THE
ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE HELSINKI
COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN BiH
January
– December 2001
Apart
from its regular activities in promotion and protection of
human rights, during 2001, the Helsinki Committee for Human
Rights in BiH in its work particularly focused on:
strengthening of the network of monitors of the Committee in
the territory of the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, monitoring
of the state in media, realisation of the women's human
rights, education of young people in the field of human
rights, monitoring of the state in correctional facilities in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, lighting up the fate of missing
persons and rendering free of charge legal aid.
The activities
of the committee were also directed towards the strengthening
of the civil society, i.e. providing of material and technical
assistance to some non-governmental organisations, and giving
support to initiatives for establishment of new
non-governmental organisations that intend to engage in the
issue of human rights and democratisation of a society.
In order to
better inform the public on the current state of human rights
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee continued publishing
the bi-weekly bulletin «Faxletter».
Statements,
open letters, fact-finding missions, press conferences
After the
attack on the house of returnee in the municipality of
Modrica, Zijad Mujkic, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
in BiH issued statement for public on 10 January, in which it
strongly condemned this act. At the same time, this act was
interpreted as another attampt of extremists to stop the
process of return and to discourage all those who filed the
claims for repossession of the apartments and houses in the
municipality of Modrica.
The accountability of the Mayor of the municipality,
Novak Gojkovic, was particularly stressed since he neither
condemned this act of terrorism nor demanded from the police
to carry out professionaly its job.
The appeal was
sent to the authorities of Republika Srpska and to the
representatives of the international community to adequately
react following the attack in order to prevent extremists from
obstructing the process of return and threatening personal
security and property of returnees.
As the result
of one-year monitoring of the state of media in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Committee published the Report on the State
in Media in BiH in 2000, which was presented at the press
conference in the Human Rights House of Sarajevo on 27 January
2001. The fact that 18 journalists from news agencies, dailies
and weeklies, radio and TV attended the press conference
speaks of the great interest for the report.
It was
published in a statement for public on 6 February 2001 that
the winner of the award of the Helsinki Committee in BiH for
extraordinary contribution in the field of human rights was
Mister Vehid Sehic, one of the first fighters for human rights
in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had been engaged in protection
of human rights during the war time. Mister Sehic, one of the
founders of the Citizens’ Forum of Tuzla, contributed to
strengthening of civil society in BiH through noticeable
activities of that organisation and by assisting the
establishment of a number of new non-governmental
organisations in both entities. His continuous engagement in
the establishmnt of the rule of law was particularly
emphasised. The diploma of the Helsinki Committee in BiH for
extraordinary contribution in the field of human rights is the
highest award given by this organisation. This award is given
once in two years to a renowned individual or organisation for
extraordinary contribution to protection and promotion of
human rights.
On 8th
of February 2001, the Helsinki Committee issued a press
release in which the Committee expressed its astonishment with
the decision of the IPTF Commissioner and the Governor of the
Sarajevo Canton to stop the process of election of the
commissioner of the police of the Sarajevo Canton. It was
mentioned in the statement that the Independent Board for
Election and Revision was working under very difficult
conditions, and that the board, from its very establishment,
was exposed to strong pressures and attempts to make influence
on its final decision. This act was estimated as pressure
exerted by the international community and political
authorities over the independent body. At the same time it was
said that such behaviour brought into question further process
of establishment of the police forces in accordance with the
international norms and transformation of the police into
civil service.
After a series
of events that took part in January 2001, in the
municipalities of Cazin and Velika Kladusa, which deteriorated
security situation, a letter was sent to the highest officials
of the international community in BiH (Wolfgang Petritsch,
Jacques Paul Klein and Robert Barry) in which they were
informed of concrete cases, i.e. of bombs thrown, taken away
property of the share-holding company “Agrokomerc” and of
threats issued to a journalist in Cazin. Prompt intervention
of the international community in Una-Sana canton was asked
for in order to prevent further destabilisation of the
security situation.
On the
occasion of politisation of the issue of the position of
Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Helsinki Committee in
BiH and Croatian Helsinki Committee issued on 11 April a joint
statement for public in which they condemned unconstitutional
and unlawful activities of the Croat Democratic Union and its
partners in constituting of “Croatian Self-Rule”, deeming
that only actions based exclusively on the principles of
legality can assist in promotion and protection of human
rights and freedoms.
The joint
statement for public of the Helsinki Committees in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Serbia and the International Helsinki Federation
on 8 May 2001, strongly condemned the organisers and
participants in the chauvinistic demonstrations that prevented
reconstruction of the mosques in Trebinje and Banja Luka. On
that occasion, it was stated that Serb chauvinism was not yet
defeated and that the Republika Srpska, which had been created
on crimes and genocide against Bosniak people, could not
ensure respect for human rights and civilian rights to its
citizens.
