Weekly Briefing, Vol. 71. No. 1 (BH) March 2024
The position of women: femicides and the March 8th
Faruk Borić
Summary
The public in Bosnia and Herzegovina is shaken by the news of the murder of a woman, mother, or girl in almost regular periods. As a rule, the killers are men, married or partners or ex-ones. The motives are jealousy, unrequited love, and similar things from the register of private relationships, but these cases, because of their brutality and social context, are of importance to society as a whole. Questions are raised about the position of women in today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as about numerous taboos that still exist today in predominantly traditional BiH. Can crimes against women be prevented or reduced, and how? What is the possibility of prevention? Is the existing legal framework of sufficient quality and should there be a special legal sanction for femicide? What is the role of different state institutions and social organizations? All these questions were additionally updated on the occasion of Women’s Day, the eighth of March, which is traditionally celebrated in BiH, in the way that flowers are sold everywhere and given as gifts to ladies. Many criticize such a festive way of celebrating the holiday, which should indicate the position of women in society.
Introduction
Selma Baluković from village Lipnica near Tuzla (Northeastern Bosnia), is the last victim of femicide in BiH. This woman, mother, grandmother and sister was killed by her partner, Erno Szabo-Csaki, who, after killing Selma, tried to commit suicide. Police discovered the case after a family friend reported them not answering phone calls. The murdered woman was 48 years old. The funeral took place on February 25[1]. Szabo – Csaki, suspected of murdering his wife, after being discharged from the hospital, was handed over to the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office, where investigators interrogated him. After the procedure, custody was requested. The autopsy report showed that the gunshot wound in the chest area was caused by a crossbow[2].
Off-duty cop killer
In Tuzla, the center of this northeastern part of the BiH, a crime took place a few weeks earlier, the details of which horrified and shocked the public. Elvis Ćustendil, an off-duty policeman, killed Amra Kahrimanović, the co-owner of a bar and the crime scene. Cafe is located in the mall where the killer drank for hours that day. Media wrongly stated that they were in a relationship. What is true is that the killer often visited Amra’s coffee shop or the coffee shop across the street[3].
The killer was employed as a police officer in the Tuzla Canton Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP TK). The investigation established that he had been drinking in the cafe and had verbal fight with other guests. The worker called the owner to come and calm the situation in the cafe. When she arrived, Amra asked the drunken guest to pay the bill and leave the bar. Because of this, Ćustendil became enraged and shot first one bullet in the back, and then 14 more bullets. He was shooting with a service pistol. After killing Amra, he went home. He was arrested in front of the building[4].
In the police, the killer defended himself by remaining silent, and told the lawyer that he did not remember what he had done. He was then sentenced to one month’s detention[5]. At the beginning of March, the detention was extended for another two months[6].
Meanwhile, an alarmed public reacted. First, a protest walk was held in which several thousand people participated. A day of mourning was declared in Tuzla. The public is particularly troubled by two facts. The first is that this murder happened with an official pistol that the policeman was obliged to leave at the police station. Official weapons can only be carried on official duty, and the killer was on vacation.
Another thing that shocked the general public is the fact that the police officers do not have regular controls that would include a psychological examination and evaluation. There is no need to explain how stressful police work is, and in BiH it is also poorly paid. The information that police officers undergo a psychological test only once, and that is when hiring, was known before, but in this case it came into focus. Therefore, at the protest, citizens signed an initiative demanding the immediate convening of sessions of the Government and the Assembly of the TK, the dismissal of the Minister of Internal Affairs Hajrudin Mehanović, the dismissal and disciplinary responsibility against all other responsible persons for the systemic failures that led to the murder. Citizens also demanded the initiation of an investigation and criminal punishment for failing to record the disposal of the official pistol used in the murder, and securing a decision on the approval of financial resources for the immediate establishment of regular medical examinations for all police officers[7].
The next protest was scheduled for March 9, but was canceled. The family of the murdered woman requested that the TK Assembly, based on a citizens’ initiative, discuss the topic of “citizen safety”, but the Assembly refused. The family of the murdered woman does not give up the fight and their demands, which includes new protests and other legal forms of struggle[8].
