U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) counterterrorism cooperation with the United States on the law enforcement side was good, within the limits of its current institutional capacity. Bosnia remains a weak state, however, with multiple semi-autonomous centers of power. It therefore could present an attractive environment for those seeking a locale to facilitate terrorist activities.

Under new amendments, an interagency Citizenship Review Commission was able to strip BiH citizenship from naturalized citizens who fraudulently obtained their citizenship, have no substantial ties to Bosnia at present, or obtained their citizenship because of government error or misconduct. These changes corrected defects in the 1997 Law on Citizenship that hindered previous efforts to strip the citizenship of such individuals, and now enables Bosnia to deport them. The commission reviews the citizenship status of mujahedin fighters and withdraws citizenship, where appropriate, on a case-by-case basis. The legislation instructs the Citizenship Review Commission to complete its work within two years.

In October, Federation police and law enforcement authorities raided a safe house in a suburb of Sarajevo and arrested two terrorist suspects with links to terrorist networks in Western Europe. The police confiscated weapons and explosive material. Pursuant to the ongoing investigation, police arrested in late November both the person who supplied the explosives and two other individuals who served as the conduit between the supplier and the recipients. The investigation is ongoing, and cooperation with U.S. and other foreign law enforcement agencies remains excellent.

Although there are specific counterterrorism laws in the Criminal Procedure Code, prosecutors found it difficult to link illegal activities to specific terrorism charges. Terrorist-related cases proceeded under conventional criminal statutes, such as illegal arms possession, arms smuggling, and conspiracy, which all carry fairly light penalties by American standards. Prosecutions were conducted under counterterrorism statutes in 2005.

In September, the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office dropped terrorism charges against six former Federation officials suspected of cooperating with Iran to operate a terrorist training camp in Bosnia. Although the statute of limitations on the terrorism charges ran out, the trial is proceeding under charges of conspiracy to commit attempted murder. In October, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) hard-liner Hasan Cengic, a Bosniak, was acquitted of charges that he facilitated arms trading and arms production during the 1992-95 war. Cengic is known for his hard-line role within the SDA and for his continued business association with foreign extremist groups. In September, in cooperation with the Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Sarajevo, police apprehended a man who had phoned in a bomb threat to the Embassy. In December, the man pleaded guilty to endangering internationally protected persons, which is not a terrorism charge.

Six new state-level institutions with counterterrorism responsibilities have been developed since 2000. Some of these are operational, while others remained nascent, with more authority on paper than actual capacity. The six are:

• The State Border Service (SBS);
• The State Investigative and Protection Agency (SIPA);
• The Ministry of Security (MoS);
• The BiH State Court and State Prosecutor's Office;
• The Foreign Affairs Service (FAS); and
• The Bosnian State Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA).

The State Border Service was the most fully operational. It is responsible for controlling the country's four international airports and 55 international border crossings that are spread across 1,551 kilometers. The SBS is considered one of the better border services in Southeast Europe and is one of the few truly multiethnic institutions in Bosnia. However, a number of illegal crossing points remain that the SBS does not control, including dirt paths and river fords. Many official checkpoints remain understaffed.

In February, Bosnian authorities from the State, the Republika Srpska, the Federation, and the Brcko District agreed to form a single joint registry of all NGOs and associations in Bosnia. All parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a single registry database at the Ministry of Justice. The government remained vigilant against previously shut NGOs renewing their activities. Authorities continued to investigate other organizations, private companies, and individuals for links to terrorist financing.

Aktivna Islamska Omladina (Active Islamic Youth, or AIO) is a Bosnian-bred non-governmental organization whose stated goal is to establish an Islamic state in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran. Individuals with ties to the so-called "El Mujahid Brigade," a wartime unit comprised mainly of foreign extremists, founded AIO in the city of Zenica in 1995. The group advocates religious intolerance and openly labels Christianity and Judaism enemies of Islam. Its activists teach young Bosniaks a strict literal form of Islam under the guise of operating youth centers, summer camps, Internet cafes, and other outreach activities. AIO has branch offices throughout Bosnia, and a growing presence of active members in Western Europe and the United States. AIO sponsors SAFF magazine, a weekly print and on-line publication notable for its anti-Semitic and anti-Western rhetoric, interviews, and exposes. Although not circulated widely, SAFF is the AIO's most important instrument in spreading its message to the Bosniak population.

Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a 36-member explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) unit to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; this unit began its second rotation in Iraq in November.