Bosnia's War Criminals Task Force Packed Up

(BRUSSELS2) The 11 members of the Dutch Constabulary, incorporated into the European Union operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR Althea) returned home this week. They are part of the last special investigation team of the force. The arrest on July 20 of the last wanted suspect, Goran Hadzic, puts an end to the efforts of the international investigation team of Eufor.

Since February 2005, the Dutch Royal Constabulary (military police) had been deployed in the Balkans - and until last year still numbered 14 people - to hunt down war criminals wanted by the Criminal Court of the former Yugoslavia. It has - according to the Ministry of Defense - contributed to several arrests as well as to the stabilization of the Bosnian state.

Composed of 37 people, the multinational police force has always carried out actions in secret, to locate wanted suspects, in particular by gathering evidence or questioning relatives of wanted people (in particular Mladic or Karadzic). Operations conducted in conjunction with NATO and Bosnian forces. Several operations were thus carried out during 2009, in particular at the homes of those close to Ratko Mladic (his sister and his sister-in-law, his former military assistants, etc.).