Bosnian-Serb suspect removed

WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out the removal of suspected human rights violator Marko Boskic to Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 27. He was turned over to authorities in Sarajevo to face war crimes charges.

Boskic admitted his direct participation in the killing of unarmed victims during the 1991-1995 Yugoslavian civil war. He was assigned to the 10th Sabotage Detachment, a unit that was involved in the murder of at least 1,200 unarmed prisoners of war at Branjevo Farm near Srebrenica in 1995. This was part of a larger genocidal campaign in which approximately 7,000-8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. The crimes at Srebrenica are the only court-designated genocide to occur in Europe since World War II.

On Aug. 25, 2004, ICE agents arrested and charged him with fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. When Boskic applied for admission to the United States, he failed to disclose his foreign military service and criminal acts as part of the 10th Sabotage Detachment.

On Nov. 20, 2006, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts convicted him of two counts of immigration fraud and sentenced him to 63 months imprisonment. He was turned over to ICE after completing a significant portion of his sentence. ICE Office of Chief Counsel in Boston initiated removal proceedings and an immigration judge ordered Boskic removed to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Feb. 18, 2010.

Boskic's arrest and subsequent conviction on two counts of immigration fraud was the result of a transnational investigation undertaken by ICE and FBI agents after determining he was residing in the United States. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, ICE sought to establish Boskic's activities during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agents worked with international war crimes investigators from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The ICTY provided ICE with a video of the 10th Sabotage Detachment at an awards ceremony in the fall of 1995. In the video, Boskic is clearly visible in uniform and holding a rifle.

ICE is committed to keeping the nation safe by ensuring the secure removal of aliens with known ties to human rights violations. Part of the agency's mandate is to identify, prosecute and ultimately remove such offenders who are in the United States.