REPORT ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HELSINKI COMMITTEE
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA IN 1996

The main activity was focused on:

Monitoring of the State of Human Rights

Systematically monitoring of the State of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have issued a number of reports as a result of monitoring including the periodical report for January - September 1996.
Regarding the fact that this was the election year, special attention has been focused on the conditions for democratic and fair elections. In co-operation with IHF, we have publicised in May and August two crucial reports on this topic; on the observation basis of Missions that have been formed for that occasion. We have concluded that there are no basis for fair and democratic elections on the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation, Republic of Srpska and on the canton level in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the elections, Helsinki Committee together with the Serbia Helsinki Committee and IHF have given a judgement about the elections.
The Croatian Helsinki Committee together with the Helsinki Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina have sent a delegation to Stolac and informed the International Public as well as the competent institutions dealing with Human Rights, about the violation of Human Rights of the Bosniacs in this town.

Serb Civil Council,a Democratic Initiative of Sarajevo Serbs and the Helsinki Committee have sent a mission for fact finding in the Sarajevo suburbs that were before the Dayton Agreement part of the Republic of Srpska and since then part of the Federation. There are numerous cases of violations of rights of Serbs that have remained in this area and inappropriate answer from the IPTF and the Federal Police against these incidents.
The Committee has been involved in the project " Freedom of Media and Hate Speech"
and is monitoring the Fikret Abdic- trail in absentia.
The Helsinki Committee is monitoring the Trail agaisnt Milan Hrvacevic, accused
for the war crimes against the civilan population.
An appeal for the repetition of the Criminal procedures was sent to the Higher Court in Sarajevo in Savo Ivanovic case,convicted for war crime against the civilian population, as there are indications that during the trial there weren’t any realistic conditions for the implementation of all the collected evidence because of the war(reconstruction of events and investigation).

Publications and Statements

Since the 15 August, every two weeks the Committee is publishing a Faxletter that contains information about the condition of Human Rights in BH and about the activities of NGOs in that field.
In co-operation with the IHF, we have issued a report about the condition of human rights in Republic of Srpska. The Committee has reacted to individual cases of violations of human rights and together with the Human Rights Bureau from Tuzla has sent an appeal to domestic and International public for the protection of mass graves. In the period that has proceeded to the transition of some of the Sarajevo suburbs from Republic of Srpska to the Federation , the Committee has warned in public address the Prime Minister about the possible illegitimate acts and violence in the transition period.
We published an information about the status of Roma in BiH.
Regarding the events connected to the return of displaced persons to Village Jusici, a press statement has been issued, remainding that the right of each individual is to choose the palce of living, freedom of movement and the right to private properts.
In separate statements, we condemned thes attack on a Director and one of the Editor in Chief of ISV radio that was dscribed as an attack on the freedom of media, and as well we condemned the attack on Nikad Junuzovic that happened in Bihac as a rsult of the confrontaion of the leading SDA party and political opponenets and different oppinions.
We published a statement where we pointed on the incidents of the segragations of students in the Secondary School in Velika Kladusa.
In another statement we expressed our solidarity wiht the violation of human rights on Tibet and the maltreatment of painter Yundrung.

Round Tables , Debates and Press Conferences

At the end of September, in co-operation with IHF we have organised a public Debate with Topic " State of Law, Democracy and Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina". More then a hundred people were present at the debate and the result was described as excellent. A Round table about the elections was organised in Tuzla together with the Human Rights Bureau. On two occasions we have organised Press Conferences about the situation in Stolac and grave violations of human rights in the town from the present authorities.
We have as well organised two Press conferences in co-operation with the IHF about the elections and one about the Status of Serbs in the reintegrated parts of BH.

Legal Aid

During this whole period, lawyers - consultants of the Committee have been giving legal aid to individuals that addressed the Committee for the infringement of their rights. Since August, two lawyers in Sarajevo and one in Mostar have mostly faced the violation of the right to housing as the most frequent form of violation of Human Rights and as well problems concerning the discrimination for employment , issuing of IDs , missing persons.

