HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – CRIMINAL LAW, JUDICIAL
PRACTICE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN SECURITY
Human trafficking represents one of the most serious forms of human rights violations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina criminalises human trafficking as an offence in the category of crimes against humanity and values protected by international law. The drafters of the international conventions, which served as a model to the domestic legislators, did not approach human trafficking solely as an organised crime or transnational crime, for the reason of which the criminal codes in Bosnia and Herzegovina also criminalise domestic human trafficking. The starting point of this paper is the interrelatedness between plea bargaining in procedural law and lenient penal policies, which represents an obvious problem with profound security implications for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this context, we begin with the analysis of the notion of human security, the essential element of which is the protection of human rights and, thus, the rights of victims/aggrieved parties in criminal proceedings. Human trafficking is a result of structural inequalities at the global level and within a country’s boundaries.
Keywords: human trafficking, plea bargaining, victims/aggrieved parties, human security.
Akee, R, Basu, A. K, Chau, N. H, & Khamis, M. 2010. Ethnic Fragmentation, Conflict, Displaced Persons and Human Trafficking: An Empirical Analysis, In: Epstein G. S. and Gang I. N. (eds.), Migration and Culture, Volume 8 of Frontiers of Economics and Globalization, Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 691–716. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1574-8715(2010)0000008034
Andreas, P. 2004. The clandestine political economy of war and peace in Bosnia. International Studies Quarterly, 48(1), pp. 29-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0020-8833.2004.00290.x
Bajpai, K. 2000. Human Security: Concept and Measurement. New Delhi: Kroc Institute. Available at https://www.academia.edu/1801936/Human_security_Concept_and_measurement (1. 7. 2022).
Clark, M. A. 2003. Trafficking in Persons: an Issue of Human Security. Journal of Human Development, 4(2), pp. 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464988032000087578
Gjermeni, E, Van Hook, M. P, Gjipali, S, Xhillari, L, Lungu, F, & Hazizi, A. 2008. Trafficking of children in Albania: Patterns of recruitment and reintegration. Child abuse & neglect, 32(10), pp. 941-948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.09.015
GRETA (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings). 2022. Evaluation Report Bosnia and Herzegovina. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Available at https://rm.coe.int/greta-evaluation-report-bosnia-and-herzegovina-3rd-evaluation-round/1680a70b3b (7. 18. 2022).
Haynes, D. F. 2010. Lessons from Bosnia’s Arizona Market: harm to women in a neoliberalized post conflict reconstruction process. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 158(6), pp. 1779-1829.
Human Rights Watch. 2002. Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Postconflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution. New York: Human Rights Watch, 14(9D). Available at https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/bosnia/Bosnia1102.pdf (5. 6. 2022).
Jones, L, Engstrom, D, Hilliard, P. & Sungakawan, D. 2011. Human trafficking between Thailand and Japan: lessons in recruitment, transit and control. International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(2), pp. 203-211. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2397.2009.00669.x
Lalić, V. 2007 The Emergence of Trafficking in Women and Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Case Study. In: Ebbe, O. & Das, D. (eds.), Trafficking in Women and Children: International Perspectives on Child Labor, Debt-Bondage, Forced Prostitution, Sexual Slavery, and Slave Labor, New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 109-126. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420059465.ch10
Lipovac, M. & Glušac, L. 2011. Perspektive koncepta ljudske bezbednosti. Kultura polisa, 16, pp. 57-76.
Milković, I. 2020. Trgovina ljudima kao najteži oblik kršenja ljudskih prava. Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Splitu, 57(4), pp. 1097-1111. https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2020.57.138.1097
Mrvić Petrović, N. 2018. Pravo žrtava na naknadu štete u krivičnom postupku. Available at: https://www.podrskazrtvama.rs/media/izvestaji-i-analize-cirilica/Prof_dr_Natasa_Mrvic_Petrovic_-_Pravo_zrtava_na_naknadu_stete_u_krivicnom_postupku.pdf (2. 6. 2022).
Mujanović, Е, Darko Datzer, D, Vučinić, H. & Buha, M. 2022. Istraživanje sudske prakse procesuiranja trgovine ljudima u Bosni i Hercegovini (2003 – 2021). Sarajevo: Centar za istraživanje politike suprotstavljanja kriminalitetu.
Nelson, S, Guthrie, J. & Coffey, P. S. 2004. Literature Review and Analysis Related to Human Trafficking in Postconflict Situations. Washington, DC: USAID. Available at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?rep=rep1&type=pdf&doi=10.1.1.216.4907 7 (6. 10. 2022).
Rathgeber, C. 2002. The victimization of women through human trafficking-an aftermath of war. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 10, pp. 152-163. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181702401475340
Rome Statute, Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, International Agreement, no. 2/02.
Šalaj, B. 2009. Socijalno povjerenje u Bosni i Hercegovini. Sarajevo: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Shelley, L. 2010. Human trafficking: A global perspective. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511760433
Škulić, M. 2009. Sporazum o priznanju krivice, Pravni život, 10, pp. 287-305.
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 1994. Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-1994?utm_source=EN&utm_medium=GSR&utm_content=US_UNDP_PaidSearch_Brand_English&utm_campaign=CENTRAL&c_src=CENTRAL&c_src2=GSR&gclid=Cj0KCQjwidSWBhDdARIsAIoTVb0g9NGy518Dfn_1E0lZe1w9P-88wH55obLxiWJk1jOUh44F6T457d4aAlAzEALw_wcB (20. 5. 2022).
US Department of State, Report on Trafficking in Persons in BiH, 2021. Washington, DC: US Department of State. Available at https://ba.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/270/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina-2021-TIP-Report-Country-Narrative-ENG.pdf (4. 6. 2021).
US Department of State. 2018. The Human Trafficking Report. Washington, DC: US Department of State. Available at https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282617.htm (4. 11. 2018).
US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2017. Trafficking in Persons Report. Sarajevo: US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina Available at https://ba.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/270/2017/08/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina-2017-TIP-Report-Translation.pdf (15. 7. 2022).
Vranješ, N, Lalić, V, & Šikman, M. 2021. Security Threats, Challenges and Risks in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Social Security Perspectives. In: Zakowska, M. & Domalewska, D. (eds.), Social Security in the Balkans–Volume 1. Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 47-74. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004466579_004