criminal. Local journalist associations documented nearly 40 cases of direct pressure, verbal threats and physical attacks against journalists by the end of the year. CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW In November, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued the first-instance verdict in the case of former Bosnian Serb leader, General Ratko Mladić. The ICTY found him guilty of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-1995 conflict and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Also in November, the ICTY confirmed earlier sentences against six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders. This was the final verdict passed by the tribunal prior to permanently shutting down in December, after 23 years of operation. The domestic prosecution of war crimes remained slow, with a backlog of several hundred cases pending before various courts at the end of the year. Despite recent progress, the prosecutions continued to suffer from lack of capacity and resources, ineffective case-management and persistent political obstruction. A revision of the 2008 National War Crimes Strategy to address key institutional deficiencies and to establish new deadlines for the completion of cases was under way at the end of the year. Some progress was made in harmonizing entity laws regulating the rights of civilian victims of war, including victims of wartime sexual violence. However, public aid for victims of wartime sexual violence remained fragmented and dependent on residency; victims residing in Republika Srpska (RS) were excluded from the system of social benefits for civilian victims of war. The Draft Law on Protection of Victims of Wartime Torture in RS, intended to recognize victims’ rights, was adopted by the government in December, but it included provisions which could potentially discriminate against nonSerb victims. There was no progress in the adoption of the Law on Protection of Victims of Torture at the state level by the end of the 96 year. The Law would guarantee a specific set of rights and entitlement for victims of war on the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Criminal courts continued the recent practice of granting financial compensation to victims of wartime rape, bringing the number of final judgments awarding financial reparation for war crimes in criminal proceedings to four. However, the compensations had not been paid by the end of the year. The convicted perpetrators lacked funds and there was no alternative mechanism to compensate survivors of criminal acts in cases where convicted perpetrators were not able to pay damages. Most victims continued to be required to pursue compensation claims in separate civil proceedings, where they had to reveal their identity and incur additional costs. The 2016 Constitutional Court ruling that the statute of limitations applied to reparation claims directed against the perpetrators and not the state – even in war crimes cases – resulted in widespread dismissal of claims in 2017, further limiting victims’ ability to claim compensation and leaving them liable for high court fees. Although over 75% of missing persons from the war had been exhumed and identified, there were still 8,000 people missing in connection with the conflict. The process of exhumations continued to encounter significant challenges, including reduced funding and limited expertise. The Law on Missing Persons remained unimplemented, with the Fund for Families of the Missing still awaiting dedicated resources. BOTSWANA Republic of Botswana Head of state and government: Seretse Khama Ian Khama The right to freedom of expression continued to be restricted. Asylum-seekers whose asylum claims were rejected continued to face detention. A landmark Amnesty International Report 2017/18