Killers in family
These are not isolated cases. Around the same time, in mid-February, the media published the news that Anel Bećirović, the murderer of his unmarried wife, thirty-one-year-old Emira Maslan, had his detention extended for three months. This horrific case of femicide took place in front of their four-year-old son. After an argument, Bećirović killed Emir, who had left him a year earlier and with whom he had a dispute over joint custody of the child, with a single shot from a pistol. The unfortunate woman was not protected by the system.
According to information from the MUP of Sarajevo Canton, Bećirović was previously sentenced by the Municipal Court in Sarajevo to two months in prison for violence against his ex-wife. As it was written, the murderer, however, did not serve his sentence and before the crime he received a summons to serve another month in prison. The municipal court also ordered Bećirović to be prohibited from approaching Emira at a distance of 500 meters and prohibited from stalking and harassment, all for a period of 24 months. Those measures were still in force when the murder happened. The court also ordered mandatory psycho-social treatment of the violent person, that is, Anel Bećirović, for six months. These are all details that speak of the state of the relevant institutions[9].
Another case from last year points to numerous dysfunctionalities in the system, starting from the protection of a mistreated woman and ending with the work of judicial authorities, but also the problems of a society that pathologically glorifies violence. In Gradačac, a town in northeastern Bosnia, Nermin Sulejmanović killed his partner Nizama Hećimović, and two other people with whom he had a private confrontation. Nizama left Nermin and hid in her aunt’s house, where her ex-partner found her, forcibly took her to a cottage outside the city, where he abused her and eventually killed her, in front of her baby. The most monstrous part of this story is that the killer filmed part of his bloody rampage on Instagram, which was watched by thousands of people, and a hundred of them even supported the violence he did to his ex-wife[10].
The family of the murdered woman is particularly angry with the police, who were late in preventing the bloody massacre that froze this peaceful small town, but also with the general attitude of the investigative and judicial authorities. The media discovered that the judge of the Municipal Court in Gradačac, Ms Lejla Numanović, refused to issue protective measures to approach Nizama, who reported the violence. Media revealed an unacceptable sloppiness when making this decision, proving that the judge copied part of the decision from another case[11].
Devastating data
This case was the trigger for experts to start talking more about the problem, but, apparently, it did not bear fruit, because the cases continued to follow until today. Be that as it may, the lawyer whose specialization is working with victims of violence presented the media with frightening information that from 2015 to 2023, 75 victims of partner murders were recorded. What is particularly problematic is that it is a lawyer’s record, while the state does not have its own, official record[12].
According to police data, 12 women were killed in BiH in one year and two months. Most of the perpetrators are married and unmarried partners[13].
The Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina published a new publication “Women and Men in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2023″, which shows the position of men and women in different spheres of Bosnian society. The publication pointed out that in the period from January 2021 to July 2023, a total of 17,049 calls were received to SOS telephones for victims of domestic violence. In BiH there are two SOS lines for reporting domestic violence, 1264 for Republic of Srpska and 1265 for the Federation of BiH. The publication states that these lines call almost exclusively women.
Director of Gender Center, Samra Filipović Hadžiabić sad that case of Nizama, which went viral in the world and in our society, turned us all to pay more attention to these cases.
“We need to seriously approach the assessment and development of a plan of measures, namely an adequate plan of protection measures with other entities such as centers for social work and non-governmental organizations. Currently, the Federation is in the process of amending or adopting a new law on protection against violence against women. Of course there is a series of other measures that we all as a society must be aware of. It is no longer just the police and centers for social work, we as individuals are also obliged to stop violence and report it to the police because we might save someone’s life,” she noted.
Problems with the police
After the brutal murder of Amra, for whose murder the police officer Elvis Ćustendil is suspected, the issue of mandatory regular systematic examination for police officers was brought up again. The Minister of the Interior of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton (KS) Admir Katica, announced that he will provide the necessary funds so that all employees of the Interior Ministry – the Police Directorate can perform systematic examinations by the end of this year. For police officers in state-level agencies, screening is only required upon hire. According to Dragan Krvavac, president of the Union of Police Authorities in BiH, the last systematic review of the Border Police, SIPA and the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies was 14 years ago[14].
