ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS 
IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

(Monitoring covered the period 1 January – 1 December 2001)

The first six months of this year were characterized by organized nationalistic attacks against the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton – Paris Peace Agreement, terrorist attacks and attacks against the fundamental human rights and freedoms. The destructive powers were striving to create extremely radical inter-ethnic atmosphere in order to realize the aims of the war – division of BiH along the ethnic lines with new mass crimes and expulsions. In the second part of the year, the creation of the global anti-terrorism coalition after the 11 September criminal attacks on New York and Washington directly reflected on BiH, both in positive and negative sense.

The first half of the year was marked by anti-constitutional activities of the HDZ aimed at creating the third (Croatian) entity. The leadership of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) in BiH, led by the former member of the Presidency of BiH, Ante Jelavic, rebelled against the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina asking for changes of the Constitution outside the system, in order to preserve monopolistic political and economic position of national political parties on the principle of BiH divided into three parts. HDZ, on the basis of unlawfully brought decisions of the Croatian Assembly, passed a decision to act outside constitutional order and to establish “Croatian self-rule” in the territory of domination of HDZ BiH. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH and the Croatian Helsinki Committee in their joint press release strongly condemned such behavior of HDZ asking from them to address the organizational and current issues exclusively within the legal institutions, at the same time pointing at the importance of consistent implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH that call for amendments to the Constitutions of the BiH Federation (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS) in line of establishment of equality of all three peoples (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats) and equality  of all the citizens in the entire territory of the state of BiH. The two associations have also pointed at inconsistency in the policy of present authorities in Croatia towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. Namely, on one side, there is a verbal support to united and sovereign BiH and to good-neighborly inter-state relations, and on the other side there are statements of the political leaders within the coalition in favor of Great Croatia nationalists. The relations between these two countries are burdened with the attitude according to which the authorities of Croatia have the right to take special care of Croats in BiH, determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, this being absurd by itself. A Constitution cannot serve to regulate the internal relations in some other state. On the same line there is a thesis that such concerns derive from the Dayton Agreement that simply is not true since the neighboring countries, signatories of the Agreement primarily have the obligations to respect the integrity and independence of BiH. The highest officials of the Roman Catholic Church in BiH fully stood by the HDZ, thus supporting its unconstitutional activities and, tacitly, the pressures and threats issued to Croats who acted within the legal institutions, the pressures which grew even into terrorist acts against Croats of different opinion.

Laying of the foundation stone for reconstruction of destroyed mosques in Trebinje and Banjaluka was the occasion for orchestrated barbarous assault of Serb ultranationalists led by Serb nazi-fascists, Chetnicks. The targets of extremists were particularly Bosniaks and religious believers, even elderly women and men. Murat Badic after being stoned fell in coma and later died. The violence was even directed against Bosniak politicians, diplomats, international representatives and journalists. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and the International Helsinki Federation in the joint press release estimated that there was present in Trebinje and Banjaluka fierce religious and national intolerance, which threatened to turn into a lynch. The three associations deem that in recent months the international community has been overlooking the fact that the “Greater Serbia” project has not been abandoned and that the anachronistic nationalistic ideology draws its strength from the actions and attitudes of the highest officials of the Yugoslav authorities, which have not made any concrete steps to show the discontinuity with the former regime’s policy led by Slobodan Milosevic towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. The three organizations for human rights emphasize that Republika Srpska, created by the crimes and genocide against the Bosniak nation, cannot guarantee the respect for human rights and civil rights of all its citizens. There is an obvious accountability of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) for this violence in RS, which has not abandoned its ideology and the policy from the time when it had been led by Radovan Karadzic, indicted war criminal, and which is a key factor of the authorities in RS. Terror against returnees has been continued even after the violence in Trebinje and Banjaluka. The Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, leader of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) did nothing to prevent the nationalistic assaults, and the police behaved unprofessionally and basically in complicity with the bullies. The attitude of the police was the same in the process of identification of perpetrators. The present forces of SFOR did not intervene, deeming that the intervention could have contributed to the escalation of the violence.

In response to the violence in Banja Luka and Trebinje, in Sarajevo, groups of young Islamists gathered, bearing slogans from Koran and clothes typical for radical Muslims in the Islamic countries. The protests passed mainly in peace but there were some militant groups shouting chauvinistic paroles against Serbs and Croats and disturbing the citizens by calling them to gather. A group of young men provoked Serb refugees and displaced persons on the inter-entity line in Sarajevo. The police in Kljuc prevented more serious outburst of Bosniak revenge in which one imam was injured. About twenty Serbs were disturbed in Kljuc and one of them was seriously injured. Sarajevo Mufti Husein effendi Smajic during mevlud (Muslim religious ceremony) in Blagaj sent an aggressive message of intolerance towards Christians and Jews after the violence in Trebinje and Banjaluka. Monuments at the Orthodox and Catholic cemeteries were being destroyed in Tuzla.  “Victory or Death” was written in Arabic letters on a black flag carried by Bosniaks at a wedding party in the town of Prozor, provoking the revolt of the local Croats. Croats in Bugojno were exasperated by a statement saying that Croats are close to not living at all in that town which prides itself on its “Islamic identity” as was claimed in the bulletin distributed at the time of the opening of a mosque and Islamic Center which had been built by Saudi-Arabian funds. It resulted in protest note to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Sarajevo.

Particularly serious form of violation of human rights is a manipulation with children being used in nationalistic purposes and even in physical assaults on returnees. Such case happened in Modrica, and recently our monitor reports on attacks on young Bosniaks by older Serb minors who use batons. Pupils of primary schools were also manipulated with in Stolac within the nationalistic strivings to separate Croatian and Bosniak children in schools and to discourage returnees and inter-ethnic coexistence.

Launching of the global anti-terrorism campaign did not provoke open confrontation of the militant Islamists in BiH, but there were cases of graffiti written with sympathy for Osama bin Laden and burning down of the American flag. One Bosniak policeman had the name of Osama bin Laden on his car license plate and was called to the police. The Council of Ministers of BiH and entity governments have immediately jointly engaged in the anti-terrorism campaign by establishing, inter alia, a co-ordination body at the state level. These activities with the international assistance can be of use to BiH in elimination of terrorist elements in BiH and in strengthening security system at the level of BiH. However, some actions aimed at searching for terrorists in BiH, led by SFOR, with participation of FBI and domestic police, were conducted irresponsibly and relating to this the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH warned of violation of human rights in the cases of ungrounded arrests, interrogations, detentions, illegal revocation of citizenship without respect to the legal procedure, extraditions were made to the countries wherein the threat of death punishment or any other rigorous forms of punishment existed against them. The Committee organized the round table on this topic, at which representatives of the governmental authorities and non-governmental organizations took part. On that occasion, domestic authorities were sharply criticized as well as the members of SFOR and IPTF because of unlawful activities and brutal behavior toward the detainees.

Repressive measures undertaken by the High Representative towards politicians who make obstructions did not bring desired results since the main political influence is being created outside the institutions of the system, particularly in the areas with SDS, HDZ and SDA in power.  Once again, it has been demonstrated that the international authorities do not have consistent project of implementation of the Dayton Agreement relating to the key directions – return of refugees and displaced persons and return of property, physical and legal safety and security and equality of the citizens, arrest and punishment of the war criminals such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. BiH has been paying a high price because denacification has not been made. To the contrary, Serb and Croat nazi-fascism – Chetnick and Ustasha’s movements have been made politically legitimate. At all the levels, Ivanic returned to power sworn Karadzic’s followers. In RS, the Serb Orthodox Church is treated as state institution and official religion, but practically SOC is an ideological sponsor of Serb great nationalism. In the territory controlled by HDZ, Croat war criminals are being glorified.

A negative environment has been created again for the affirmation and protection of human rights and freedoms. The important work on harmonization of the entity constitutions with the Constitution of BiH has not been finalized, which should provide for equality of all the three peoples and equality of all the citizens throughout the state territory and eliminate any form of legal discrimination of citizens. Reforms of judiciary system, police forces and media, which is to a considerable level, somewhere even completely manipulated by national oligarchies, are being carried out slowly.

The arrival of the Democratic Alliance for Changes in power at the level of the state and the Federation of BiH is a positive fact as well as building of partnership relation with the international institutions. However, visible move toward functioning of legal state has not been made, the authorities have not done enough in creating independent judiciary and neutral administration that would equally treat all the citizens. The economic-social situation is increasingly worsening, over 60 percent of population lives below the threshold of poverty. In addition to unemployed persons, retired persons and disabled are the most threatened categories of the society. Social circumstances particularly affect women who are generally speaking in discriminatory position.

The High Representative of the International Community in BiH is still passing the decisions of significance. It is obvious that the international peace mission in not properly organized and efficient for achieving stable results in key directions of the Dayton Agreement. The return, although intensified, is not at the satisfactory level, a spontaneous return does not have adequately organized support, safety of returnees is unstable, terrorist attacks on returnees are tolerated as well as all other forms of discrimination.

The President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Srdjan Dizdarevic, rejected to meet Special Representative of the United Nations for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Jose Cutileiro because of the proposals and political solutions Cutileiro was representing on the eve and at the beginning of the war in BiH. Cutileiro, as the EC mediator, at the beginning of 1992 stood for division of BiH along the ethnic lines. The Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Aaron Rhodes, supported the attitude of Dizdarevic.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Former President of Serbia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic was arrested and delivered to the International Tribunal in the Hague (ICTY) thanks to the co-operation of the new authorities in Belgrade. The delivery of the most accountable persons for the tragic events in the former Yugoslavia is of special significance for the work of the Tribunal, international-legal relations and for the normalization of the situation in the region.   

The indictment against Milosevic, who rejects to recognize the legality of the Hague Tribunal and to name the defense lawyers, has been extended for three times. Primary, the indictment referred only to Kosovo, then it encompassed war crimes in Croatia, then again new indictments for Kosovo and finally it was extended for crimes committed during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of particular importance is the fact that the indictment for crimes in BiH includes genocide.

Bosnian General Radoslav Krstic was sentenced to 46 years’ imprisonment for massacres and persecution of Bosniaks in July 1995 in the area of Srebrenica. This was the first sentence pronounced for genocide by the Hague Tribunal. However, The Prosecution asks for life sentence for Krstic in view of the seriousness of crimes he is accountable for.

The ICTY’s Appeal Chamber confirmed the first instance judgment of 40 years in prison to Bosnian Serb Goran Jelisic for murders of a great number of Bosniaks and Croats in the camp Luke near Brcko. Jelisic named himself “Serb Hitler”.

Bosnian Serbs, Zoran Zigic, who had been a policeman during the war, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Mladjo Radic, former chief of the camp, to 20 years in prison, Miroslav Kvocka, former deputy commander of the camp, to seven years and Milojica Kos, former chief of the camp to six years, while Dragoljub Prcac was sentenced to five years in prison. They were sentenced for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Omarska camp near Prijedor where more than 3,300 Bosniaks and Croats had been detained. The Association of Camp Prisoners of BiH and Families of Victims are exasperated with so mild sentences for crimes committed in Omarska.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, sentenced Bosnian Serbs, Dragoljub Kunarac to 29 years’ imprisonment, Radomir Komac to 20 and Zoran Vukovic to 12 years’ imprisonment, because of systematic raping of Bosniak women, their forceful detention and sale. This is for the first time that the Tribunal treated systematic raping as the means of war, i.e. as war crime against humanity.

