Please find below the link to the University of Texas Website on which can be found a map showing that Konjic is in Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina between Mostar and Sarajevo (CIA 1997).

Information on the treatment of Christian Serbs in Konjic by the public and Muslim/Croat authorities is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In May 2000, Dusko Tomic, the head of the children embassy in Sarajevo which represents the interests of the families of the victims claimed that all Serbs and Croats had fled Konjic following a 1 July 1992 incident, when an entire Bosnian Serb family was murdered by Bosnian Muslim police officers (AFP 10 May 2000).

In May 1999, according to UNHCR, over 100 former residents of Serbian heritage returned to Konjic between December 1998 and May 1999 (OHR May 1999). The returnees were temporarily accommodated by friends and relatives (ibid.).

In July 1997, Konjic was the first municipality to be recognized as an 'open city' by UNHCR (USCR 1999). This recognition meant that the international community would provide assistance in exchange for the commitment of the local authorities to allow the return of displaced former residents (Danish Refugee Council n.d.).

In May 1998, the Bosniak mayor of Konjic was quoted by Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard, Special Representative of the US President and Secretary of State for the Implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords, as saying in a letter he had sent the same month to the then High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Carlos Westendorp:

It has not always been easy to comply with conditions required of us--eviction of facilities from occupied housing, for example, but we have worked hard at holding up our end of the bargain. In return, we were told that we would receive initial help in supporting returns and, most importantly, significant help in revitalization of our economy and infrastructure to support long-term reintegration of returnees. . . . We did receive support...in the first phase of the program. . . . Unfortunately, we now find that we have been completely left out in the allocation [of] more significant resources. . . . We now face a situation in which 1,500 families have registered their intention to return, based on our assurances that we would have the help needed to make that possible--but find ourselves unable to follow through on the promise. We feel that we and all those who wish to return have been cruelly misled by the international community (Gelbard 7 May 1998).

For additional information on the return of former residents of Konjic, please consult the International Crisis Group report The Konjic Conundrum: Why Minorities Have Failed To Return To Model Open City published in June 1998, available on their website at http://www.crisisweb.org/ .

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 10 May 2000. Ivana Sekularac. "New Evidence Unveils Brutality of Bosnian War." (NEXIS)

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 1997. Bosnia and Herzegovina Areas of Responsibility for SFOR. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/.../Bosnia_SFOR_97.jpg [Accessed 7 June 2000]

Danish Refugee Council. n.d. Bosnia-Hercegovina. http://www.drc.dk/dk/internat/atlas/bosniahe.htm [Accessed 8 June 2000]

Gelbard, Ambassador Robert S., Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for the Implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. 7 May 1998. Remarks at the Donors' Conference for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Washington, DC http://www.state.gov/www/policy_remarks/1998/980507gelbard.html [Accessed 8 June 2000]

Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR). May 1999. Human Rights Coordination Centre Human Rights Monthly Report. http://www.ohr.int/hr-report/hr9905.htm [Accessed 8 June 2000]

U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1999. Country Report: Bosnia and Hercegovina. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/europe/1999/bosnia_herce.htm [Accessed 8 June 2000]

IRB Databases

Lexis/Nexis

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

The Balkan Human Rights Web Pages

Central Europe Review [Prague]

Le Courrier des Balkans [Paris]

Derechos

Europe Daily

The European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER)

Fédération des ligues des droits de l'homme

Freedom of the World

Human Rights Watch

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Norwegian Refugee Council

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) [Prague]

Refugees International

Soros Foundation Network

Transitions [Prague]

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

World News Connection (WNC)