Initiative to the Legal Institutions

Committee has addressed the Federation and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with few initiatives to show International groundless of some Laws and Decrees with the Force of Law. It has been demanded from the Government to put out of effect the Decree with the Force of Law on Take-Over of Assets of the Former Socialistic Republic of Yugoslavia and their Transition to State property of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to which the privatisation of the former JNA (Yugoslav apartments has been annulled although the privatisation has been finished even before the beginning of the war activities. Also we have initiated the suspension of the Law on Abandoned apartments and in that way, it prevented the return of the refugees and abolished their tenancy right, which is according to the Committee groundless. We have initiated co-ordinating of a number of Laws with the Law on Amnesty without which the whole law system would be meaningless.
At the end, it has been requested from the Government to publish the Contracts with IFOR because there is no legal remedy for the damage that IFOR has done in different ways.

Publishing

The Committee has published in two volumes - the most important International documents for Human Rights. This edition, first of this kind in the BH comprehends the instruments that are mentioned in the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dayton Constitution which have become elements of the domestic law and are on the highest level of the protection of human rights.
Promotion of this edition was an opportunity to explain to the broader audience the importance and the BH authorities obligations to comply with these documents.
Besides the Helsinki Committee the European Council has took part in the presentation of this Edition.
Another publication that we issued is "What is Fair Trial?" for judges, lawyers and human rights monitors. This text is trying to explain the international standards and the standards of fair trail that the present domestic legislation is supposed to interprete and implement in accordance with the International law. "What is Fair Trail" would also be a methodological basis for the monitoring implementation.
Protection of Human Rights Edition consists of extracts of the BH Constitution and BH Federation Constitution concerning human rights. This publication is aimed to all persons willing to obtain knowledge about the legal regulations in BH in the area of human rights, instruments and institutions for the protection of human rights in BH state and the BH Federation .



Co-operation with the National Helsinki Committees

Together with the Serbia Helsinki Committee and the Serb Civil Council, the Committee has started recording the refugees that are willing to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina and on providing support for their return. A similar initiative has been addressed to the Croat Helsinki Committee. We already mentioned the Joint mission of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Helsinki Committee and Croatian Helsinki Committee in Stolac; similar activities are planned in the future.
Liaisons have been established with the Montenegro, Macedonian and Sandzak Committees.

The established contacts with the Swedish HC and Norwegian HC are giving core support to the Helsinki Committee.

Establishment and Strengthening of NGO Network in BH

As the Committee is the first NGO in the field of Human Rights in BH, we have considered as our duty to support similar initiatives within the country. In regard to this , we are stressing the importance of forming the Helsinki Committee Office for Human Rights in Mostar which has been founded in August this year, liaisons with Helsinki Committee in Bijeljina has been established as well as the establishment of corespondents for Helsinki Committee from Tuzla, Zenica and Bihac.
We have established a very fruitful co-operation with the Civil Forum, Committee for Human rights and Human Rights Bureau from Tuzla, Democratic Circle from Bihac, Civil Forum from Banja Luka, Intellectual Forum from Breza, Circle 99 from Sarajevo and several other NGOs.
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights is one of the founders of the Civil Alternative Parliament that gathers all the relevant nongovermnetal organisations from the entire BH with an aim to strengthen the positions of the civil option and to strengthen the existing g NGOs and to form the new NGOs.

Education

The highest level of the education activity in the Helsinki Committee is the Human Rights Education Program for the Secondary School students.
The first serial of lectures started in the middle of October, this year in the II Sarajevo Gymnasium. The lecturers were prominent lawyers (the majority are members of the Helsinki Committee fro Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina or their collaborators). There were about 150 students present on the lectures, mostly senior students. The topics where the following:
"What is Fair Trail?", "European Convention for Human Rights", "Institutions for the protection of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina", "International Trial in Hague". The students showed great interest for these topics.
In the middle of December, a new serial of lecturers on Human Rights started in the I Sarajevo Gymnasium. 165 students were present on the first lecture. This new serial of lectures should end in February.`
During these lectures, we distributed samples of the European Convention for Human Rights, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an Information about the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.

No: 22A-10/96