Following the 1992-1995 war in BiH, Amnesty International gathered a significant body of evidence confirming that crimes of sexual violence were committed. The organization has continued to collect numerous testimonies of women who were subjected to torture, including rape, which was often systematic and repeated, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and other crimes of sexual violence. Since the end of the war, Amnesty International has been calling on the authorities of BiH to investigate those who may be responsible for these crimes in effective and impartial criminal processes, and to provide survivors with access to effective reparation.
This report confirms that as of 2012 victims of wartime crimes of sexual abuse in the Republika Srpska still remain largely without proper recognition or recourse. Pages 5-6 list three legislative or policy initiatives that have failed to reach finalisation or approval. The report concludes that in the RS, the true extent of sexual violence during the conflict has never been fully acknowledged by the authorities or society more broadly, survivors of wartime sexual violence are not recognised in law and their needs are not being met in practice. It makes six recommendations to the Republika Srpska. Click here to read the full report.