Dusko Sikirica was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, Damir Dosen to five and Dragan Kolundzija to three years in prison for the crimes against humanity, persecution on political, racial and religious grounds against Bosniak civilians in the camp Keraterm near Prijedor in 1992. The three Bosnian Serbs pleaded guilty and the Prosecution of the Hague Tribunal proposed milder sentences for them. Sikirica admitted that he had killed one prisoner.

Stevan Todorovic, Bosnian Serb, was sentenced to ten years in prison he admitted before the trial that he had taken part in murders, tortures, sexual abuses, forceful labor, deportations and illegal detentions in the territory of Bosanski Samac.  

BiH Croats, Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez were sentenced by ICTY to jail sentences because of crimes committed in the village of Ahmici against more than hundred civilians – men, women, children, elderly men. Kordic was sentenced to 25, Cerkez to 15 years’ imprisonment for crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violation of laws and customs of war, as well as for persecutions and unlawful assaults against civilians.

The ICTY’s Appeal Chamber confirmed the acquittal sentence to Bosniak Zejnil Delalic and at the same time demanded that Croat Zdravko Mucic be sentenced more severely (he was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment). Milder sentences were demanded for Bosniaks Hazim Delic and Esad Landzo. Delic was sentenced to 20 and Landzo to 15 years’ imprisonment. All four of them were accused of crimes committed against Serbs in the camp of Celebici near Konjic, territory controlled by the Army of BiH. Within the Appeal procedure, sentence to Hazim Delalic was reduced from 20 to 18 year, sentence to Zdravko Mucic was increased from seven to nine years and 15 years’ imprisonment sentence to Esad Landzo was confirmed.

The Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany rejected the appeal of the Bosnian Serb, Nikola Jorgic, who had been sentenced in Dusseldorf to life imprisonment for war crimes committed and for taking part in genocide in BiH. Among else, Jorgic was sentenced for committing murders on 22 Bosniaks.

The Public Prosecutor of the Republika Srpska sent through the ICTY office in Banja Luka to the International Tribunal in the Hague the indictment against the leader of Bosnian Party of Democratic Action, Alija Izetbegovic, war Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, which had been a supreme commander of armed forces during the war. Izetbegovic is charged with war crimes against Serbs, particularly with crimes committed by the units of the Army of BiH, symbolizing Muslim Army or foreign soldiers – mujahedins. Izetbegovic is also charged with ill-treating and killing of Serbs in, allegedly, 400 prisons, of which 80 in Sarajevo. This is the first form of alleged co-operation of the RS authorities with the Hague Tribunal after the law had been passed in this entity. This entity has not shown any willingness to co-operate in arresting and delivering to the Hague the most serious war criminals, in spite of numerous warnings and demands for their arrest, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic and others. The Hague Tribunal will consider the indictment after being translated.

A trial to Bosniak Fikret Abdic has commenced in Karlovac (Republic of Croatia) on the basis of documentation submitted from BiH for war crimes against Bosniak civilians at the time of conflict of Abdic’s paramilitary units. Abdic established parastate “Autonomous province of Western Bosnia”. Former member of the BiH Presidency is particularly charged with ill treatment and death of Bosniaks in the camps he had set up. Since Abdic is a citizen of Croatia, then authorities rejected to extradite him to the authorities in Sarajevo.

The cantonal court in Travnik sentenced Bosniak Hanefija Prijic, war commander of the BiH Army unit, to 15 years’ imprisonment because he had issued order to shoot five Italian citizens, humanitarian workers, near Gornji Vakuf, of whom three were shot and two succeeded in running away.

Cantonal court in Sarajevo sentenced Bosnian Serb Dragan Stankovic to ten years in prison for rapes of Bosniak women, persecution and ill treatment of Bosniaks.

For war crimes against Croatian civilians in 1993, the cantonal court in Mostar sentenced Bosniaks, Mirsad Cupina to four-and-half year imprisonment, Zijad Redzovic and Milija Sisic to three, Husnija Orucevic and Predrag Ajkic to two-and-half years’ imprisonment. Adis Batlak was sentenced to two years in prison, Ibrahim Orucevic and Slobo Maric to one year and half each, while Edin Tanovic and Hilmo Toporan were sentenced to one year in prison each. Mirsad Handzar and Nezir Pribisic were acquitted from charges.

Croats Zeljko Dzidzic, Mato Anicic, Ivan Stukor and Erfard Poznic were acquitted from charges of committing war crimes against Bosniak prisoners of war and civilians, at the time of conflicts between the Army of BiH and the Croatian Council of Defense, by the Cantonal court in Mostar. Bosniaks Dervo Dziho, Refik Tule and Kasim Colic were acquitted from charges of committing war crimes against Croat civilians in the territory of Mostar, by the Cantonal court in Mostar. In the first case, the President of the court was Croat and in the second one Bosniak. Another five Bosniaks (Zikrija Lijevo, Vernes Zahirovic, Becir Omanovic, Habib Copelj and Husnija Orucevic) were acquitted of charges of committing war crimes against Croat prisoners of war during 1993 by the court of the Canton of Mostar.

The cantonal court in Sarajevo acquitted Miroslav Pandurevic, Bosnian Serb, from the charges of committing war crimes against Bosniak civilians. The charge was raised for the murder of the family Trnka that had been burnt in a house set to fire by three persons.

A trial to Bosniak Fikret Smajlovic Piklic suspect of committing war crimes against civilians and the prisoners of war in the camp of Batkovic near Bijeljina started before the Cantonal court in Tuzla. Smajlovic, who surrendered to the RS authorities, has been charged with taking part in brutal beating of ten Bosniak civilians of which nine died.

The members of SFOR arrested and delivered to the International Tribunal in the Hague Dragan Obradovic, Bosnian Serb, accused of genocide against Bosniaks in July 1995, in the area of Srebrenica. Obrenovic, as Colonel in charge of Zvornik brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska and as a deputy commander and later on its commander, is charged with “taking part in organizing and realizing acts aimed at capturing, shooting and burying of more than 5,000 Bosniak men and young boys from the enclave of Srebrenica.”

The members of SFOR arrested and delivered to the Hague Bosnian Serb Lieutenant Colonel Vidoje Blagojevic accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of laws and customs of war in the territory of Srebrenica.

The Prosecution of the Hague Tribunal extended the indictment against Bosnian Serb Milomir Stakic, former mayor of the municipality of Prijedor. To the indictment for genocide, additional counts were added such as complicity in genocide, extermination and persecution of Bosniaks and Croats on the political, religious and racial grounds, intended murders, tortures, cruel treatment.

Bosnian Serbs from Prijedor, twin brothers, Predrag and Nenad Banovic were arrested in Belgrade (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and transferred to the Hague. They are charged with the war crimes (persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds and for inhumane treatment) and with violation of laws and customs of war (violation of personal dignity) against Bosniak and Croatian civilians in the camp of Keraterm.

Lieutenant Colonel, Dragan Jokic, voluntarily had surrendered to the representatives of the Hague Tribunal in Banja Luka and then was transferred to the Hague, where he is faced with the indictment for crimes against humanity and violation of laws and customs of war.

The first Commander of the Army of BiH voluntarily surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague. The indictment charges Halilovic on the basis of superior responsibility with violations of the laws and customs of war in the cases of “Grabovica” and “Uzdol” when the members of the Army of BiH had killed 62 Croat civilians and one member of the Croatian Council of defense.

Bosniak Generals of the Army of BiH, Enver Hadzihasanovic and Mehmed Alagic and the Colonel of the Army of BiH, Amir Kubura were handed over (voluntarily surrendered) to the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, charged primarily with crimes committed against Croats and Serbs in central Bosnia on the basis of superior responsibility.

Bosnian Croat, Pasko Ljubicic had surrendered to the authorities of Republic of Croatia on the basis of the indictment of the International Tribunal charging him with the crimes against Bosniaks committed during the war in central Bosnia, and went to the Hague later on. Ljubicic was primarily accused of crimes committed against Bosniaks in the village of Ahmici, when more than 100 civilians had been massacred.

A trial in absence to Bosnian Serb, Nikola Vuckovic, started before the court of the American state of Georgia. Vuckovic is accused of war crimes by four Bosniaks who were allegedly systematically beaten up and tortured by Vuckovic and others in Bosanski Samac.

The members of the Ministry of Internal of Serbia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) arrested and handed over to the “authorized representatives” of ICTY a Bosnian Serb, Milomir Stakic, accused of genocide against Bosniaks, Croats and members of other ethnic non-Serb groups. President of the FRY, Vojislav Kostunica, sharply criticized this first co-operation of FRY with the Hague Tribunal.

Blagoje Simic, Bosnian Serb, as citizen of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, surrendered to the International Tribunal in the Hague. Simic was a war mayor in Bosanski Samac, and he was charged with the crimes against humanity committed against thousands of Bosniaks and Croats in that area.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Tribunal in the Hague, Carla Del Ponte, on several occasions criticized the passivity of NATO forces within SFOR concerning the arrests of war crimes suspects, particularly of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. ICTY has refuted a funny allegation of SFOR according to which they did not know where Karadzic and Mladic were, saying at the same time that the Army of RS kept them. Non-arrest of these two men directly stimulates radicalism among BiH Serbs and protagonists of the hegemonistic project of “Greater Serbia”. At the same time, non-arrest of key war crime suspects discourage return and safe survival of Bosniaks, Croats and Roma people in the territory of RS. There is still no response to a demand of the Chief Prosecutor that, within SFOR, a special team for arrest of war crime suspects be established. ICTY stated that 26 indicted war criminals were hiding in the RS and 12 in the FRY, and that Karadzic and Mladic were residing in RS, under protection of the Army of RS. There are 50 detainees in the ICTY’s detention units, of which 20 are awaiting for trials, seven trials are in course, and others are in the appeal procedure.

SDS and HDZ keep causing negative attitude of the people toward the work of the ICTY and arrest of Croat and Serb indicted war criminals. The accused, imprisoned and sentenced persons are being glorified as national heroes. At the same time, the RS authorities have announced the most serious indictments for war crimes against numerous Bosniaks, and, for example, against Jovan Divjak, Serb, who had been the General of the Army of BiH and witness in the Hague. The monitor of the Helsinki Committee deems that the leadership of Republika Srpska is accountable for the situation in which citizens of RS live in fear from the Hague Tribunal, who do not feel it to be a legal institution for establishment of facts but as the international inquisition. In the meantime, the government of RS adopted the Law on Co-operation with the Hague Tribunal.

The HDZ organizes different actions for collection of aid to the Hague prisoners, including a special tax for all the Croat employees in the territory controlled by the HDZ. The campaign against the International Tribunal negatively reflects on the relationship towards fundamental human rights, and money imposed as tax for the Hague prisoners is a direct violation of these rights.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH supports a proposal from the Hague Tribunal that a special court for war crimes be established, with participation of foreign prosecutors and judges.

