Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

terrorism. However, the task force faced budgetary challenges and a fragmented security and law
enforcement sector that made coordination among different agencies difficult. External violent
Islamic extremist ideological influences and the presence of regional nationalist violent extremist
groups found in the former Yugoslavia represented sources of potential terrorist threats in BiH.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Following the October 28, 2011 attack
on the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, the Ministry of Security established a working group to
evaluate methods to improve the coordination of police and security agencies charged with
responding to terrorist incidents. To date, the working group has yielded no concrete results. The
challenge in coordination stems primarily from overlapping jurisdictions, particularly in
Sarajevo, where at least three distinct police forces have a role in responding to terrorist
incidents: the State Investigative and Protective Agency (SIPA) – BiH’s state-level police
authority, Sarajevo cantonal police, and Federation entity police. In addition, the state-level
Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies (DCPB) is charged with the protection of
diplomatic and certain other public facilities. While state-level laws give DCPB the authority to
coordinate the responses of all state-level police agencies, this organization remained
underfunded and under-supported by government authorities. In practice, SIPA generally takes a
lead role in responding to attacks and the Prosecutor’s Office has the authority to investigate and
prosecute acts of terrorism. The Ministry of Security consulted with state, entity, district, and
cantonal police and security agencies to evaluate whether an improved legal framework could be
established to enhance security cooperation to counter terrorism.
Bosnia’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by BiH’s Chief Prosecutor, began operations in January
2011. It includes members from BiH’s state law enforcement agencies and Brcko District
Police. The BiH Ministry of Security funds the Joint Task Force, which operates out of SIPA
Headquarters. The Task Force remained in the formative stages, nearly two years after its
establishment. The Ministry of Security continued to work toward implementing its 2010-2013
strategy on preventing and combating terrorism, which was adopted in 2010.
To help improve the tracking of entries into Bosnia, the BiH Border Police (BP) installed a new
computerized database/software system to support immigration and passenger information
collection. The new system, in place since March 2012, links all 55 border crossings and all four
airports (Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar, and Banja Luka) via the State Police Information Network, a
network developed and donated by the U.S. Department of Justice’s International Criminal
Investigative Training Assistance Program. The new system provides the BP with immediate
access to other supporting databases, including the Agency for Identification Documents,
Registers, and Data Exchange, the Ministry of Security, the Foreigner Affairs Service, and
Interpol, to run appropriate checks and cross-checks.
BiH saw several terrorism-related prosecutions in 2012. These included:
On September 6, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Court of BiH) Appellate
Chamber upheld the November 11, 2011 first instance ruling that found Rijad
Rustempasic, Abdulah Handzic, and Edis Velic guilty of planning to carry out a terrorist
attack and sentenced them to terms ranging from three to four-and-a-half years.
On November 20, the Court of BiH issued a first-instance ruling that found Zijad
Dervisevic, Amel Sefer, and Sasa Bonic guilty of charges of terrorism and illegal
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