Within the
activities aimed at finding out the situation of human rights
in some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Helsnki
Committee, together with the colleagues from the Helsinki
Committees of Republika Srpska, Norway, and International
Helsinki Federation, in the period from 8 to 11 April, 2001,
realised a fact-finding mission to the following places of
Eastern Bosnia: Gorazde, Dubista, Povrsnica, Kopaci and Foca.
On that occasion, the members of the mission met the
representatives of the local authorities, local
non-governmental organisations as well as returnees to these
places.
After the
fact-finding mission to Eastern Bosnia, a joint public
statement was issued with an estimate that the process of
return to this region was on increase, although the number of
refugees and displaced persons who were returning was far from
the satisfactory. The major problems the returnees are faced
with relate to the education of the children returnees,
impossibility to find a job, health protection, pension
insurance and disabled people insurance. It was emphasised
that better quality results could not be achieved without
greater engagement of domestic institutions and domestic
authorities as well as international community – primarily
donor organisations.
The Committee,
in a stetement for public on 22nd of May 2001,
expressed its attitude relating to the holders of tenants
rights in the apartments under the restitution. In the
statement it was demanded that the rights of the holders of
tenants’ rights in the apartments under restitution should
be protected, and that the state should undertake the
obligation to adequately compensate the former owners of
housing units.
Having
registered the increase in a number of displaced persons from
Republika Srpska who were evicted from the apartments in the
Canton of Sarajevo, and who were not provided with the urgent
accommodation by the Cantonal Ministry for Work, Social
Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees, the Committee on 24th
of May 2001 issued a statement for public stating that this
category of citizens was not adequately protected by the
competent bodies. At the same time, an appeal was sent to the
competent cantonal ministry to find out the best possible
solutions for these people and to enable them to realise the
rights they are entitled to according to the existing laws.
At the
beginning of 2001, the Committee organised a press conference
in the Human Rights House of Sarajevo at which the “Analysis
of the State of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the
first half of the year 2001” was presented. 15 journalists
of news agencies, dailies, weeklies, radio and TV attended the
press conference. The Analysis attracted the attention of the
public. On 14th of July 2001, the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights in BiH, together with the Coalition
of Non-Governmental Organisations in BiH “IZBORI”
(Elections) sent an appeal to the members of both Houses of
the Parliamentary Assembly in BiH to adopt the Election Law.
The statement, among else, stated that these two organisations
were aware that it was not the intention of the international
community to organise the following election and that the
Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina was
responsible for organisation of elections, because of which
the adoption of the Election Law had to be carried out in an
urgent procedure.
Having
monitored the situation relating to the strike of the
employees and technical staff in RTV Gorazde, on 18 July the
Helsinki Committee issued a statement for public in which it
expressed support to demands of the employed journalists and
technical staff of RTV Gorazde in respect to the payment of
unpaid salaries and the status of this media outlet. On the
other hand, the Government and the Assembly of
Bosanko-Podrinje Canton was invited to resolve the status
issues of RTV Gorazde and its employees as soon as possible,
which would enable the inhabitants of the canton to realise
one of the fundamental human rights – right to information.
Since the
Helsinki Committee is engaged in the issue of return and
protection of human rights relating to return, on 30 July
2001, the Committee sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the
Canton of Sarajevo, Mister Huso Hadzidedic, asking from him to
give answers to several questions, such as: number of housing
units in the Canton that have not yet been privatised; number
of claims for repossession of apartments; number of housing
units the return of which has not been claimed for; number of
requests for additional verification of contracts on use of
apartments; number of executed requests for additional
verification of contracts on use of apartments, etc… It was
stated in the letter that exact information could contribute
to resolving critical problems when resolving housing issues,
particularly of threatened categories of population such as
demobilised soldiers, disabled veterans and members of the
families of the killed soldiers.
Having in mind
the sluggishness of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
in ratification of the Roma Statute which foresees the
establishment of the Permanent International Criminal
Tribunal, as an important factor in the international
relations, the Committee sent a letter on 18 September 2001 to
the BiH officials asking from them to use their power and
competence to speed up the process of ratification, and to
include Bosnia and Herzegovina in the line of the states that
ratified this document.
By continuing
the realisation of the fact-finding missions in certain
regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee visited the
area of Modrica and Gradacac on 26 and 27 September 2001.
During the visit to the places, we discussed with the
representatives of local authorities, representatives of some
local non-governmental organisations, and with returnees to
this region. The conclusion was that there were almost no
problems relating to the safety of returnees, however it was
emphasised that the process of reconstruction of houses was
very slow and that there were no investments in the economy,
which actually made the return unsustainable. It was also
pointed out that the local authorities, together with the
entity authorities should invest additional efforts in making
return faster and sustainable.