The issue of missing persons is still an open issue, primarily because of the negative attitude of the authorities in BiH  (particularly in RS) and FRY and lack of will to assist in search for mass graves. About 17,500 missing persons from BiH are registered with the International Red Cross (previously the figure was over 20,000), while according to the data of the State Commission for Search of Missing Persons the figure is 27,719 people. As for the exhumations of the victims of the war, more than 12,000 bodies were exhumed so far. A great number of victims were not identified – about 5,000. In the area of eastern Bosnia, about 1,000 Bosniak bodies were exhumed who had been killed by Serb extremists. 373 bodies were exhumed from the until now largest mass grave Jakarina kosa near Ljubija, municipality of Prijedor, and exhumation will continue in spring. The lack of money is a great problem for completion of the work that can be finalized in two years time. The Commission for Search of Missing Persons at the level of BiH, mainly engaged in the exhumations of Bosniak victims of war, deems that the search for about 19 to 20 thousand missing persons will be continued in known and unknown locations.  Three domestic commissions for search of missing persons engaged in exhumations along with the ICTY’s experts in the territory of BiH co-operate well, although there are some attempts of politicization with exhumations and of increase of the number of killed people, particularly in RS. It is a very positive fact that commissions have no problems either with citizens or local authorities when doing exhumations. However, the Commission for Search of Missing Persons of Republika Srpska complains of the relations of the authorities of the Federation of BiH for which they claim to be hiding crimes committed against Serbs, particularly in respect of the locality “Kazani” and “Lav”, area of Sarajevo. It was for the first time that one mass grave was discovered on the basis of an anonymous letter sent by a Bosnian Serb. It was a mass grave near Foca where bodily remains of about 80 Bosniaks were found, that had been killed by Serb extremists. It is believed that there are about 400 bodies of Bosniaks in the graves near Foca, who were being first detained in camp there.

RETURN, REFUGEES, DISPLACED PERSONS

According to the UNHCR, in the first eleven months of this year, 87,181 BiH citizens returned to BiH of which 69,969 displaced persons and 17,212 refugees (in the whole 2000, 67,445 people returned). 45,479 Bosniaks returned (41,089 displaced persons and 4,390 refugees), 32,243 Serbs (23,768 displaced and 8,475 refugees), 8,571 Croats (4,839 displaced and 3,732 refugees), and 888 others (615 refugees and 273 displaced persons). In this period, 48,222 people (35,349 displaced persons and 12,873 refugees) returned to the BiH Federation and to Republika Srpska, 36,645 (32,306 displaced and 4,339 refugees) and to Brcko District, 7,824 displaced persons returned.

From 1996 to the end of November 2001, 811,095 citizens returned in total. Out of that number, there were 519,788 Bosniaks (259,595 displaced and 260,193 refugees), 176,129 Serbs (129,641 displaced and 46,488 refugees), 109,163 Croats (34,399 displaced and 74,764 refugees) and 6,015 others (1,672 displaced and 4,343 refugees). 623,941 citizens returned to the Federation of BiH in total and only 179,330 to Republika Srpska, and 7,824 to Brcko District. 433,295 Bosniaks, 102,411 Croats, 83,268 Serbs and 4,967 others returned to the Federation of BiH. 92,600 Serbs, 79,781 Bosniaks, 5,903 Croats and 1,048 others returned to Republika Srpska. 6,714 Bosniaks, 849 Croats and 261 Serbs returned to Brcko District.

227,798 refugees returned in organized way, by the assistance of the asylum countries. There are still about 1,2 million BiH citizens outside their pre-war homes. Throughout the world there are more than 600,000 BiH citizens with the status of refugees, while in BiH there are more than 500,000 displaced persons. There are about 50,000 refugees in BiH.

The RS resists returning utmost where, according to the information of the Catholic Church, there are about 8,500 Croats out of 220,000 pre-war inhabitants. In the area of Banja Luka, there were about 30,000 Croats living, and now there are only about 3,000. In the area of Srebrenica where about ten thousand Bosniaks had been massacred and others expelled, only 352 Bosniak families returned, of which only 32 families returned to the town itself.

The returnees to north-east Bosnia experienced the first snow in 296 tent settlements, as well as in hundreds ruins, containers, and sheds. It is believed that there are about 10,000 people who lack food, clothes, medicaments and firewood. In many locations, donated building material goes to ruins since the major part of returnees is neither in good health (mostly elderly persons) nor professionally nor materially are in position to use it. All this shows that either the authorities or international organizations in charge do not systematically and crucially follow up the issue of return and returnees.

252,949 claims for repossession of property were filed in total in BiH by 30 November 2001, in 63% decisions were passed and property was returned in 39% of cases. In the BiH Federation, in total 129,995 claims for repossession of property was filed, decisions were passed in 78% of cases, and in 48% property was returned. In Republika Srpska, out of 116,069 cases, 47% were resolved, and only in 29% of cases property was returned to their owners. In the District of Brcko, total number of claims is 6,885, in 42% of cases decisions were passed, and property was returned in 36% of cases.

In the environment controlled by the SDS, HDZ and SDA, it is typical that claims for repossession of property are not solved in accordance with the date of their registration but priorities are set up in line with political pressures and bribes, and decisions are being passed for the apartments and property of those people who will not return, to be allocated afterwards according to the will of the local power-wielders.

The Bosniaks are the most determined in their attempts to prevent building of houses, based on the decision of the municipal authorities in Doboj, claiming that it was the land in their ownership. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) passed the provisional ban for construction of objects on the land the ownership of which has not been regulated. In the meantime, the Human Rights Chamber in BiH decided to temporarily suspend the provisional measures on ban for all construction works on the land allotted in Kotorsko. The OHR suspended the ban for construction on some plots of land in that settlement, while there is still ban for parts of land registered as private property.

The process of evictions has been intensified throughout BiH, however, at the same time, the local authorities do not take care of the evicted citizens who cannot return to their houses and apartments because they are either destroyed or occupied. Therefore, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH has warned the authorities in the Federation of BiH, particularly in the Canton of Sarajevo, to fulfill their obligations toward this category of evicted persons.

Altogether, slow process of return of refugees and displaced persons as well as their property, their physical security, legal, economic and social insecurity testify of successfulness of great national policies, so-called ethnic cleansing and domination of logic of segregation, which is being perilous for the normalization of the situation and democratic prospects for BiH. It is obvious that the local authorities in the largest number of environments, especially in RS and in placed controlled by HDZ and SDA – resolve the cases very successfully when citizens want to leave and sell their houses and property for good, thus stimulating stay of displaced persons and refugees of their own nationality, and preventing in different ways return of people of other nationalities. Even six years after the Dayton Agreement, the international factors and local authorities have not made a consistent and efficient program for return of all those who want to return, without which it is not possible to achieve long-lasting peace. Thus therefore, return of people and return of property as well as relationship towards the returnees remain the key issues when speaking of the situation of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TERROR AND DISCRIMINATION

Returnees to RS (mainly Bosniaks) are being constant targets of verbal and physical violence. They receive everyday threats, explosive devices are being thrown to their houses, they are being stoned, intimidated, graffiti containing threats are being inscribed on Muslim religious buildings, children are also being attacked. According to the information of the Center for Public Security of Srpsko Sarajevo, in the first nine months in that area, there were 35 assaults on Bosniak returnees, while the Center for Public Security for Eastern Bosnia reported on 45 assaults in three months (July-September) in that region. This is for the first time that the police of RS give information on the assaults on returnees. We do not have information from other CPS – but for sure there were also assaults, particularly in eastern Bosnia – Bijeljina, Bratunac… Our monitor informed us that only in Janja there were about 30 incidents against returnees in this year. According to the information of the Council of the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals, since the beginning of 2000, there were 600 cases in which safety of returnees was jeopardized, mainly in the territory controlled by the Serb Democratic Party and Croatian Democratic Union.

A young girl, Meliha Duric, was shot by sniper in the village of Damadzici near Vlasenica. Before the murder, the explosion of organized nationalistic violence had taken part in Banja Luka and Trebinje on the occasion of attempt of laying of foundation stones for the mosques. Among tens of injured persons, there was Murat Badic who died after serious injuries he had been inflicted.  Morbid cynicism was on the scene when health care given to Murat Badic had to be paid for. The RS police even asked for 800,000 KM (DEM) for securing the gatherings in Banja Luka (laying of foundation stone) and in Srebrenica (laying of foundation stone for monument to victims of massacre in Potocari). Majda Dzeko, Bosniak woman was killed and her husband Sabir seriously injured in a mine explosion that was placed on the road in Fazlagica Kula near Gacko. Edina Dzenko and Enes Dzenic were also seriously injured in a similar way during their visit to the family in Fazlagica Kula.

A Bosniak returnee, Seid Mutapcic, was killed in Pale. The motive and perpetrators of the murder were not known at the time of preparing this report, however, the murder disturbed the returnees to RS.

A specific kind of discrimination is implemented against few Bosniak police officers in RS who were the targets of attacks on several occasions. Our monitor has reported on the cases in which hand grenades had been thrown for the second time on houses of the policemen Edin Alihodzic in Zvornik and Nedim Alihodzic in Vlasenica.

Serb nationalists assaulted Croats too; in addition fire was opened from firearms at the house of one Serb woman returnee to Drvar. There was also published utterly highly anti-Semite text in Banja Luka Oslobodjenje (it has no connection with Sarajevo’s Oslobodjenje  – author’s note) on the first day of the Jewish New Year.

The graffiti “Death to Serbs” and “Chetnics Go Away” were inscribed in the village of Borun near Kupres, where preparation of reconstruction of houses for Serb returnees was under way. The Croats are now in majority in that area.

It has not been established that the murder of Serb, Gojko Petricevic, returnee to the village of Malesici near Ilijas, who died after serious injuries inflicted by the neighbor Bosniak Dedo Jojic Mujicic was on the ethnic ground, however, regardless of that fact Serb returnees to that area were disturbed. The returnees to Una-Sana Canton were disturbed by the murder of Serb Savo Romic. Bosniak, Mirza Keranovic claims that he killed Romic in attempt of robbery. The murder of Serb Zeljko Peric has not yet been resolved. Bosniak, Ramiz Tasakovic, who was under influence of alcohol, killed Peric. They encountered in the prison in Zenica.

Croats were targets of Bosniak nationalists - in Sarajevo, there were insults and threats issued to students of Catholic Theology and sisters. In Prijedor, wedding party procession had a black flag with inscribed “Victory or Death” in Arabic letters.

There is also intra-national terrorist violence. Thus, there was an attempt of assassination on Croat Mirko Marjanovic, deputy chief of the police administration in Zepca after the attempt of arrest of about 15 Croats, indicted by local authorities for war crimes. After that, a hand grenade was thrown on the house of Bosniak, Suad Dizdarevic, chief of the police administration in Zepce.

The logic of segregation and policy of apartheid in Republika Srpska and on the territory under the rule of the Croat Democratic Union has already been described in the chapters pertaining to the return and relationship towards the law and human rights. People are deprived of their vital rights, and ethnic minorities are under the day-to-day discriminatory pressure.

