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Prisoner Release: General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Implementations

Prisoner Release – 1995

As required by the Dayton Accord, 245 Serb and Muslim prisoners of war were exchanged on a bridge in northern Bosnia on 25 December 1995. Other prisoners of war remained in both Entities. Under the agreement, the deadline of 19 January 1996 was set for the release of prisoners.

Prisoner Release – 1996

As the deadline of 19 January for the release of prisoners approached, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had been optimistic regarding the release of 900 prisoners of war in Bosnia, but this did not happen. Only 225 prisoners were released as of the 19 January deadline.¹ Part of the delay was related to the government’s insistence on the whereabouts of 24,742 people whose names were handed to Serbs. The Bosnian government official in charge of POW exchange said that 4,000 on the list of those missing were expected to be prisoners.² On 16 January 1996, the Bosnian government called off the release of prisoners by charging that Bosnian Serbs had failed to provide information of about 24,000 people.

On 23 January 1996, the U.S. threatened to cut off aid if the prisoners were not released.³ Following the US threat, Bosnia agreed to free its political prisoners.

On 28 January 1996, 250 Bosnian Serb prisoners were released by Croatian and Bosnian government forces.⁴

Even though the process of releasing prisoners moved forward, the Serb, Croats, and Bosniaks/Muslims did not completely comply. Therefore, on 5 April 1996, the U.N. Security Council demanded that all parties release the remaining prisoners. It was believed that there were still 88-90 prisoners held by Bosnian Serb, Muslim, and Croat forces.⁵

The High Representative reported to the U.N. Secretary General that “Intensive pressure, including the possible sanction of non-complying Parties, resulted in the release of most prisoners registered by the ICRC who were detained in relation to the conflict.”⁶“2nd Report of the High Representative for Implementation of the Bosnian Peace Agreement to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” OHR, 1996, accessed May 3, 2011, http://www.ohr.int/other-doc/hr-reports/default.asp?content_id=3664#3.8…. However, there was an issue related to some prisoners detained in 1995 who were not registered by the ICRC, but those cases were referred to the Hague for review. Most prisoners were released in 1996, though none of the parties met the deadline.

“Prisoner Swap Begins in Bosnia,” Toronto Star, January 20, 1996.
“Planned Prisoner Exchange in Bosnia Falls Through,” Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), January 16, 1996.
“Threatens Bosnia With Aid Cutoff If Prisoners Are Not Exchanged,” January 23, 1996.
“BOSNIA: Trade of prisoners resumes; Rival factions bow to world pressure,” Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 1996.
“Security Council Demands Prisoner Release in Bosnia,” Associated Press, April 5, 1996.