CCPR/C/112/D/1966/2010
caused her stress, anxiety, frustration and marginalization, and she considers that the silence
of the State party amounts to inhumane treatment. On 10 July 2013, she sent a letter to the
Missing Persons Institute urging it to conduct the identification of the said remains without
any further delay, and requesting to be kept regularly informed about the status and results
of the identification process. No formal reply had been received as of the date of the
authors’ submission. The authors further recall that they were forced to declare Sejad Hero
dead as a condition for receiving a pension, and that this caused additional suffering to the
authors, which they characterize as amounting to a violation of article 7, read both alone
and in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 3 of the Covenant.
7.4
The authors reiterate that no investigation has been initiated by the State party into
the illegal detention, torture, enforced disappearance and possible arbitrary execution of
Sejad Hero; his remains have not been located and returned to his family; and the authors
have not received any compensation for the harm suffered. They observe that the
judgement issued on 15 December 2006 by the State Court of Bosnia Herzegovina
regarding other crimes against humanity committed in the vicinity of Vogošća cannot be
considered as a verdict applicable to the enforced disappearance of Sejad Hero, because the
defendant was never charged or convicted for crimes committed in Tihovići. The authors
further argue that the ongoing criminal proceedings against another defendant cannot be
considered relevant in their case insofar as they have not been formally notified of any
charge against that defendant for the crimes committed in Tihovići and, to date, no one has
been investigated, judged or sanctioned for those crimes.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
Consideration of admissibility
8.1
Before considering any claim contained in a communication, the Committee must, in
accordance with rule 93 of its rules of procedure, decide whether the case is admissible
under the Optional Protocol.
8.2
The Committee has ascertained, as required under article 5, paragraph 2, of the
Optional Protocol, that the same matter is not being examined under another procedure of
international investigation or settlement and that the authors have exhausted all available
domestic remedies.
8.3
The Committee notes that the State party has not challenged the admissibility of the
communication and that the authors’ allegations regarding violations of articles 6; 7; 9; 16
and 24, read in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant, and article 7 read
alone, have been sufficiently substantiated for the purposes of admissibility. The
Committee therefore declares the communication admissible and proceeds to its
examination on the merits.
Consideration of the merits
9.1
The Committee has considered the case in the light of all the information made
available to it by the parties, as provided under article 5, paragraph 1, of the Optional
Protocol.
9.2
The authors claim that Sejad Hero has been a victim of enforced disappearance since
his illegal arrest by the JNA on 4 July 1992 and that, despite the numerous efforts of his
family, no prompt, impartial, thorough and independent investigation has been carried out
by the State party to clarify the victim’s fate and whereabouts, and to bring the perpetrators
to justice. In that respect, the Committee recalls its general comment No. 31 (2004) on the
nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, according
to which, a failure by a State party to investigate allegations of violations and a failure by a
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