Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz meets Croatian Officials

Office of the Prosecutor
Press release
The Hague
Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz in a meeting with Damir Habijan

Mr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), visited the Republic of Croatia from 1 to 3 September 2024, as part of preparations for his regular biannual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The Prosecutor had high-level discussions with the Minister of Justice and Public Administration, Damir Habijan, and the State Attorney-General of the Republic of Croatia, Ivan Turudić, concerning the status of war crimes cases in Croatia and judicial cooperation in war crimes. The Prosecutor also met members of the diplomatic community.

Prosecutor Brammertz and Minister Habijan exchanged views on ways to improve cooperation in the processing of war crimes cases, particularly between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Minister Habijan confirmed that Croatia is committed to achieving justice for all war crimes victims, including by appropriately respond to the backlog of pending requests for assistance from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prosecutor Brammertz further highlighted the significant number of persons suspected of committing crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina who currently reside in Croatia. The Prosecutor and Minister agreed that transfering such investigations from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia for further processing should be prioritized, and that the necessary prosecutorial resources would then need to be allocated. In this regard, Prosecutor Brammertz reiterated his Office’s long-standing concerns in relation to trials in absentia. Challenges and opportunities in cooperation with other countries in the region, in particular with Serbia and Montenegro, were also discussed.

Prosecutor Brammertz and State Attorney-General Turudić discussed the processing of war crimes cases in Croatia. State Attorney-General Turudić reported progress in the so-called “Category II” cases transferred from the ICTY and that concrete results could be expected in the near future. State Attorney-General Turudić further confirmed that his Office is committed to prosecuting all perpetrators regardless of nationality and would appropriately process all cases transferred from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prosecutor Brammertz and State Attorney-General Turudić agreed that more war crimes justice was urgently needed and that victims rightly expect to see perpetrators punished for their crimes. They also agreed that improved regional cooperation is essential to achieving these goals. Prosecutor Brammertz reaffirmed the willingness of his Office to assist Croatian prosecutors, including by providing evidence and expertise on concrete cases and facilitating solutions to challenges in regional cooperation.

Prosecutor Brammertz will also be visiting Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina for additional discussions concerning war crimes justice in the region, including by participating in the annual meeting of war crimes prosecutors from the region, which will be held this year in Podgorica.

Prosecutor Brammertz will present his next report to the UNSC later this year.

For more information, please contact

Arusha Tel: +255 (0)27 256 5376
The Hague Tel: +31 (0)70 512 5037
Email: mict-press@un.org

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The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) was established by UN Security Council Resolution 1966 (2010) to complete the remaining work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after the completion of their respective mandates. The Mechanism has two branches, one in Arusha, Tanzania, and one in The Hague, Netherlands.