The example of Bosniak couple Hrustanovic (Salko and Deva) from the village Krizevici near Zvornik may give a picture of all the humiliation encountered by returnees. After the eviction in Tuzla, where they were accommodated as displaced persons, these two persons returned to their village where their house and property was occupied by Serbs displaced from Ilidza near Sarajevo, who did not permit them access to their house, and at the first time not even to the stable. Upon the request of the usurper of his property Salko had to make a special stable for their goats after which he was allowed to use a part of old stable the size of which is 5 to 6 meters square. Furthermore, Bosniak returnees to Krizevici are exposed to provocation on daily basis and even to physical assaults by Serbs newcomers.

In accordance with information of the Helsinki Human Rights Committee in RS there are 400 families of Bosniaks, Croats and other non-Serbs only in Banjaluka and Bijeljina who were evicted from their apartments and houses by the domicile and settled Serbs although they spent the entire war period in those cities.

The RS authorities do not feel any obligation toward returnees when speaking of employment, social care, education and health care. At the same time the authorities urge refugees and displaced persons to stay, under the influence of SDS and other radical parties. They are being allotted thousands of land plots for construction of houses. This has nothing to do with the care about the people but with strengthening the effects of the policy of ethnic cleansing.

Our monitors in RS have warned that Bosniaks and Romas cannot get any jobs, and the Labor Act in this Entity is highly discriminatory towards illegally dismissed Bosniaks, Croats and Romas who are not being returned to their jobs, but are receiving symbolic monetary compensation. The pre-war employees Serbs and Bosniaks cannot get their jobs back in companies such as “Aluminum” and “Soko” in Mostar on the territory under the HDZ rule. There are no Bosniaks employed in factory for special purpose products in Vitez (explosive). Bosniak returnees have no opportunities to get employment in their pre-war companies in Jajce since it is blocked by the HDZ. Our monitor has warned on discriminatory attitude in Una-Sana Canton towards workers who got their notices in public institutions and whose right to complaint was not recognized, as it is the case with other employees.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee pointed at the special form of discrimination and conduct of the policy of ethnic cleansing in Odzak (BiH Federation). Specifically, former Director of Company “Plastika” in Odzak Bosniak Salih Ahmetovic, who with a group of pre-war workers wanted to revive the production, cannot get back the machines which are located in Modrica (Republika Srpska), although they are not in use there. In all that the Odzak authorities, where the HDZ is in power, show no interest to assist in this endeavor. Our monitor has assessed that it is the matter of the HDZ’s desire that Bosniaks leave this municipality.

Bosniaks, who before the war composed 80 percent of the milling and bakery industry in Modrica, were not appointed for a single post in any of the management bodies of this enterprise after the privatization. According to the information of our monitor, refugees and displaced persons of Serb nationality have favored status in Modrica municipality, the land plots for house construction have been allotted to them, while Bosniaks and Croats even for the slightest construction acts (superstructuring, construction of lofts, construction of additional story) must ask urban planning and construction permits, as well as other supporting documents, for which they ought to pay significant amount of money.

In the municipality of Bosanski Brod, according to our Committee’s monitor, the authorities collect a kind of tax on return, i.e. when returnees want to connect water, electric power and telephone lines, the authorities ask for very high fees to be paid as compensation for services, which this financially and socially vulnerable people cannot afford. Thus, Bosniak Refik Mehicic had to pay 132 KM (DEM) to connect electric power, while neither he nor his wife are employed.

The municipal assembly in Bijeljina proclaimed a group of the most renowned politicians and war military commanders personae non grata in the territory of this municipality. The returnees to Bijeljina do not get back their telephone lines, and they have problems to get personal and property documents, as well. Similar case is in Nevesinje, where, among other things, Bosniak returnees must pay the amount of 250 KM (DM) each for the transcript of their diplomas. Our monitor from Nevesinje has warned about the problems of displaced Serbs from Mostar region that temporary lived in Nevesinje municipality. Specifically, even though they returned to their reconstructed houses 2 or 3 years ago and possess rulings on repossession of property they cannot cultivate their land as somebody else occupied it. The biggest problem is in Mostar North municipality.

There are approximately between 6 and 7 thousand Serbs and 4 thousand settled Croats in Drvar, which used to be almost hundred percent Serb town before the war. Approximately 1,200 Croats have jobs, while only 100 Serbs have jobs, mostly with international organizations. Our monitor has informed that teaching process is implemented exclusively in line with Croat curriculum, and only one Serb is employed in the education domain.

Especially drastic example of apartheid exists in Stolac where the property owned by Bosniaks was either destroyed or usurped by Croats. All Bosniaks were expelled from public companies; no Bosniaks are employed in the health center. Out of approximately 700 persons employed in Stolac there are almost no Bosniaks. Their children (221 of them) are allowed to use only 4 out of 40 classrooms in primary school, they have no access to secondary school building at all, while approximately 150 secondary school students travel to Mostar every day. All Moslem religious objects were destroyed, and the authorities, with the support of some Catholic priests, do not allow the reconstruction of a mosque.

In Livno, about 80 Bosniak and Serb workers (about 50 percent of total number of employees) were returned to their jobs in “Livnobus” company. Pre-war workers were returned to their job either by court decisions or by the decisions of the Human Rights Chamber in BiH.

Nezavisne novine published an article from Kljuc about discriminatory relations of the chief of the budget service in the municipal authorities, Nijaz Delic, Bosniak, who said to a journalist after the complain filed by one Serb woman: “What does she want, let her go to Serbia where she was staying during the war”.

The Party of Democratic Action conducts discrimination in Una-Sana Canton against all people who have different political affiliations, and specifically against the Democratic National Union of Fikret Abdic and the Social-democratic Party and atheists in general. They cannot get any jobs, they are illegally dismissed from work, have no police protection nor can exercise their rights before courts, their children are harassed and isolated in school, and even physically tortured – our monitor has reported. The SDA in Cazin has a discriminatory relation toward the whole local community of Pecigrad because of different political orientation.  Citizens of this settlement do not have basic health protection, they cannot return to their old work posts, reported out monitor. People who do not stand by SDA cannot regulate their rights in courts since the higher court instance permanently returns positively resolved cases to the first court instance for new procedure. Teachers are especially exposed to pressures.

The HDZ shows total animosity against the members of the New Croat Initiative, Croats - members of the Social-Democratic Party and independent Croat politicians. The monitor of the Helsinki Committee in Tomislavgrad, Blazenko Drmic, was also under an attack of militant HDZ members. According to Dnevni avaz, teacher Ruzica Petrovic cannot find job in Busovaca, where the HDZ is in power, because she was on the SDP electoral list. The party affiliation represents decisive factor for the social status of Serbs in Nevesinje, too. Those who support the ruling structure get jobs and have privileges, such as discount on the power bill. Additionally, the real pursuit was conducted within authorities and public companies in RS after the SDS and the PDP came in power.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee for Eastern Herzegovina (RS) warns that the citizens who do not belong to the ruling parties cannot get job, return their property, and have adequate medical care. At the same time, the authorities are absolutely numb for life interests and needs of citizens. The local authorities in Nevesinje lead selective social policy, not taking care of the real situation of those people who need help.

Patients in some departments of the Cantonal Hospital in Bihac “Dr Irfan Ljubijankic” are subjected to serious discrimination. Doctors and medical staff behaved totally inhuman towards some patients in Neuropsychiatry Department – from accommodation to medical treatment. Specifically, the adequate medicine and any kind of hospital accommodation may be acquired only by bribery. The Association of People on Dialysis, with 92 members, sent a public appeal in which it warned of the information that 11 patients, who were undergoing regular dialysis program in this hospital, died in a short period of time. Many of them had serious health problems since the dialysis program was ended an hour earlier than it should. Many of them had serious health problems because the program of dialysis was being interrupted one hour earlier.

Moslem priest (hodja) in Kulen Vakuf forbidden that Serb lady Soka Kumalic would be buried next to her recently deceased husband Bosniak-Muslim. Marital couple Kumalic settled its obligations towards the Islamic Community regularly and the receipts were on Soka’s name, since she did not want to leave Kulen Vakuf and her neighbors Bosniaks during the war, even when her brother came to take her from the internment camp of Serb extremists. To make this story completely absurd, Soka was buried at Muslim cemetery in Bihac.

At the session of the cantonal assembly, a high official of the Social Democratic Party and the Minister of Culture of the Canton of Sarajevo, Gradimir Gojer, has warned of a specific form of discrimination, emphasizing that no parliamentary document was prepared in Croatian language.

The Center for Protection of Minorities’ Rights in BiH has launched the initiative for amendments to be made, within the process of harmonization of the Constitutions of Entities with the Constitution of BiH, in order to ensure constitutional protection of minorities. The Council of Ministers of BiH has made a Draft Law on the Rights of National Minorities, which should protect the rights of ethnic minorities in BiH – Albanians, Montenegrins, Checks, Italians, Hungarians, Macedonians, Germans, Polish, Roma, Romanians, Russians, Russians, Slovaks, Turks and Ukrainians. The most difficult status is the status of Roma. A step forward was made by organizing a meeting with the representatives of 22 non-governmental organizations of Roma from entire BiH, in the organization of the OSCE.

YOUTH

A state of permanent political polarization, utterly difficult economic and social situation created the atmosphere of hopelessness in BiH society. A number of young people has left the country or are leaving the country and many of them achieve excellent results as pupils, students and experts abroad. More than 60 percent of young people in both entities expressed their wish to go abroad. There is an illustrative example from Nevesinje, where, according to the monitor of the Helsinki Committee, young girls who did not continue education are trying to marry at any cost, even for men who they never saw in their life. Mediators appear from Serbia looking for young brides who want to marry, and even their parents arrange marriages with bridegrooms from Australia, Canada and America.

At the level of the state, entity or at the local level, there is no systematic relationship towards the issue of young people. The international and domestic non-governmental organizations are trying to do something by encouraging the youth to better organized and more active relations towards resolving their own as well as social problems. Actions aimed at bringing closer the youth of different nationalities from different environments are welcome.

The policy of national and religious exclusivity affects much the young population that is also being manipulated for the purpose of realizing the great-national aims. The system of education in BiH is based on the concept of segregation and curricula imported from Croatia and Serbia is still in use. A number of parents and teachers act on the principle of everlasting ethnic and religious division. The youth, at the earliest age, is being taught and educated on the logic of apartheid, they are encouraged to ethnic and religious exclusivity, thus thereby to intolerance and discrimination. A largest number of pupils, returnees, are being educated on the basis of curricula which do not respect for their ethnic origin, religion and language, and many textbooks of particularly delicate subjects, like history, social sciences are coming from the neighboring countries, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Croatia. The beginning of work of the reconstructed schools in RS was obstructed and children had to go on foot tens kilometers to reach the school. In recent times some moves ahead were made in respect to the children, returnees.

