1. Case-study No. & Title:
167. Center for Information and Legal Assistance (CIPP) provides legal aid and information to refugees and displaced persons wishing to return to the region around Zvornik, Bosnia, and from that region to other parts of Bosnia (1998-2000 and beyond).

Keywords:

w	Mediation
w	Negotiations
w	Education
w	Facilitation
w	Conflict resolution
w	Communication
w	Info dissemination
w	Co-operation
w	Interethnic relations

2 Author information
2.1 Author’s Name
Peter Lippman

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details:
Peter Lippman is a staff researcher for The Advocacy Project, based in Washington D.C. (www.advocacynet.org). He can be contacted at peter@advocacynet.org

2.3 Date recorded:
29 November, 2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:

The Center for Information and Legal Assistance (CIPP) provides legal counselling to refugees and displaced persons wishing to return to their pre-war homes. It also works to educate local authorities as to displaced persons’ right to return. CIPP focuses on solving property claim disputes, often employing mediation to settle such problems so that displaced persons can go home. CIPP also collaborates with research organizations to study the quality of judicial processes in the Serb entity of Bosnia.

3.2 Location:
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance is based in Zvornik, in the eastern part of the Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia’s two entities. Its area of operations includes the broader region around Zvornik known as Birac, which reaches from Srebrenica to Brcko, and from the Drina River (which forms Bosnia’s eastern border with Serbia) westward to Kladanj and Kalesija.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance helps displaced people who are trying to return both to and from Zvornik and its surrounding area. In both cases these people are of the ethnic minority in the area to which they are returning, that is, Muslims (now living in Tuzla and other parts of the Bosnian Federation) who are trying to return to their pre-war homes in Zvornik, and Serbs (now living in Zvornik) who are trying to return to Kalesija or Tuzla.

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

w	Local Government
w	Local NGO
w	Government Ministry
w	Media
w	National NGO
w	International NGO
w	Minority organisations

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:
A USAID Democracy Network Program (DemNet) donation was granted in March of 2000 in the amount of $12,500 to cover equipment, travel, salaries, and staff training. This amount was granted to cover the rest of the year 2000. It is expected that additional grants from DemNet would sustain the organization in the next year.

3.6 Timeframe:
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance was founded in the spring of 1998, and began its legal aid programs at that time. It is expected to continue these programs indefinitely.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy:
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance’s existence is the result of local grassroots initiative, assisted by grants from international governmental and non-governmental organizations. There is no concrete aid forthcoming from the local or national government of Bosnia. At times there has been implicit resistance from local Zvornik government to the programs of CIPP, due to essentially opposing goals. But at present there is at least a minimum level of cooperation.

4. Good Practice Description
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance, Zvornik, Bosnia
Background Information on Regional Return Problems
Zvornik, situated on the River Drina, is one of the largest towns on Bosnia’s eastern border with Serbia. During the war this area was one of the first to be taken over by Serb separatist forces, in April-May of 1992. Today, Zvornik is deep in the heart of the eastern half of the present-day Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia’s two post-war entities.

Before the war, Zvornik municipality’s population of 81,000 was approximately 60 per cent Muslim, and the rest Serb. By a few months into the war the entire Muslim population had been expelled, and Muslim-owned property brought under the control of the new Serb-dominated government. Many homes were taken over by Serbs who had been displaced from locations in the Muslim-Croat Federation (Bosnia’s other entity), such as Tuzla and Sarajevo.

Thus in the post-war period displaced Serbs in the Zvornik area and displaced Muslims in Tuzla and other parts of the Federation all face the problem of how to regain their pre-war property. In addition, there are both Muslim and Serb refugees in neighboring countries and abroad who would like to return home. The prominent Tuzla-based return activist Fadil Banjanovic said in early 1999 that there were at least 25,000 displaced people from Zvornik municipality who would like to return home immediately.

In the Zvornik area as in most other parts of the Republika Srpska, resistance to Muslim return after the war was initially quite strong. For a time after the signing of the Dayton peace agreement, it was dangerous for any Muslim to set foot in that territory, in spite of Dayton’s Annex 7 calling for freedom of movement and return. An obstacle even more widespread than the threat of violence was the bureaucratic obstruction that lasts to this day. Similarly, it has been difficult for Bosnian Serbs to return to their pre-war homes in the Federation. The fact that their homes are occupied by other displaced persons is as great an obstacle as any other.

In spite of the obstacles, by late 1998 tentative return was beginning to take place in both directions, especially on the part of Muslims going home to the villages surrounding Zvornik. By 2000 Zvornik registered the largest number of returns to any single municipality in the Republika Srpska. Serbs were also beginning to return to Tuzla and Sarajevo, which had never been subjected to the same force of ethnic cleansing that had taken place in the Serb entity.

However, bureaucratic obstruction in both directions continues to this day. Unnecessary paperwork, illegal requirements for documentation, and stalling are as efficient as violence in deterring return. Often, legal disputes between temporary occupants and would-be returnees also prevent return. While the international community has promulgated the necessary laws to ensure property return, these laws are often ignored by local authorities.