The Government of the FBiH, on the proposal of the Federal Minister of the Interior, Ramo Isak, adopted a conclusion by which the county ministries of the interior were asked to perform medical examinations of all police officers as soon as possible. In the conclusion, it was stated that during the medical examinations, which should be completed as soon as possible, and in the longest period of three months, a special focus should be placed on examining the mental health of police officers. Also, it was recommended that medical examinations of police officers be carried out in county public health institutions[15].
Problems in the judiciary
At all levels of government in BiH, in the midst of increasing femicide, the priority must be to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, including domestic violence, media wrote: “Gender-based violence must not be a taboo topic because every woman has the right to live without violence and fear, which is why this issue should be understood as a social problem, not as a problem of an emergency”[16].
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, adopted in May 2011, is the most comprehensive binding international instrument in the field of combating gender-based violence. Several associations of citizens from RS demand the withdrawal of the draft law on protection against domestic violence and violence against women, which introduces the term femicide for the first time in the RS[17].
Eighth of March
The whole story about the position of women in BiH is especially contextualized during one of the holidays traditionally celebrated in BiH, the eighth of March, Women’s Day. On that day, cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are full of street flower sellers, and florists record record sales. Men give roses and carnations to female family members. Is this what women want?
Social influencer and engaged fighter for women’s rights Nina Pavićević, who is behind the Instagram profile @kritički, published on her profile 10 illustrations in which she presented some of the things that today’s women want for Women’s Day.
“So that women who refuse to cooperate with abusers get support, not lawsuits from abusers”, So that you stop romanticizing your mother’s difficult life”, So that you stop explaining to me subjects in which I am more educated than you”, So that we stop praising fathers for what we consider standard for mothers”, are just some of the wishes she expressed, and her post received many positive comments and over 20,000 likes[18].
In the meantime, the mayor of Sarajevo, Ms Benjamina Karić, decided to distribute flowers to her fellow citizens. “I tried to make Women’s Day better for our hard-working and dear women who make our life in the city easier and better every day,” wrote Karić, who is very active on social media[19].
On the other hand, a media outlet from Sarajevo asked prominent women engaged in public activities whether it is celebrated in the right way or if March 8th has become a day of consumerism and flowers without real content. Historian and activist Alma Pelo Zagorčić says that for her, March 8th is a day when she celebrates what women have achieved throughout history and provided for women more than 100 years ago, and where we are today, as she says, we should ask ourselves every day, and not only when it’s International Women’s Day.
“Every day in the media we read about victims of violence, about femicide, threatened women’s labor rights, which are still far from those prescribed by law and which women deserve, which is why women’s struggle continues today,” Ms Pelo Zagorčić told[20].
President of the Union of Secondary and Higher Education, Education, Science and Culture of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Ms Edina Čomić, believes that today, March 8th, has become what that holiday is not: “Today is like any other holiday, a commercialized day, when flowers are given and most of the time I don’t even know why March 8th is Women’s Day and why it started to be celebrated. I think that those settings from before should be returned, because March 8 was celebrated by women who rebelled against injustice in the workplace and who fought for better working conditions and better earnings more than 100 years ago. I believe that everyone should know this, and I think it’s time for March 8th to once again be a holiday in which we advertise ourselves in the fight for our rights”[21].
Conclusion
Society in BiH is very traditional and patriarchal. That is characteristic of all national and religious groups in BiH. The pressure from the environment, from the family to secondary social groups, is extremely strong, and state institutions cannot deal with deep-rooted problems, nor do they have solutions. If we add to that that BiH is still labeled as a post-conflict society, violence is almost immanent in everyday life. Instead of colossal conclusions, we will end with the information that at the time of writing this text, an incident took place in the center of the old, touristic part of Sarajevo, in which a 23-year-old girl was shot in the knee by a 30-year-old man[22]. This time the violence ended without a fatal outcome. This time.
[1] New femicide in Bosnia and Herzegovina: today the funeral of the murdered Selma Baluković.
[2] Investigators are interrogating a Hungarian suspected of murdering a woman in Tuzla.