Warning of a discrimination against returnees in a domain of education, President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS, Branko Todorovic, pointed at the behavior of the headmaster of the high school of economics in Bijeljina, Svetislav Vojic, who said that he had been fighting against Muslims and Croats for four years and that it was out of his mind to enroll their children in the school. The District of Brcko is a drastic example of such abuse of school system and manipulation with the youth where some parents support nationalistic parties and chauvinistic organizations in their attempts to realize Serb supremacy even in the education system by insisting on division of Serb, Croatian and Bosniak children in schools. In Brcko, a fight took place between Bosniak and Serb pupils some time after the demonstrations organized by Serb ultranationalists striving at complete separation of schools on ethnic basis last year. Parents of children of Croat ethnic origin in Brcko supported the separation of children on national basis. The International Supervisor for Brcko, Henry Clark, imposed the Law on Education System in Brcko primary and secondary schools, when Serb representatives in the assembly of District rejected to accept the education in three languages (Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian), conditional on the ethnic origin of a teacher. Young people are also being encouraged to aggressive actions towards returnees and a number of young people took part in the violent demonstrations in Banjaluka and Trebinje. 

In Mostar, the overall schooling system is divided into Croatian and Bosniak, while the nationalistic separation of the pupils is particularly expressed in Stolac. The incident took place when the decision had been passed according to which Bosniak pupils were to use the building in Stolac, not to travel to school in Mostar. After the verbal duel, physical fight took place between Bosniak and Croat pupils (reporter of Oslobodjenje stated that fight came about when Croat students started spitting and insulting Bosniak high-school students) in which Croat Vido Raguz was injured and after the medical treatment went home. After the fight, Vido’s father Drago, in anger, came to school with pistol and shot several times, according to Dnevni avaz in the direction of Bosniak students whom Raguz’s son called “balije” (abusive language for Bosniaks – author’s note). The following day, a group of Croat high-school students went out for demonstrations in front of the school at the time when Bosniak students were arriving to classes or were already in classes (Oslobodjenje claims that Bosniak students were stones as well as a car at the premises where a mosque should be reconstructed against the will of Croatian nationalists). The situation was calmed down the following day; however, this incident is a serious warning of the creation of the atmosphere of hatred and division among the young people.

Young people, members of minority groups, are in a particularly difficult situation even when studying rooms are in question as well as overall relationship towards them. In addition to ethnic groups, as we already mentioned, children whose parents are of a political opinion that differs from the ruling parties are subject to attack. In Una-Sana Canton and Gorazde Canton, religion (Islamic) is a compulsory subject, despite protests of parents-atheists and members of other religions.

Education institutions and teachers are in a difficult economic situation. Increasing number of strikes of teachers significantly influence upon the atmosphere among the pupils and the quality of their studying. The parents point at the cases of corruption in the issue of which the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS has been particularly engaged. The curricula are inadequate to the needs of the time, while the teaching technology is obsolete. Even the newly reconstructed schools are the targets of terrorist assaults.

Thanks to the activities of the non-governmental organizations, including the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, the problems of physical, psychical and sexual violence against children are increasingly present in public as well as prevention and sanctioning of violence against young people. The governmental authorities are being engaged in the issue more and more, but overall social engagement is not adequate to the size and depth of the problem. Namely, children are subject to any form of violence in every second family. There are most serious forms of domestic violence, including the most horrible forms of sexual abuse. The problem is that sexual abuse is being kept in secret by parents themselves. The establishment of SOS phone line helped in saving some children and in bringing the topic to the attention of media. Social care for children without parents and youth with special needs is not adequate.

The juvenile delinquency and prostitution has increased, and there are no adequate institutions for their re-socialization, especially when girls and young girls are in question. Trafficking in minor girls has increased in BiH. The girls are being sold for 1,300 KM. Specially difficult problem is a problem of a rapid spread of drug abuse, now even in primary schools. There are frequently registered lethal cases of overdose. With drugs, criminal and number of criminals spread as well. Deviations in behavior with young people are the result of war trauma and of extremely difficult economic – social situation in the country. Due to this, the number of suicides has also been increased among the young people.

Having in mind so difficult situation among the young people, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH is trying to develop activities among them in the area of human rights and freedoms. Thus, recently, the Committee organized, with the assistance of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the School for Human Rights for Young People – first generation – attended by 16 high-school students from nine BiH cities. The Committee is particularly engaged in establishing of corresponding legal infrastructure to protect rights of the children and young people. Other non-governmental organizations are also trying to contribute to creating the atmosphere of tolerance and trust as well as legal protection of young people.

WOMEN

A depressive economic-social state further aggravates already difficult social position of women. They are being discriminated in employment, in type of job and height of salary. One survey in Banja Luka has shown that those women with low qualifications or even without any qualifications have better chances for employment than the ones with high qualifications.

The participation in political life is stimulated by the regulation according to which at least 30 percent of women must be on the electoral lists. Through the activities of the international institutions and associations, a broader and better-associated engagement of women in policy, economy and society has been encouraged. Politically active women from different environments are also encouraged to associate in order to contribute to normalization of inter-ethnic relations and tolerance through joint activities.

The problem of domestic violence, and in that context, physical and all other violence against women is increasingly present in public. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH here also is engaged in establishing the legal norms and in correcting behavior of the police forces and judiciary bodies with the aim to protect the women. Thanks to the engagement of the journalist of Oslobodjenje, Edina Kamenica, the legal initiative was started that a rapist be exempted from the possibility of using the institution of pardoning, to leave a prison earlier. In some places in BiH, a SOS phone line has been established, which in same cases even saved the lives of women who had been physically endangered from their husbands or partners. However, the greatest number of women keeps in secret the fact that they are being continuously physically abused.

Several associations, which is not enough, assist the women who are seriously affected by war consequences, by sufferings of their dearest relatives or who were victims of rapes and other abuses. Group therapies are being used to include them again in the society. They are also stimulated to different forms of earning money in accordance with their experience and environments they come from. However, a great number of women are in a depressive situation because they, as victims of rapists, do not want to ask for help because of unreasonable feeling of shame.

Media specially covered trafficking in women, particularly from the countries of former USSR and Eastern Europe. The International Police (IPTF), in a co-ordination with local policemen, has undertaken a wide action to discover the organizers of trafficking in women, the most accountable in the chain of organized prostitution and violent persons who forced them to prostitution. (Re)sale of women, their engagement in nightclubs and violence against them have become day-to-day appearances in BiH. Many criminal charges were instituted and first court judgments against the owners of the nightclubs and other participants in organized prostitution are passed. However, some members of the IPTF were also among the protagonists of these acts, and one of them even bought a girl. The official Hoffmann said, on that occasion that “only one IPTF member bought a girl”.

We should mention here a protest of a group of women in Sarajevo who signed a petition against (mis)use of naked women bodies in advertising campaigns. The reason for the protest was a jumbo poster for “Kumho” tires with a message “Adjustable to any surface”.

SOCIAL POLICY    

War destruction and plunders, (post)war profiteering, misuses in privatization of former social property, ruling over the economic wealth and developments of party oligarchies, black-marketing, corruption and organized crime destroyed the economic and social stability of BiH society. Only Albania is after BiH when speaking of economic state. The Council of Ministers, on the initiative of its Chair, Bozidar Matic, has made the economic strategy, but economic policy at the level of BiH is blocked by conflicts in political concepts and interests. It is similar at the entity levels as well. The foreign investments are discouraged with political situation and legal insecurity. There are also incorrect interventions on the part of the international representatives in BiH to enable favorable entry of foreign firms to the detriment of domestic material interests. The law on restitution has not yet been passed, being the precondition for economic reform in the country.

According to the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues (IBHI), over 60% of the BiH population lives below the edge of poverty. These people have only 0,60 KM (DEM) per day – warned the Resident Director of IBHI, Dr. Zarko Papic. The pessimistic estimate of IBHI contains the possibility that even 84% of the population is in question. The unemployment is large – in RS it is more than 40 percent.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH warned of irresponsibility of local authorities towards social policy. A great number of people are surviving by begging, taking rest of food from the containers and thanks to few public kitchens. Particularly vulnerable categories of people are retired people, families of killed soldiers, and war and post-war disabled persons.

On the occasion of frequent addressing of the retired people who ask for the right to health protection in the territory in which they live or to which they gravitate, and the right to have their pensions paid from the pension fund of the entity in which they live – the Committee emphasized that the internationally recognized right of the citizens was to use the solutions that were the best for them. On that occasion, the Committee also pleaded that legal regulations by which the retired returnees have been brought into a discriminatory position should be changed in prompt procedure.

The Ombudsmen of the BiH Federation sharply criticized federal and Cantonal authorities for not undertaking anything to provide for 54,000 workers on the waiting lists in the FBiH right to final pay, health and pension insurance and indemnification during the time of their unemployment. The families depend economically on the status of these workers. The largest number of employed workers works on “black” and thus remains without pension and health insurance. There is an increasing number of strikes throughout BiH either because of misuses in privatization or delay or nonpayment of salaries. The trade unions are under the political influence and do not render adequate assistance and protection to workers.

Many enterprises are not paying for pension and health insurance. The authorities in RS do not provide even the minimum of health insurance to Bosniaks, and the situation is particularly difficult after suspension of work of eight outpatient clinics of the Muslim humanitarian organization “Merhamet”. Tens of Bosniaks died in the last and in this year due to the lack of minimum health protection. The BiH authorities, until systematic solution is found, offered assistance promising primary health protection to returnees in the cities and places neighboring health institutions in the territory of the Federation. However, it is inadmissible that the RS authorities, in this area also, confirm a behavior according to which Bosniak, Croat, Roma and other returnees are not regarded as equal citizens they are responsible for. In addition, ill persons in the whole country due to poverty cannot provide necessary medicaments. Disabled persons are forced to make prosthesis themselves as well as other aids or to have it done by someone of acquaintance.

RELIGION

The process of reconstruction of mosques and Catholic churches, as necessary segment of process of return and normalization of the state and inter-religious relations has started in Republika Srpska. The resistance of Serb chauvinists against that process was expressed in a drastic way in Banjaluka and Trebinje. In Banjaluka, in the second attempt, a stone-foundation was laid for reconstruction of the mosque Ferhadija in the presence of reisu-l-ulema Mustafa effendi Ceric, domestic politicians and foreign diplomats. On that occasion also, about two thousand people ran wild but about three thousand policemen and specialists prevented them from making a disaster again. After the incident, it was necessary to provide police protection of the place where stone-foundation had been placed. On the other side, several days later, there were no problems in laying a stone-foundation for the Catholic Church in Plehan, in the presence of Arch-Bishop of Vrhbosna, the Cardinal Vinko Puljic. It is possible that the reconstruction of religious object borders less in smaller places, but a factor of special intolerance towards non-Christians (Muslims) is to be taken into consideration as well. It was particularly expressed in Stolac where some of the Catholic priests opposed to the reconstruction of mosque in that town where all the Muslim religious objects had been destroyed. Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric accused Mostar Bishop Ratko Peric of arguing in favor of genocide following the attempts to prevent reconstruction of mosques in Stolac.

