the Third Corps of the Army of BH between 1993 and 1995; that in 2000 he went to Afghanistan where he was trained in use of explosives; that he fought in Afghanistan against US forces and that he allegedly has a BH passport". Competent institutions in BH for now cannot confirm or deny that Al-Sawah is a BH national. If it turns out that he is, Pilav proposed that that naturalized Bosnian also be visited.
No right to lawyer: Let us mention that investigations in BH against four nationals who are being held in the American prison Guantanamo in Cuba were stopped after they were acquitted by the Federation BH Supreme Court. However, the Federation BH prosecution has informed the BH Ministry of Justice, that it is nevertheless suspected that Saber Lahmar committed a crime of providing false information and that the authorities could seek his extradition even though he is not a BH national, but a citizen of Algiers. Despite that fact, the Ministry of Justice in August or 2004 requested from the Federation BH prosecution to submit documentation that could be used in an extradition request from the USA to BH.
In his report Pilav mentions that the "Algiers group", since January 18, 2002, in custody of the US military, hasn't received from the competent BH institutions decisions affecting their rights, so that until the first contact with a BH representative they were not aware of the relevant BH Human Rights Court decisions that affect that standing, nor with other decisions of BH courts and institutions.
Until today the US embassy hasn't responded to the memo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inquiring whether the US authorities have indicted any of the members of the "Algiers group". Similarly US authorities remained silent regarding the likelihood of release of one of several members of the "Algiers group" in the foreseeable future.
Let us also mention that the US Defense Department initiated in June, 2004, a revision of the status of prisoners held in the American base Guantanamo in Cuba, and that the corresponding commission has already been formed. However, in this process prisoners will not be allowed to use services of civilian attorneys, but will have to rely on American assisting military officers. The commission will produce administrative, rather than judicial decisions, that are in practice supposed to be recommendations regarding what should be done with a particular prisoner: whether he should be released, extradited to the country whose national he is, or kept in custody. BH authorities do not know when BH nationals will face the commission, and it seems that no one is actually able to provide that information.
Although during the last month the Council of Ministers has twice placed the report of the visit to the "Algiers group" on its agenda, the ministers did not discuss the report. First time their excuse was that the BH Ministry of Justice ought to first produce "conclusions" that would be presented to the ministers, while the second time the excuse was that Amir Pilav did not attend the meeting, as he was supposed to report in person about the visit.
Given that the BH Human Rights Court has ordered that families of prisoners receive financial compensation, the BH Council of Ministers will have to take a stand on that issue in the near future as well.