[3] Another femicide in BiH: A policeman killed his girlfriend in a cafe. https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/jos-jedan-femicid-u-bih-policajac-ubio-svoju-djevojku-u-kaficu-20240208?meta_refresh=1
[4] NEW DETAILS OF THE MURDER IN TUZLA: Drunk Elvis Ćustendil killed Amra Kahrimanović because she asked him to… https://www.slobodna-bosna.ba/vijest/339997/novi_detalji_ubistva_u_tuzli_pijani_elvis_custendil_je_amru_kahrimanovic_ubio_jer_je_trazila_od_njega_da.html
[5] Details of the murder in Tuzla: The policeman does not remember the shooting.
https://www.rtvbn.com/4055887/detalji-ubistva-u-tuzli-policajac-se-ne-sjeca-pucnjave
[6] The murderer of Amra Kahrimanović has his detention extended for two months. https://avaz.ba/vijesti/crna-hronika/890061/ubici-amre-kahrimanovic-produzen-pritvor-za-dva-mjeseca
[7] A protest march was held in Tuzla due to the murder of Amra Kahrimanović.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/protestna-setnja-tuzla-amra-kahrimanovic/32814465.html
[8] Ibid.
[9] Three months after the horrific case of femicide that disturbed the public: The wife’s killer remains in the cell of Zenica Penitentiary. https://avaz.ba/vijesti/crna-hronika/884945/tri-mjeseca-od-travicnog-slucaja-femicida-koji-je-uzmirio-javnost-ubica-supruge-ostaje-u-celiji-kpz-a-pupil
[10] The family of Nizama Hećimović and the citizens of Gradačac demand that the FUP investigate the triple murder: Why did the MUP TK not take the necessary actions? https://n1info.ba/vijesti/porodica-nizame-hecimovic-i-gradjani-gradacca-traze-da-fup-istrazi-trostruko-ubistvo-zbog-cega-mup-tk-nije-poduzeo-potrebne-radnje/
[11] Due to the negligence of judge Nizama Hećimović, she was left without protection. https://avaz.ba/vijesti/bih/849364/nemarom-sudije-nizama-hecimovic-ostala-bez-zastite
[12] A lawyer who works with victims of violence: More than 75 women have been killed since 2015.
[13] Public in BiH shocked by cases of femicide: 12 women killed in more than a year! https://avaz.ba/vijesti/crna-hronika/887584/javnost-u-bih-sokirana-slucajevima-femicida-za-vise-od-godinu-ubijeno-12-zena
[14] The state police conducted the last systematic inspection 14 years ago. https://www.hercegovina.info/vijesti/bih/aktualiziralo-se-pitanje-drzavni-policajci-obavili-posljednji-sistematski-pregled-prije-14-godina/221690/
[15] The government requires medical examinations of all police officers in FBiH.
https://ljubuski.net/37318-vlada-trazi-lijecnicke-preglede-svih-policajaca-u-fbih
[16] Femicide is not an accident: Why measures of the law on violence against women are not implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina. https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/femicid-nije-nesretan-slucaj-zasto-se-u-bih-ne-implementiraju-mjere-zakona-o-nasilju-nad-zenama/231116065
[17] They received support from Dodik: Several citizens’ associations are requesting changes to the Draft Law on Femicide. https://mondo.ba/Info/Drustvo/a1272061/udruzenja-gradjana-trazi-izmjene-Nacrta-zakona-o-femicidu.html
[18] A post that is widely shared on social networks: What do women really want for March 8? https://www.klix.ba/magazin/zanimlijivosti/objava-koja-se-masovno-dijeli-na-drustvenim-mrezama-sta-zene-zapravo-zele-za-8-mart/240307039
[19] Mayor Karić distributed flowers to women on the streets of Sarajevo: “They make our life easier and better”. https://radiosarajevo.ba/vijesti/bosna-i-hercegovina/gradonacelnica-karic-dijelila-cvijece-zenama-na-ulicama-sarajeva-cine-nas-zivot-laksim-i-boljim/536190
[20] We asked the women of Mostar what March 8 means to them and where are real women today
[21]Ibid.
[22] Details of the incident in Baščaršija: The girl was wounded by a gun, the perpetrator was arrested