The religious exclusivism was the motive of numerous attacks against the members of other religion, priests, cemeteries and religious objects. The religious radicalism was especially expressed at the time of religious holidays and increased political tensions. We already mentioned the most serious assaults against Muslims (Banjaluka, Trebinje). In the parish house in Turici near Gradacac, two armed and disguised persons assaulted and inflicted light injuries to the parish priest Vladimir Boric and his guest, returnee, Anto Matic. Democratic Sarajevo is irritated because of two attacks on the Catholic Cathedral, within a short period of time. Three Muslims were insulting and spitting a group of students of Catholic Theology, and one “wrapped woman” (Muslim) assaulted one sister and tried to tear off her cross. In Kiseljak, a soldier of Croatian Council of Defense was swearing at and threatening one Bosniak Muslim woman.

The representatives of all the three big religious communities in BiH (Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics) were directly involved in political events in the country, supporting primarily three biggest national parties (SDA, SDS and HDZ). As such, they are more directed towards the national projects and ethnic division of BiH than to democratic powers and civil society of secular character. Under such circumstances, the Inter-religious Council (it consists of the above mentioned religious communities and Jewish one) acts formally and principally but not really on reestablishment of inter-religious confidence. The temples have become the places of continuous political activities not the places for satisfaction of religious needs of the believers.

The Serb Orthodox Church has a religious monopoly in RS, the status of state religion, although the Constitutional Court of BiH disputed its such character. Roman Catholic Church in BiH behaves as spiritual, ideological and political mentor of BiH Croats. While the Bosnian Franciscans are oriented towards preservation of multiethnic and multireligious character of BiH, Herzegovinian Franciscans are completely in a service of great-Croatian project. The Mostar Bishop, Ratko Peric, is on that line by using extremistic language and expressing utter religious and national exclusivity. The mosques became places where groups of activists of the Party of Democratic Action gather, as well as the places for spreading of imported Islamic radicalism. All in all, we are still in times of utter misuse of religion with the utterly negative impact on attempts directed at the normalization of the situation in BiH.

MEDIA

The return of the Serb Democratic Party into the Government of the Republika Srpska and unconstitutional rebellion of the Croatian Democratic Union had a negative impact on the state of media system. The Radio TV House of Republika Srpska is falling back upon the promotion of all-Serbs-in-one-country concept, indirectly, and sometimes even directly, suggesting that the way Bosnia and Herzegovina is constituted now is untenable. When and if RTVRS is reporting about the cases of Serb extremism, only minimum information are given, dished up with the reactions of the nationalistic parties, in order to give less weight to the character and effects of violent incidents. RTV Sveti Georgije (St. George) from Banja Luka was directly involved in advocating violence against the participants of the failed ceremony of laying the foundation stone for a mosque in Banja Luka, and because of that its work license was suspended for 90 days. The influence of SDS is visible in Glas Srpski. The only media outlet in the RS that is increasingly better and more professionally performing in the sense of being pro-Bosnia and Herzegovina oriented is Zeljko Kopanja’s Nezavisne Novine.

HDZ has put at its service all the electronic and written media in the territories it controls. Apart from justifying the unconstitutional behavior of HDZ and the establishment of “Croatian self-rule”, these media insist that the present way of organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina is untenable, advocating in favor of establishment of a third entity for BiH Croats and all-Croatian unity, and instigating intolerance against other peoples and the International Peace Mission. Thus, Ivana Bacak, the anchorwoman of Radio Tomislavgrad, when hosting Andja Bagaric, the director of the branch office of “Hercegovacka Banka” in a talk show, stressed several times that the citizens of Tomislavgrad should attack the members of SFOR in the course of their action in this bank. The director Bagaric joined this call as well. Radio Tomislavgrad, together with Radio Best from Grude and Radio Zepce were fined, while the license of the Croatian RTV from Mostar was suspended for 90 days – all this because of incendiary broadcasts. It is curious that Radio Herceg – Bosna continues to operate unhampered, the editorial policy of which is based on the linkage between the areas with Croatian majority in BiH with the Croatian state, ignoring the belonging of these areas to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The editorial boards and journalists are still subject to pressures, threats and physical attacks. Since the establishment of the on-line help for journalists (FREE MEDIA), there were registered 245 complaints, while from 1 January to mid November of this year, there were 96 journalists complaining, of which 56 in the Federation of BiH, 33 in Republika Srpska and 2 in the District of Brcko.

With the beginning of anti-constitutional rebellion of HDZ and establishment of the “Croatian self-rule”, there is recorded an alarming increase in the number of journalists’ complaints because of pressures of HDZ extremists against them. Apart from this, there were recorded other cases of attacks of Croatian extremists against the journalists.  The monitor from Tomislavgrad reported that the lady journalist Ljuba Djikic was exposed to threats of being lynched, after her son Ivica Djikic, himself also a journalist, had written in Feral Tribune of his opinion about the situation and the people in the area. Mika Damjanovic, journalist of Dnevni Avaz and reporter-cameraman of the Federation TV, was attacked in Orasje by an HDZ activist, Marko Benkovic, who accused Damjanovic of being a “Croatian traitor”.  Former president of HDZ in Usora, Ivica Ante Artmagic, has beaten up the journalist of a local radio station and correspondent of the “Croatian Radio Herzeg-Bosnia” and “Slobodna dalmacija” from Split, Boro Jelic, because he did not like the information of Radio Usora about him. Particularly indicative was the attack against the journalist Mile Jukic, a Croat, a correspondent of the BiH service “Voice of America”, which also produces a TV program. He was brutally prevented from videotaping Ejup Ganic (former President of the Federation of BiH) entering the King Fahd Mosque in Sarajevo to take a prayer. On that occasion, several persons approached Jukic, demanding of him to show a permit to videotape, and after he had shown his journalist’s accreditation, they requested of him to give them the video cassette, which he did, after someone from the crowd that started gathering had tried to snatch away the camera from him.  He was insulted on grounds of his ethnic and religious affiliation, while the director of the King Fahd Mosque Complex told him that the mosque and the area surrounding it were the territory of Saudi Arabia (?!), which had financed the project. When the policeman who was escorting Jukic and trying to protect him together with his colleague, said that it was not forbidden to videotape the premises, the director of the Mosque Complex (certain Mr. Mubarak) made him show his identity documents. Wife of the columnist Ivan Lovrenovic received a phone call with threat of “slaughter and rape” for the whole family of Lovrenovic. Lovrenovic is a very sharp critic of the Croatian cleric-nationalists and targeted because of that. According to our monitor, the Croatian nationalists issued written threats to the President of the Council of Radio-Television of the Federation of BiH and a columnist of Oslobodjenje, Slavko Kukic. The correspondent of the Tuzla-based Radio Deutsche Welle, Marinko Sekulic, was a target of the members of the Association of “Mothers of Enclaves of Zepa and Srebrenica, Munira Subasic and Hatidza Mehmedovic who issued threats to Sekulic after his critical writing on improper behavior of members of that association in the hotel in Srebrenica.

The deputy of the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action of the municipal council of Novo Sarajevo, Ibrahim Dervisevic and his brother issued threats of liquidation to the journalist of Oslobodjenje, Almir Terzic, because of building of additional floor on the building in which Terzic lives. A waiter Ferid Dervisevic physically assaulted a journalist of Oslobodjenje Elvir Basic in Zenica, because he was trying to investigate under which conditions Dervisevic had rented the coffee shop. The OSCE Mission to BiH asked from the then member of the Presidency Halid Genjac to take steps to moderate the behavior of his advisor, Ademir Jerkovic, who had on several occasions verbally pressurized the journalist of the BH Press journalist Emir Felic, unreasonably demanding from Felic to promote Jerkovic in protocol news. A driver and bodyguard of the Mayor of Mostar, Neven Tomic, attacked and issued threats to the team of the RTV Mostar that asked for statement to be given by Tomic.

In RS, there was another attempted murder of journalist. A bomb exploded in front the house door of the journalist of Kozarski vijesnik, in Prijedor, luckily incurring only material damage. The IPTF is of the opinion that this attempted murder against Sovilj was related to Sovilj’s articles in regard to trafficking in women and organized prostitution. Kozarski vijesnik found itself under perfidious attack executed by the publishing a false obituary due to which the entire daily circulation had to be withdrawn from sale.  A Belgium TV crew was assaulted near Pale and an unknown assailant took away by force their camera, along with the tape with pictures of the war criminal, Radovan Karadzic. The monitor of the Helsinki Committee informed of a case in which a journalist of TV Trebinje, Biljana Bokic, was exposed to serious intimidation and threats after having made two stories about one socially endangered and handicapped citizen. One person was arrested after physical assaults on a journalist of Radio TV of Republika Srpska, Marina M. and her colleague cameraman Brano S. There is an increased pressure by the governmental authorities over the media in Republika Srpska, which can be seen, among else, in the removal of the multi-ethnic steering board of the news agency SRNA as well as the director of the news agency SRNA, Dragan Davidovic. In Prijedor, a car of a  Bosniak Rezak Hukovic was destroyed with an explosive device. He is the owner and journalist of “Independent Television 101” in Sanski Most.

A real media war is raging in Mostar between the media from the east (Bosniak) and west (Croatian) side. According to the report of our monitor, each of the sides claims that whatever the other side does is bad. The division of media is characteristic for Una-Sana Canton as well. According to the monitor of the Helsinki committee, the media controlled by the Party of Democratic Action are “waging a war” against the media controlled by the Democratic National Union.

Due to social and economic conditions, the public media are in extremely difficult situation, especially those that are trying to cherish free, critical, analytical and research journalism. The crisis in Oslobodjenje continues. After going on strike, its employees have succeeded in having their director and editor-in-chief removed from duty and establishing a new Supervisory Board. Criminal charges are filed against the former editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief for suspect of abuse of official position. However, it is obvious that this media outlet, which was the champion of independent journalism in BiH, needs radical restructuring in terms of business management, editorial policy and overall concept, organization and key human resources. “Kmecke druzbe”, major shareholders, have taken over this media house. Dnevni Avaz continues with its expansion and editorial emancipation, although it is now becoming obvious that instead of the former links with SDA, it has formed special links with SDP. The situation in Jutarnje Novine in terms of its status is unclear, since the paper was created under doubtful circumstances, after the extinction of Vecernje Novine, which had unsettled debts toward the prize-winning readers, while the new owner is trying to avoid paying these debts. There obviously were some failures in the procedure of privatization of Vecernje Novine. The employees of Radio Brcko District also went on strike, very soon after the start-up of this multiethnic media outlet. The motive was the cut in salaries, while the reason behind was that they called the director to responsibility because of the non-existence of a development program. Indeed, the District authorities have secured the resources for this radio only to the amount of two salaries for employees. The journalists and other media workers of RTV Gorazde went also on strike. The Helsinki Committee gave them support because they were exposed to the pressures exerted by the authorities.

Our monitor from the RS warns that there are still no practical effects from the adopted Law on the Access to Information. The state bodies and public institutions have still not created a mechanism for supplying of the requested information. On the other hand, it seems that the editorial boards and journalists are still not aware of their right to access the information and the opportunities this right opens.

