The United States Embassy in Sarajevo, United States European Command, the United States Department of Justice, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are partnering with Bosnia and Herzegovina to support its state and entity law enforcement agencies. The U.S. and BiH have an excellent working relationship in the area of security and law enforcement. In the coming months, the U.S. will provide BiH law enforcement agencies with $25,000 worth of narcotics identification kits that can be used for making initial determinations of suspected drug substances. This is the first joint counter-narcotics initiative between the U.S. European Command and U.S. State Department in BiH.
While this donation is part of a new effort, other law enforcement partnerships have been in place for years. Since its establishment in 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (DOJ/ICITAP) in BiH has evolved to keep pace with changes in legislation and police restructuring as well as international events. Since September 11, 2001, U.S. support in BiH has shifted from modernizing general policing services to supporting the development of State-level law enforcement capacity. ICITAP works closely with the BiH Ministry of Security, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Foreigner Affairs Service, and the Border Police to combat criminal activity, fight organized crime, support improved international border security, and capture suspected terrorists and war criminals.
FBI and BiH law enforcement cooperation has resulted in a robust exchange of information on criminal and terrorism related matters. In addition to conducting joint U.S./BiH investigations, BiH has both assisted and received assistance from the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement agencies. This past August, a BiH Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs official provided valuable testimony that assisted in obtaining a guilty conviction for a terrorism subject in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, FBI and BiH law enforcement are actively involved in the sharing of best practices as evidenced by recent U.S.-sponsored cyber crime, terrorist financing, post-blast, and forensics training.