STATEMENT FOR PUBLIC
More favorable conditions for fair and democratic elections

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina has monitored the activities within the pre-election campaign on the eve of the municipal elections to be held on 8 April and found out that the conditions for fair and democratic elections were more favorable than in previous elections that had been held after signing of the Dayton Peace Accord.
This statement is based on the fact that the prevailing atmosphere was more tolerant in the pre-electoral campaign, i.e. in public debates, pre-electoral meetings and behavior of media.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which organized these elections too, made efforts that preparations for elections be of good quality, and contributed to improvement of the overall electoral process through the campaign of education of voters, mobilization of voters to go to the elections, education of members of voting boards and local electoral commissions.
The rules and regulations of the Provisional Electoral Commission and of the Independent Media Commission regulating the code of conduct of media contributed to reduction of incidents cased by the mass media.
The non-governmental organizations, extensively engaged in monitoring the electoral process, mobilization of voters and in organizing the discussions with candidates of the political parties, coalitions and with independent candidates also contributed to the improvement of the conditions for fair and democratic elections.
Among the appearances which stand apart from the general atmosphere on the eve of the April elections, first of all, we should mention the aggressiveness of the members of the ruling parties toward the representatives of opposition in some places. Cases of physical assaults over the activists of the opposition parties were registered as well as setting fire to their property, this being particularly indicative for municipalities of Velika Kladusa, Buzim, Bosanska Krupa. The activists of the Party of Democratic Action were the main protagonists of the violence.
The Serb Radical Party has directed its activities toward mobilization of citizens in boycotting the elections, i.e. in preventing of holding the elections. The most drastic examples of such activities of SRS (Serb Radical party), which was disqualified by the OSCE and whose members can not take part on the April elections, were registered in Doboj and Foca.
Pre-electoral campaign served to extreme nationalists as an occasion to openly express their opposing to the process of return and to engage again on homoganisation of voting body on the national basis. The returnees were the targets of the activists of SDS (Serb Democratic Party) and SRS; Croatian Extremists in unsigned leaflets distributed in Livno and surrounding places used the mongering language and language of hatred. Some representatives of HDZ (Croat Democratic Union), HSP and HKDU (Croat Demo-Christian Union), in the pre-electoral campaign, used chauvinistic vocabulary with plenty of insults on the account of another two peoples.
On the eve of these elections too, religious objects were transferred to centers for advocating of nationalistic parties, while some of the religious officers behaved as spokespersons of their parties. This was particularly characteristic for some Orthodox churches in Doboj, Visegrad, Foca – and for some mosques in Coralici, Slatina, Ostrozac.
During the pre-electoral campaign, certain number of monuments to victims of war were being built or designs for their construction were adopted. These monuments are characterized by visible nationalistic symbols. These cases were registered in Trnopolje, Prijedor and Doboj.
Incidents relating to behavior of media were registered with Radio station “D” from Doboj, Radio Livno and Radio Una-Sana Canton. Opposition parties were undervalued in the broadcasts of these radio stations, there was unequal relationship toward the participants in discussions and mongering language and language of hatred were directed toward the members of minority peoples in those regions or followers of the opposition political parties of civic orientation.
The Helsinki Committee pleaded for soonest adoption of electoral law for Bosnia and Herzegovina in order that the general elections be held pursuant to the domestic legislation. We also point at the necessity of greater inclusion of BH institutions and organizations and non-governmental organizations and individuals into all the segments of electoral process aware of the fact that in future as well the presence of foreign observers will be needed as one of the factors for creation of conditions for fair and democratic elections.

Srdjan Dizdarevic
President of the Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights in BH

No. 09-04/2000
Sarajevo, 5 April 2000