In Zvornik, the Center for Information and Legal Assistance (CIPP) was formed to address these problems. As of late 2000, CIPP is staffed by a half-dozen people, including one local Muslim. This report will examine some of CIPP’s programs and their results. (For more background on displacement in Bosnia, see the report in this database on the Coalition for Return.)

Origin and Goals of the Center for Information and Legal Assistance
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance (CIPP) was formed in March of 1998, with the help of the UNHCR. The Tuzla-based relief and development organization BOSPO (Bosnia Aid) is a partner. CIPP’s work involves public advocacy on property laws and refugee return. Within the scope of this work it helps clients sort out problems with pensions, work relations, citizenship, and identification cards.

CIPP began its work in Zvornik municipality. Soon after its founding, it began to expand throughout the whole eastern Bosnian region of Birac, which extends from Srebrenica to Bijeljina and Brcko, and westward to Vlasenica, Kladanj, and Kalesija. The organization helped over 800 clients every month in 1998, for a total that year of more than 12,000 clients. In 1998, most of the staff were volunteers.

Executive director of CIPP Milena Savic describes the organization: ‘Our goal is to promote the defense of basic human rights and freedom. We offer investigations into cases where people have appealed to us for help. We follow municipal court proceedings in Srebrenica, Vlasenica, and Zvornik. These are cases involving the right of people to return to their pre-war homes, and their right to have their property returned to them’.

The Center for Information and Legal Assistance works with NGOs and the media to inform and assist displaced persons who wish to return in either direction. In the spring of 1998, CIPP established collaboration between the two entities of Bosnia on problems of refugee return. This collaboration became the basis for the successful work of the organization.

In this period CIPP began an extensive information campaign about property rights. It conducted numerous panel discussions and workshops in which people from different places shared their experiences. The first panel discussion, in May 1998, was attended by around 350 people.

The UNHCR, OHR (Office of the High Representative to Bosnia), OSCE, and IPTF (U.N. police advisory task force) have all participated in these discussions. There has been a significant presence of media as well, including both radio and television coverage from both entities. Soon after its founding, journalists began to seek out the CIPP for information on problems related to return. The organization has since then participated often in live radio programs, receiving questions from the public.

Another focus of the Center for Information and Legal Assistance has been training and coordination of independent election observers. CIPP provided training for independent observers during the elections of 1998. Of all similar organizations in Bosnia, CIPP engaged the largest number of observers.

CIPP has a partnership with the NGO Center for Civil Initiative (CCI), which has offices in Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka, and Tuzla. The CCI trains and coordinates independent observers for the elections. In the spring of 1999 CIPP met with CCI in Mostar to begin putting together a network for Bosnia-wide collaboration on elections observer training and coordination.

Since 1998 CIPP has also given technical support for newly created NGOs in its region, and worked to create a network among them, the NGO Forum of Birac. This group became active in the Bosnia-wide NGO Forum, and attended relevant seminars and conferences.

Programs of the Center For Information And Legal Assistance
Concrete activities of the Center for Information and Legal Assistance include the following:

w	Direct advocacy and mediation in property claims cases and related conflicts, especially where return is involved.
w	Education of government agencies.
w	Research and analysis.

Director Milena Savic gives some examples of cases that CIPP has helped resolve:

	I have been representing some people from a village called Sultanovic. People (Muslims) left that village during the war, and have been returning recently. But one area of 5,000 square meters has been used as garbage dump by the whole municipality of Zvornik, all the way from 1994 to 2000. This was the result of a decision by the municipal government. The problem is that there are two houses near this dump, and families want to return to those houses. We arranged an agreement so that the dumping was stopped. Now those houses are being repaired, and we are working to get the garbage cleared away.
	We practice negotiating such cases in a peaceful manner, in out-of-court mediation. Another example is that of Mr Sabirovic, a Muslim who was displaced from Zvornik. He had a burek pastry shop in the city, which was destroyed. He received a resolution from the CRPC (Commission for Real Property Claims) to get his property back, but the property didn’t exist.
	Meanwhile, a local Serb, Dragan Spasojevic, was constructing a new building right next to that property, and Mr Sabirovic was concerned that the new building was going to usurp his property. We checked on this and found out that this was not the case. We then negotiated an arrangement between the two men, whereby Mr Spasojevic would build onto Mr Sabirovic’s property, and in return, he would give Mr Spasojevic a shop space in the new building. The construction will soon be finished, and Mr Sabirovic will be returning from Tuzla.
	We are also working to promote return in the other direction, that is, of Serbs back to the Federation. For example, Mr Rado Tadic, a Serb, wanted to return to his farm near Kalesija. But during and after the war, his Muslim neighbor Amir Rancic took over this land and exploited it to make bricks. Mr Tadic wanted his land back with restitution, and he received a property claims resolution from the CRPC. We got involved, bringing the two men together. As a result of our mediation, Mr Rancic agreed to repair Mr Tadic’s land and pay him 14,000 DM. They signed an agreement over this. Another displaced person had been living on Mr Tadic’s land, and he has since left. Now Mr Tadic is about to return home.