The monitors of the Helsinki Committee are reporting of the difficult situation that the local media are in. The independent media are being stifled in various ways, while those that had been founded by the municipalities and Cantons are in a completely subservient role. The monitors warn of a very low professional level in local media (and not only in local media), and of the disrespect for the rule according to which they should not disclose the first and last names of the minors in delicate situations and juveniles under police investigation, and according to which they should not declare people guilty before the court verdict has been brought.

There was no progress either in the self-organization of journalists and other media people. There exist six journalists’ associations (a new association is called “Apel” and it gathers the journalists from the wider region of Mostar and Sarajevo), which are not active enough in regard to the overall state of media. The trade unions are either not up to the situation or are manipulated by the employers. The Helsinki Committee will support any action aimed at coordinating the activities of the journalists’ associations in BiH in the main directions of their joint interests, if it is not possible to have them united.

The trade unions are either not up to the situation or are manipulated by the employers. The best results are being achieved by the trade unions that are self-organized in concrete environments. 

The good news is that the BiH Press Council started with its work as a self-regulatory organization to review the respect for the principles set forth in the Press Code, which had been adopted late April 1999. The Council comprises 13 members, and British Lord John Vejkam leads it in a two-year mandate. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH deems that it is not good that the Council will deal only with the written appeals only in the cases in which reaction was previously submitted to media in question. The Committee deems that all those who did not issue a denial or any other form of reaction with an editorial office, should be given the possibility to file an appeal to the Press Council, since many citizens whose rights could be threatened, are not ready or do not know how to react by denial. 

The process of issuing long-term licenses to electronic media in BiH continues. At the beginning, due to the bureaucratic behavior and inconsistent application of adopted criteria, Federation Ombudsmen have reacted, among others, and it caused that several complaints of Tuzla region-based media have been taken into consideration. Our monitor informed of a hypocritical change in the editorial policy of electronic media under the control of the national parties (especially HDZ) in the Mostar region at the time of announcement of competition for obtaining long-term broadcasting licenses.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has warned on several occasion the OHR and the public that the process of restructuring of RTV BiH and overall radio-television broadcasting system of BiH is being very slowly and inadequately conducted and that foreign mediators bear the major responsibility for that. In the meantime, BiH radio, radio of the Federation of BiH and Federation TV on two channels started working, and the decision was passed on nomination of management of the Public Broadcasting system at the level of BiH (PBS). The Helsinki Committee estimated the actions of the foreign “experts” in the restructuring of the RTV BiH and radio-television broadcasting system of BiH as negative.

The Helsinki Committee, on this occasion as well, wishes to point at political pressures exerted against media and manipulation with media by the ruling parties, which are direct hit to inter-ethnic normalization and democratization of the BiH society.

AUTHORITIES AND LAW

The relation towards the right to return and repossess property, as well as towards the returnees, serves as an illustrative example of the character and the characteristic of the authorities in BiH, especially when it is the matter of the areas under the domination of the national parties (the SDS, HDZ, SDA). The attitude of the authorities is demonstrated in encumbering the Dayton Agreement, unconstitutional behavior, and the abuse of the office, corruption and incompetence. The situation was not much improved by the fact that the High Representative dismissed more than 60 officials, among which were the member of the BiH Presidency and the leader of the Croat Democratic Union, as well as the former Prime Minister of the BiH Federation and the Vice-president of the Party of Democratic Action, Edhem Bicakcic. The problems with the setting up of new authorities emerged even after the last November elections, some of which continued to last up to now. The Croat Democratic Union has been obstructing the establishment of the governments in Herzegovina- Neretva Canton and Canton 10 (Livno) and the Government in Una- Sana Canton was established more than six months after the elections.

The Serb Democratic Party and the Croat Democratic Union are persisting on the relativistic concept of the BiH statehood and the obstruction to the constitutional order. The SDS, as well as the majority of political parties in RS, has been endeavoring to preserve thorough demographic dominance of the Serbs in that Entity and to maintain the situation in which RS has been considered as the extorted provisional solution, while the desire remains to join Serbia. Ivanic reaffirmed a great number of the persons from the SDS, known because of negative effect during the war, and as the followers of the policy of Radovan Karadzic. They were assigned to significant offices in politics and economy and have very negative influence on the atmosphere in the Entity taken as a whole. The politicians in RS have tried to use the anti-terrorist campaign to lay the responsibility for the war and post-war situation on the Muslim factor and mudjahedins, foreigners, whom there were only few hundreds before their citizenships were revoked and before they were expelled. Thus the Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic stated “the real problem is the existence of mudjahedins and a large number of risk persons in the territory of the Federation of BiH”. Ivanic, when speaking of demands for change of the Dayton Agreement, threatened with referendum and secession. We should add here that any referendum of only one ethnic group is not legitimate in multi-ethnic BiH.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee warns that the authorities of RS are trying to fully control public, to reduce transparency in the work and to create the atmosphere in which some one else is to be blamed for the situation, including the suggestion on the responsibility of the international mediators in BiH. The only two genuinely democratic institutions in RS, which audaciously challenge the logic of chauvinists - nationalists and the corruption, are the Helsinki Human Rights Committee in RS led by Branko Todorovic and Zeljko Kopanja’s “Nezavisne novine”.  However, when speaking of Nezavisne novine’s interpretation of delicate topics that include inter-ethnic aspects, there appear not argumented articles, as was the case on the occasion of the charges from RS against Alija Izetbegovic and anti-terrorist campaign.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee warns of the situation in the authorities of the municipalities of Bosanski Samac, Modrica and Vukosavlje in RS where the role of the Bosniaks in governmental authorities is marginal, thus showing them that they are not most welcome. Such kind of a position in the authorities they have thanks to the OHR and OSCE. Bosniaks in the authorities are left to deal with the issue of Bosniaks. Namely, the Mayor, Serb, receives exclusively the parties of Serb ethnic origin, and Bosniak of Bosniak ethnic origin.

The HDZ conducts the policy of the establishment of the third (Croat) Entity, which would one day join Croatia. The SDS is set to hindering the adoption of the laws, which would strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statehood and the central authorities, and after the decision on “the Croat self-rule” the HDZ walked out of the state and the Federation Parliament. The HDZ with impunity conduct its anti-constitutional and anti- Bosnia and Herzegovina’s policy undertaking to sustain its parallel system of authorities based on political and economic monopoly of that party. The BiH Croats are the biggest victims of such policy, those same Croats who, among other things, were under the pressure followed by threat and blackmails to express their solidarity with “the Croat self-rule” in writing and to break off their loyalty to legitimate authorities, especially when it is the matter of police officers and soldiers – as our monitors from the territory of Western Herzegovina and Southeastern Bosnia are reporting. The authorities have not still shown their readiness and power to defend the constitutional order through an independent action of the competent bodies, primarily, judiciary. In this context, it is of great importance the outcome of the proceedings against former member of the Presidency of BiH and the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, Ante Jelavic and his six party associates.

In such a situation the Democratic Alliance for Changes, despite the support of the international bodies, was divested of the efficient performance of its power at the state level and the level of the BiH Federation, and it is particularly powerless on the territory where the power lies in the hands of the SDS, HDZ and SDA. Its ideologically and politically heterogeneous composition, careerism and struggle for power among individuals, as well as the incompetence of not a few of its members, disconcert the Alliance. The Alliance practically disintegrated in Una-Sana Canton (the establishment of local authorities there was awaited for more than a half of a year) where the partnership between the Party of Democratic Action and the Party for BiH, which is key partner of the Social-democratic Party in the Alliance, was rehabilitated. Majority support to the Alliance in the BiH Parliament depends on the uncertain support of the Party of Democratic Progress of the RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic whose position, on the other hand, is conditional on the SDS.

The territory under the domination of the SDS, HDZ and SDA is characterized by the abuse of authorities used for the purpose of acquisition of material benefit for a narrow circle of people, along to ubiquitous corruption. Speaking of the SDA, specifically significant is the case of the Vice-president of this Party and the former Prime Minister of the BiH Federation, Edhem Bicakcic, who was accused of abusing the office and performing several illegal transactions and opening secret bank accounts in banks abroad. A series of monetary machinations were disclosed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that was primarily related to the persons appointed by the SDA. It is generally known that illegal transactions could not happen without the knowledge of the SDA President Alija Izetbegovic who considered them useful.

Although it is possible to presume that there is a tinge of vengeance towards the previous government in RS, it is yet necessary to point at the case of allegation for serious misuse wherefore the criminal charges were pressed against Mirko Nozica, former Director of the Commodity Reserves of Republika Srpska, and Nikola Kragulj, who due to that submitted his resignation to the office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade in the BiH Council of Ministers. The suspects damaged the RS budget for the amounts up to several millions.

Our monitor has reported that municipal authorities in Nevesinje, which is composed of four parties with national orientation but which act as a single party since all the persons in them grew from the foundation of the Serb Democratic Party. The municipality is ruled by nepotism, all municipal officials are relatives by blood or by family relations or in-laws. As our monitor informed in Vukosavlje municipality physical entities of Serb nationality perform illegal exploitation of gravel at a very arable land that is owned by Bosniaks.

The OHR and SFOR conducted a raid into “Hercegovacka banka” which is suspected to be the main funding focal point of the HDZ and “the Croat self-rule”. The organized resistance to that action, during which some peacekeeping officers were injured, speaks of the fact that especially significant institution for the HDZ was tackled. The International Administrator was appointed for the Bank. The classic form of misappropriation of power in the area under the HDZ control represents an introduction of the levy of 3 percent on wages under the expression of the assistance to the arrested Croats in the Hague. Nevertheless, these funds are primarily intended for funding of “the Croat self-rule”, that is of the HDZ.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee has reported on the actions in Livno, the seat of Canton 10, against new authorities in Drvar where a Serb, Rajko Damjanovic, was appointed the Mayor of the Municipality, while the HDZ has dominant role in the Canton. Specifically, the Cantonal Government and the Prime Minister have not been yet appointed, and the HDZ makes obstructions to the work of municipal authorities in Drvar by, among other ways, the decree on disconnecting telephones. Therefore legitimate authorities, in which Serbs have two-thirds majority, are operating in parallel with illegitimate HDZ authorities. Drvar has no benefit of the forest resources, which are utilized to the purpose of enriching a small clique of the persons from the HDZ. The monitor warns that the property in Drvar, especially the property of refugees and displaced persons, is completely unprotected.

As our monitor has informed that nepotism and corruption plays dominant role in Tomislavgrad. Especially concerning is corruption in the local Health Center. While many persons do not have employment, the others availed themselves of two or even more salaries. For example, Mate Kelava is at the same time the Cantonal Minister and the Assistant Education Minister, and he kept his teaching post in the grammar school. The Headmistress of the primary school Nevenka Kristo, in parallel, kept her position of the teacher in the grammar school. There are cases of unfounded utilization of privileges for the killed members of armed forces. Illegal building, which represents a good source of income, plays important part in this city. Monopoly on selling computers to schools in Tomislavgrad, without any tender, belongs to Martin Kovac, a favorite person of the local HDZ. 

