Press Releases
United States Funds Witness Protection Training for Croatians
For Immediate Release
June 13, 2005
ZAGREB, CROATIA, JUNE 10, 2005 - The United States recently funded two workshops entitled "Witness Protection - The International Experience" for 100 Croatian legal professionals and law enforcement officials. The workshops were organized by the American Bar Association/Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA CEELI) and the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) in cooperation with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Croatian Police Academy, and the Croatian Judicial Academy.
These workshops are part of the project "Improving Capacity for Adjudicating War Crimes in Croatia", implemented by ABA CEELI and funded by the United States Department of State. The cost of mounting these two workshops was approximately $50,000.
Participants took part in workshops held in Zagreb June 1-3 and in Opatija June 6-8. The objective was for them to gain additional practical expertise on important witness protection issues such as interviewing witnesses, entering the witness protection program, physical security, and regional cooperation. Practices learned will strengthen Croatia's ability to address cases involving war crimes, organized crime, narcotics, and trafficking in persons.
International experts on criminal law and witness protection from EUROPOL, the European Commission's police assistance program, the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. federal and state prosecutors offices presented case studies from Italy, Latin America and the United States as a means to discuss their practical experiences dealing with these issues. Croatian participants from the police Witness Protection Unit, state attorneys, representatives from USKOK, police officers from the War Crimes and Terrorism unit, and judges exchanged their experiences with their American and European colleagues.
An upcoming seminar will address specific issues regarding implementing Croatia's own Witness Protection Law.