CIPP holds seminars in order to educate government agencies, especially regarding problems of implementing property law. It was on CIPP’s initiative that these seminars and training sessions were begun, in order to ensure the earliest possible return.

One of the local agencies with which CIPP collaborates is the Zvornik Housing Commission, formed in 1999. This is a volunteer commission that shares information in order to solve ownership problems. Participants include international organizations such as the OHR, UNHCR, and the OSCE, as well as local agencies like the OMI (Municipal Refugee Ministry). The municipal department for refugees, the police, and other representatives of the municipal government also participate. CIPP has been advocating that nearby municipalities form similar committees, because such collaboration has proven to work effectively in Zvornik.

In this realm CIPP particularly focuses on double occupancy, where a person is living in someone else’s house, but has the possibility of moving back to his pre-war home. There are obstacles to solving this problem because some double occupants are politically powerful, and therefore difficult to evict.

Milena Savic notes that among these various organizations and agencies, the atmosphere is ‘correct and well-intentioned’. She explains, ‘We are working to advocate observance of the law, as that is best for everyone concerned. We see Zvornik as a model for this region, and we are working to spread our influence to Vlasenica and Osmaci municipalities’.

The Center for Information and Legal Assistance has engaged in research and analysis projects of various types. One project has focused on obstruction to return perpetrated by the government agencies of both entities. CIPP has concentrated on cases from both Zvornik and Tuzla, collecting evidence of obstruction and identifying the perpetrators. For example, displaced people who have submitted property claims have been summoned to the municipal housing offices for unnecessary interviews. Authorities have asked for proof of ownership beyond what was legally required. Deadlines for claims resolutions have been ignored.

These are ways that local authorities have tried to prevent return from taking place. There was also an extended discussion of ‘abandoned property’. When people were displaced during the war, often their property was declared ‘abandoned,’ which then allowed the local government to distribute it to other displaced people who had come in the opposite direction.

CIPP struggled to have the ‘abandoned property’ designation abolished, so that people could get their pre-war property back. Eventually it was abolished, and now anyone who left his or her property between April 1991 and April 1998 in the Federation, and until December 1998 in the Republika Srpska, has the right to reclaim property, regardless of how or why s/he left.

From May 1999 through March of 2000 CIPP conducted a joint project with the International Crisis Group (ICG) on reform of the judiciary and related governmental administrative bodies. This project undertook an extensive analysis of three local courts and three prosecutors’ offices, in Zvornik, Vlasenica, and Srebrenica.

The joint project analyzed the function of court work in the Birac region, and the resulting evaluations were used as part of a report that the ICG published. Milena Savic said, ‘We see that the project has had an influence in court reform. For example, the salary of judges has been increased. Low salaries were a problem, because they contributed to the possibility of corruption. The salary increase helps to ensure court independence’.

In late 2000, CIPP was also working with the ICG on a study of the Constitution of the Republika Srpska, to evaluate its concordance with the Constitution of the Federation, as well as with various European conventions. The purpose of this project is to harmonize and modernize laws on citizenship and identification documents, as well as birth, death, and wedding certificates. The Human Rights Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has declared that the two entities’ constitutions are not in agreement.

Funding
Milena Savic described financial problems during the founding of the Center for Information and Legal Assistance: ‘When CIPP was founded, we were technically unequipped. We only had one computer, and a couple of tables, like they have in coffee shops, instead of desks’. CIPP submitted an application for assistance to USAID in December of 1999, and it was approved in March of 2000. At this point the organization became a partner with the USAID Democracy Network, or DemNet. It was awarded a total budget of $12,500, of which $7,500 was to be used for equipment, travelling, and salaries. The other $5,000 was for staff training and education. Such training includes project planning and public speaking.

Future
CIPP’s present grants last until the end of the year 2000. At the beginning of December 2000 CIPP is to receive another $10,000 grant from USAID, to last another six months, which will enable it to continue to provide free legal assistance. In 2001 CIPP intends to start a new project, to open a computer lab where young people can take classes and receive training. This project will be implemented in partnership with the Tuzla Citizens Forum, which already administers such a program in Tuzla. A Swedish donor ABF, from Goteborg, will provide CIPP with four computers.

In July of 2000 CIPP started a project with the Italian humanitarian organization Intersos in Serbia. This involves repatriation of displaced Bosnians who have been living in Serbia. Many of them have been living in collective centers in that country there for over five years now. There are collective centers in Kragujevac, Smederevo, and Belgrade, among other places.

Some of these displaced persons are from Gorazde, a town south of Zvornik in the Federation. CIPP is organizing visits of displaced Serbs to Gorazde. In December of 2000 the organization will bring a group of 50 people to Gorazde from a collective center in Serbia for a visit.

CIPP is also collaborating with the International Rescue Committee in Belgrade. There, CIPP provides seminars to NGOs in advocacy, legal assistance, and information on refugee return to Bosnia and Croatia.

Contact information
The Center for Information and Legal Assistance can be reached at +387 (0)56 584 396, or by e-mail at: cipp@rstel.net