The retired
people repeatedly addressed the Helsinki Committee demanding
that they be allowed to use health protection in the territory
in which they live or to which they gravitate, as well as that
their pensions be paid out from the pension fund of the entity
in which they live, the Committee issued statement for public
on 2 November 2001 expressing its attitude that changes to the
legal regulations that brought retired returnees into
discriminatory position should be made promptly. The Committee
appealed for agreement to be reached between the competent
pension insurance funds and funds for health protection aimed
at satisfying the needs and rights of the category of retired
people whose rights are being presently violated.
This year as
well as the previous, the Helsinki Committee dedicated the
Human Rights Day, 10th of December 2001, to the
issue of missing persons. On that day, the Committee issued
statement for public in which it expressed that it was
inadmissible that the authorities did not invest more effort
to light up the fate of missing persons and to stop the agony
of members of their families. On that occasion, political
parties, non-governmental organisations and media were invited
to pay attention to this issue.
On 15th
of December 2001, the Committee organised a press conference
at the Human Rights House of Sarajevo at which it presented
the “Analysis of the State of Human Rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina in 2001”. 14 journalists from news agencies,
dailies, weeklies, radio and TV attended the conference.
After a series
of accusations relating to the work and activities of the
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH expressed by
reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic Community in BiH, Mustafa ef.
Ceric, the Committee sent to him an open letter on 21 December
2001, to remind him of the findings and statements of this
organisation contained in the annual report on the state of
human rights in BiH in 2001, which deny his allegations.
After the
project “Monitoring of Women’s Human Rights in BiH in 2001
was completed, press conference was held at the Human Rights
House of Sarajevo on 26 December 2001, at which the Analysis
of the State of Women’s Human Rights in BiH in 2001 was
presented. On that occasion, we offered numerous examples of
discrimination of women in the society and the state – from
employment to participation in power. Because of the marginal
position of women in public life and in family, the Helsinki
Committee recommended consistent implementation of the
election law, which will guarantee percentage of participation
of women in power, transparency of statistical data about the
participation of women in political and cultural life,
realisation of state laws against trafficking in human beings
as well as better co-operation of non-governmental
organisations and female politicians in the country.
The conference
attracted great media attention, and 15 journalists from news
agencies, dailies, weeklies, radio and television attended it.
During the
year, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH realised
the project: “Monitoring of the Situation in Correctional
Facilities in BiH in 2001” and on 7th of January
2002 informed the public on the findings through the
information distributed to the competent state and entity
institutions, correctional facilities in BiH, and media.
Information was only a part of the report made by the Helsinki
Commitete on the basis of the monitoring in 12 correctional
facilities in BiH during 2001. The estimate given in the
information says that the material and financial situation in
correctional facilities in BiH is very bad. It was
particularly emphasised that the accommodation in these
institutions was very bad, that they were overcrowded in the
territory of the Federation of BiH. At the end of the report,
the Committee gave several proposals for the purpose of
improving the situation in the correctional facilities.
Both reports
(Situation Report on Women’s Human Rights in BiH, as well as
the Situation Report on the Correctional Facilities in BiH)
are available at the Internet page of the HC in BiH: www.bh-hchr.org.
Seminars,
round-tables, conferences
In the
organisation of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH
and with support of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the
School for Human Rights – first generation - was held in
Sarajevo from 12 to 20 january. The purpose of the school was
that young people acquire basic knowledge on human rights,
international understanding and peaceful solution to the
probelms in a combination of lectures and group work. 16
high-school students from Cazin, Velika Kladusa, Livno,
Mostar, Zenica, Gorazde, Sarajevo (the Federation of BiH) and
from Bijeljina (RS) and Brcko (District under international
supervision) attended the school.
Regular yearly
meeting of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH was
held on 9 February 2001. The state of human rights in BiH was
discussed and the report on the work of the Helsinki
Committee, report on the financial operations in 2000 as well
as the work plan of HC and the financial plan for 2001 were
adopted. At the meeting, Vehid Sehic was awarded the
Committee’s award for his extraordinary contribution to
protection and promotion of human rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Together with
the colleagues from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and
association of citizens “Truth and Reconciliation”, the
Committee organised one-day International round table on 14
February 2001, on the topic: “Difficult Reconciliation”.
On that occasion, a book “Difficult Reconciliation”
written by Enver Djuliman, an activist for human rights and
member of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee was presented to
the public. At the end of the meeting, the participants made
conclusions and informed the public with them through the
statement.