The police and judicial authorities in Republika Srpska (the SDS has dominant role) and on the territory under the HDZ and the SDA power are under the political control of those political parties. Although the Democratic Alliance for Changes have come in power, a plenty of the persons appointed by the SDA and the HDZ continued to work in the Federation and Cantonal police forces. Such a case is also in Sarajevo Canton where responsible police officers are exposed to threats, even death threats directed to them and their families, by those who amassed their wealth over night in an illegal manner.

New eruptions of violence in Republika Srpska and Western Herzegovina showed the downfall of the up to now exercised transformation of the police force for the purpose of its de-politicization and professionalization. Apart from political obedience, discriminatory actions in line with discrimination on the ground of ethnicity and failure to act in protection of minority groups, abuses of the office and other forms of illicit behavior were also registered in the police force at the territory of the entire BiH. The police officers were also involved in murder cases or were even murderers. Police officer Ljubisa Lepir killed 21-years old Ljubomir Ivanovic at the time while he was not on duty. The policeman of the Special unit of the Ministry of Interior of the Tuzla canton, Samir Mehic, is sentenced by first instance judgment to eight years in prison for attempt of murder. Criminal charges were pressed against police officer Emir Kadric from Sarajevo for hiding a murder suspect in his apartment and hiding his firearm in the family house.

Without the role of corrupted police officers trafficking of people, trafficking of women, developing network of organized prostitution and distribution of narcotics would not be possible. It is shame that even UN (IPTF) police officers have taken part in these activities. To date 22 of them were returned to their homes, and the latest information speaks of their involvement in prostitution and women trafficking. A huge number of local police officers live in somebody else’s apartments and houses. Twenty police officers in Brcko District were processed for the sake of forging their diplomas.

Police officers in RS behave highly discriminatory towards returnees, not offering them even elementary protection and not launching law proceedings against the perpetrators of acts of violence against ethnic minorities. The IPTF dismissed the Head of Police and the head of the Crime Department in Bratunac, Stanko Petrovic and Sreten Viksic, since they did not conduct any investigation in regard to attacks on Bosniak returnees. The RS Minister of Interior Perica Bundalo submitted his resignation, which was adopted, following the violent protests in Banjaluka and Trebinje.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee in Bijeljina has informed on the report of the IPTF in regard to the case of the State Intelligence Head in that city, Petko Budisa, who robbed and raped a girl who reported him to the local police.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs of the BiH Federation pressed criminal charges against the Minister of Interior Affairs of Herzegovina - Neretva Canton, Dragan Mandic, and the acting Minister of Interior Affairs of West Herzegovina Canton, Vinko Culjak, due to their failure to act properly after the eruption of disorder during the SAOR incursion in “Hercegovacka banka”. 20 members of the SFOR, three police officers and two civilians were injured in Mostar. The attack on members of peacekeeping forces was also conducted in Grude, Siroki Brijeg, Medjugorje and Tomislavgrad.

Our monitor has informed of feeling of fear and uncertainty, which became predominant in Gradacac due to armed robberies and threats, attempt to kidnap a child, breaking into apartments and car hijacking. It is symptomatic that the police patrols, as a rule, were located in the opposite part of the city from the one where criminal activities were in progress. A police officer beat a citizen in Nevesinje and continued to work. A monitor of the Helsinki Committee has reported that the police continued to surpass its competencies. Among other things, three police officers in Cazin took Hasim Beckanovic out of the car and beat him, took him to the police station and again beat him there. Police officer Hasan Civic took part in this beating. Beckanovic is a person prone to violation of the law and stealing, but it is obvious here that the competencies were overstepped. In February a professional member of the BiH Army, with the participation of his relatives Nurija and Nevzeta Music and Enver Salkic, attacked Sadzida Pivic and her juvenile children. Sadzida was seriously injured, and the children were beaten by fists, wooden stick and a shovel and also threatened that their eyes would be plucked out, after which they would be killed. The cause of this act of violence was the alleged “autonomous orientation” of that family (the followers of Fikret Abdic, who during the war established the illegal para-state organization “Autonomous Province of West Bosnia” are referred to as “autonomists”). Sadzida’s husband is a disabled war veteran of the legal BiH Army with 70 per cent disability, has no income, and on the said day he was not at home. There is suspicion that the SDA extremists had support of the local police force for similar actions, since the perpetrators remain unrevealed.

The positive example of the policing and co-operation represents the territory of Sarajevo and Srpsko Sarajevo. It is specifically expressed during the take over of police competencies after the arbitration award in relation to the inter-entity boundary line in Sarajevo settlement Dobrinja. Thanks to the professional and wise conduct of the Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Predrag Kurtes, a potential tragedy caused by serious provocation of Serb extremists was precluded.

The President and one Vice-president of the BiH Constitutional Court follow the policy of the nationalistic SDS and HDZ, and consequently they voted against the decision of this body in regard to the amendments in the Entities’ Constitutions in order to ensure constitutional status of all three biggest peoples (Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats) on the territory of the whole state and by that the equality of all BiH citizens and the constitutional and legal elimination of discrimination. Professional dignity of the Constitutional Court was defended primarily thanks to the involvement of its three international members (French, an Austrian and a Swede) along to the professional performance of the former President of the Court, Bosniak Kasim Begic. In the meantime the situation in the BiH Supreme Court has been improved whereto expert and professionally independent candidates were appointed.

Our monitor has especially pointed at the situation in the judicial authorities in Una-Sana Canton. All those who disagree with the policy of the Party of Democratic Action are not able to exercise their rights before courts. Therefore, a group of ten-odd teaching staff from Cazin and Velika Kladusa, which was illegally dismissed from work, has not been able to exercise their rights for 2 or 3 years already. There was a drastic example of Mr. and Mrs. Porcic (Alija and Ferida) where the Cantonal Court three times returned the case, ruled in their favor by the Municipal Court, for to re-trial. There is a pending criminal case against the former President of the Court in Bihac, on charges of corruption. Recently, the public received with relief the criminal actions that were taken against several high officials and directors of medical institutions (the cadre of SDA) in Una-Sana Canton, charged of abuse of position in relation to procurement of medical equipment. The political tensions also heightened in Una-Sana Canton when the trial to Fikret Abdic started in Karlovac court (Republic of Croatia). As we are informed by our monitor, Zlatan Sakanovic was physically assaulted because his brother Zuhdija had reversed his previous statement against Abdic, to give testimonies in favor of Abdic later on. A committee for charges against Abdic was formed, headed by the Union of Former Camp Detainees in BiH, in the headquarters of which the witnesses are being instructed what to say in court.  The potential witnesses are being terrorized by the former members and collaborators of the secret service AID, controlled by the Party of Democratic Action (SDA).

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee informs of physical assault against Milivoje Gagro by some anonymous young person. Gagro is a politician from opposition who is known for criticisms of the present authorities in Mostar, president of an NGO named “Cupido” and the president of the newly formed managing board of the enterprise “Aluminij”, which was earlier criticized by democratic public because of their discrimination against the pre-war employees of Bosniak and Serb origin who had been prevented from coming back to their work posts.

The courts in Herzegovina – Neretva Canton are overloaded with unsolved cases. Nonetheless the judges in them are persons appointed by the SDA and the HDZ. Our monitor has warned that the parallel system of the SDA and the HDZ authorities continued to reflect in the fact that the judges and the police officers Bosniaks and Croats receive their salaries from different funds.

The biggest progress in the work of courts was made in Sarajevo Canton since Amir Jaganjac was appointed to the leading office there. The courts in this Canton entered into the battle with the most difficult cases – the one ranging from the organized crime to the corruption. However, the court battle in that regard has just begun, even in Sarajevo. And not only in Sarajevo, but also in general, specific problem represents (non-) functioning of the Prosecutor’s Offices, which impede the processing of cases under the political pressure exerted by national parties.

The monitor of the Helsinki Committee from Gorazde has pointed at the problem of non-existence of rendering legal aid to the citizens who have no possibilities to pay for a lawyer. The citizens, specifically, are not satisfied with the assistance rendered by the legal aid centers of the international organization IRC. The Office of the Assistant Ombudsman in Gorazde, which actually does not have any obligation of that kind, offered its help in this situation.

The monitors of the Helsinki Human Rights Committee have warned about incorrect behavior, even misuses, of representatives of the international peacekeeping mission in the field. Thus, a story about certain Mister Igor from the OSCE Mission is that he received bribe to resolve housing issue. There are warnings about the behavior of the OSCE monitor in Modrica, Stoja Dabic, who is contributing to the delay in returning of Bosniaks to that municipality, and she uses the qualification in the sense “we Serbs” and you Bosniaks”, which is incompatible with her office. After the intervention of the Helsinki Committee, Stoja Dabic was removed to another post.

CONCLUSION

It is about time, six years after the Peace Accords, finally to revisit and reexamine the structure and the way of operation of the International Peace Mission to BiH, and without much deliberation critically to reconsider those Dayton arrangements which restrain the processes of normalization and democratization of the state of BiH and which interfere with its efficient functioning for the benefit of all the citizens. The Peace Mission is not organized in such a way as to be able to perform co-coordinated, consistent and efficient actions - it suffers from conflicts of interests, personal rivalry, and sluggishness, with individual and group interests obfuscating its primary goals and tasks.

Not in a single one of the key segments of the Dayton Accords was there any stable progress made – the return of people and reclamation of property, physical and legal security of the minorities, safety of citizens and of their property, democratic and functional performance of authorities, reforms in economy, judiciary, law enforcement, education, media, etc. In Republika Srpska and in the territories dominated by the Croatian Democratic Union, the policies and practices of segregation are still taking their toll, while in the areas where the Party of Democratic Action reigns citizens are discriminated against on political and ideological grounds. If we add to this an extremely difficult economic and social situation and the sustained climate of lack of any prospects – it is obvious that the environment is in no way favorable for promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms.

The Democratic Alliance for Changes seems for the moment to be a promising option. There is a visible tendency in the work of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers of BiH, particularly in the government of the Federation of BiH to perform in responsible and efficient way. However, the lack of coordination between the components of the Alliance, conflict of party and personal interests and dissension among the parties substantially undermine its potentials and discourage all the democratically oriented citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The public is particularly irritated by the fact that individual politicians use their positions and media visibility for their own careerist purposes, as well as by the arrogance of some of the cadre of the Alliance toward the citizens and their daily needs.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH fully supports the concept of partnership between the international factors and domestic authorities if this means a full respect for institutionally made decisions. At the same time, the Committee stresses that the partnership can be only effective if it involves the third party to the dialogue, i.e. the NGOs as the champions of the civil society and essential components of the democratic public opinion.

It is devastating to see that a year after the binding decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the entity authorities have still not harmonized their Constitutions with the Constitution of BiH in regard to the constitutive nature and equality of all three peoples and all the citizens. This should be the main factor in preventing the discrimination against the citizens and minority groups on any grounds. Both the Peace Mission and the incumbent authorities are inadmissibly lax in their attitude toward this primary obligation that is of utmost importance for the creation of constitutional and legal framework that would establish the basis for legal protection of citizens and their rights. Such an attitude shows that the human rights are at the end of the list of priorities for international and domestic authorities, in spite of the fact that the media and the social community are becoming increasingly attentive to this issue.

The analysis was made with financial support of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights at the European Union

No.: 13A- 12/2001

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