26/7/2002
Probe into Kidnapping of Women in Bosnia Continues

The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) said this week that it was continuing its investigation into the recent kidnapping of six women. According to an UNMIBH spokesperson, local police along with the Mission's Special Trafficking Operations Programme (STOP) raided a nightclub in Kiseljak on Tuesday after a group of about 15 armed men kidnapped the women the previous day.

By Wednesday evening, the kidnappers had released five of the six women, who reported that they had been raped, beaten and tortured by their captors. The women were taken to a hospital, where they received medical attention. UNMIBH spokesperson Kirsten Haupt said the women were treated at the hospital without dignity and respect, "which is absolutely unacceptable, considering what these women had experienced."

In a separate incident, STOP accompanied Bosnian police last night as they raided a nightclub in Busovaca, where five women - from Moldova, Romania and Ukraine - were found, and taken to a safe house. The investigation into that incident is also ongoing, Ms. Haupt said.