“Seminar for
Monitors of the HC in BiH, with 15 future monitors taking part
in it, was held in Sarajevo on 16 and 17 march 2001 in the
organisation of the Helsinki Committee. The seminar discussed
the following topics: “Institution of Ombudsmen in BiH”,
“Principles of Monitoring of Human Righrs”, “Monitoring
of Court trials and Monitoring of Conditions in prisons”,
“Principles of Monoitoring of Media”, “Basis of
Monitoring of Work of Police and Electoral process”,
“Monitoring of Women’s Human Rights”. The lecturers
were: Frank Orton, Srdjan Dizdarevic, Senka Nozica, Zoran
Udovicic and Nada-Ler Sofronic.
Continuing
with the activities on education of monitors and on
strengthening the network of monotors throughout the territory
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Helsinki Committee organised on
25 and 26 May in 2001 in Sarajevo another Seminar for monotors
of HC in BiH. During the seminar, the following topics were
discussed: “European Court for Human Rights”,
“Functioning and Role of the Human Rights Chamber in BiH”,
Position and State of Minorities in BiH”. The lecturers
were: Therese Nelson, Peter Kampees and nedjo Milicevic. The
participants of the seminar were given “Instructions for
Monitoring” of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
BiH, which contains basic guidelines and instructions for more
thorough monitoring in particular fields, such as:
discrimination, authorities and law, religion, media, return,
refugees and displaced persons, etc. Apart from monitors of
the HC in BiH, and eight court practicioners of the Cantonal
Court in Sarajevo also attended the seminar.
In the
organisation of the International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
BiH, three-day conference was held in Neum, from 12 to 15 July
2001, at which the idea of truth and reconciliation,
International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and the
future of the Coalition of Non-governmental Organisations in
BiH “IZBORI” (Elections) were discussed. 25
representatives of the non-governmental organisations -
members of the Coalition of NGO in BiH “IZBORI”, the
representatives of the International Helsinki Federation took
part in the work of the conference. A joint letter from the
conference was sent to the members of the BiH parliament,
highest state and entity officials, international
representatives in BiH and media, with request to adopt the
election law as soon as possible, the adoption of which was
delayed and prevented accession of BiH to the Council of
Europe.
With the aim
to analyse the state of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
following the 11 September events in the United Stated of
America, the Helsinki Committee organised a round table on 21
November 2001, on the topic: “Human Rights in BiH in the
Light of 11 September Events”. 17 representatives of the
highest state bodies, international community and local
non-governmental sector took part in it. At the end of the
round table, joint conclusions were brought and we issued a
press release for the public.
Publishing
activities
By continuing
the practice from previous year when we published a book that
contained all essential written documents of the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights in BiH for the period 1995-1999, on
27th of March 2001 the Committee published a book
“Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH in 2002 –
documents”. This publication presents a collection of
reports, letters, statements issued by the Helsinki Committee
in 2000 and is intented for all those who are interested in
the work of the Committee and the state of human rights in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The publication was made in two
languages, local and English.
With the aim
to provide to the BiH journalists for their information all
relevant texts being in application in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and relating to media, freedom of expression as well as to the
imformation on possibilities for protection of journalists’
rights, the Committee published on 20 July 2001, “Handbook
for Journalsits”. The handbook was distributed to all the
journalists’ associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to
journalists who are not members of any of the existing
association.
In cooperation
with the colleagues from the Helsinki Board in Serbia, we
organised a promotion of the book “Portreti” (Portraits)
by dr. Slobodan Inic in Sarajevo, on 22 September 2001.
In 2001 also,
the Committee continued publishing a bi-weekly bulletin on the
state of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Faxletter”. We published 22 issues of the bulletin in
local and English language, in total. The bulletin was
distributed through mail to about hundred addresses in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and by e-mail to abroad to approximately the
same number of addresses. It was always alailabe on the web
page of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH. During
the year 2001, there were recorded 194,355 visits to web page
of the Committee that speaks for itself. People are very much
interested in the state of human rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, particularly our people who are presently living
abroad.
With the aim
to make wider promotion of the “European Convention on
Protection of Human Rights” the Committee distrubuted
150,000 pieces of suger pack in May 2001, on which some
fundamehtal human rights were inscribed.
Cooperation
with other national Helsinki Committees and international
organisations
During the
year 2001, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH
realised the cooperation with many local and international
non-governmental organisations. We would like to emphasise
traditionally good and constructive cooperation, through
realisation of joint projects, with the Helsinki Committees in
Sweden and Norway, International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights in Wienna, Helsinki Board for Human Rights in Serbia,
Croatia, and Monte Negro. Out of local non-governmental
organisation we would like to point out our cooperation with
the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska,
centre for Protection of Minorities’ Rights, Circle 99,
centre for Development of Civic Society, Citizens’ Forum of
Tuzla, NGO “Krajina”.
No:
23A-01/2002
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