THE
SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
October 25,
2001
By Brent
Israelsen
Kemal Mehinovic, a Bosnian refugee now living in Salt Lake
City, concluded his testimony in Atlanta this week in a two-day trial
against another refugee accused of committing atrocities during the
1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
An ethnic
Muslim who came to Utah in mid-1995, Mehinovic testified before U.S.
District Judge Marvin Shoob that Nikola Vuckovic, a soldier in the Bosnian
Serb army, routinely tortured him and other non-Serbs in detention centers
in the northern Bosnian town of Samac in 1992.
Claims Innocence: Vuckovic, who has
lived in the Atlanta area since 1997 on
refugee status, has said he is
innocent of the charges but he did not appear for
his
trial.
His former attorney said he apparently returned
to the Balkans and does not intend to return to the United
States.
Though unable to face his alleged tormentor, Mehinovic said
he was satisfied with the two-day trial, which ended Tuesday
afternoon.
In a statement through his interpreter and attorneys,
Mehinovic said he brought the civil lawsuit against Vuckovic because he
"felt an obligation toward those who were killed or suffered extreme
cruelty" at the hands ofVuckovic.
Joining Mehinovic as plaintiffs
were Hasan Subasic, another refugee in Utah; Muhamed Bicic, now living in
Germany; and Safet Hadzialijagic, of Belgium. The latter two men testified
in the trial via satellite television.
Shoob has taken the case
under advisement and is expected to issue a verdict within two months,
said Sandra Coliver, director of the Center For Justice
and
Accountability, a San Francisco-based law firm that represents
victims of alleged
torture and persecution from abroad.
The
center's lawyers asked Shoob for a multimillion-dollar judgment against
Vuckovic. Though they do not expect to collect the money, they want the
judgment to make Vuckovic's life difficult should he return to the United
States and "to send a message that the United States is not a safe haven
for torturers."
If Mehinovic prevails, the center plans to
"turn up the heat" on Vuckovic. First up is to persuade the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service to keep Vuckovic out of the
country. Coliver said the agency has expressed an interest in the
case by interviewing Mehinovic and Subasic.
The center also plans
to track Vuckovic if he returns to the United States to ensure his wages
are garnished to satisfy the judgment.
Unique Lawsuit: Mehinovic's lawsuit, the first of its kind against a Bosnian
in this country, is one of a growing number of civil actions brought
under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Torture Victims
Protection Act of 1991.
The center has cases pending against
individuals from EI Salvador and Chile.
The
group recently won a $66 million judgment against an Indonesian general
for atrocities in East Timor.
In addition to testifying in the
civil trial, Mehinovic is expected to fly to The Hague in November to
be a witness in an international war crimes trial now under way against
four Bosnian Serbs from Samac.
Mehinovic was among the first of
about 1,000 refugees from Samac who have resettled in
Utah.
