REPORT ON THE STATUS OF HUMAN
RIGHTS
IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
(Analysis for the
period January – December 2005)
Introduction
The onset of negotiations on stabilization and association with
the European Union certainly represents the most important
political event that marked the year 2005. Negotiations that
should represent the onset of the process of major and
substantial changes officially started late November, and it
should mean both meeting requirements for the accession to the
European Union and improvements in the status of citizens of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in living standards, improvements in
democratic freedoms and betterment in the status of human
rights. The Copenhagen Criteria, which define criteria of the
European Union for candidate countries, place the respect of
human rights as one of important criteria which creates
presumptions to promote the status of human rights in the
country through the negotiation process both with regard to the
legislation and application of high standards, which are thrust
upon by the membership candidacy, in practice.
The marking of the tenth anniversary of the Dayton Peace
Agreement, which established peace in BiH, continued during the
entire year. It was a chance to open a discussion on the
successes of that Agreement but also to scrutinize functioning
of the state established under the Dayton Agreement as well as
the reflection of such Constitution on human rights. Dominant
position during the discussion was that Bosnia and Herzegovina
is established as an expensive, non-functional and inefficient
state, which should be reformed as to strengthen central
authorities, regions and local self-rule. At the same time it
was stated that the Dayton Constitution neglected a citizen –
individual to the benefit of three constituent peopled by which
citizens of BiH are reduced to being members of the Serb,
Bosniak and Croat ethnic group. Therefore the Dayton
Constitution must go through changes that would mean affirmation
of citizens, their equality irrespective of in which part of the
country they live and irrespective which nation or national
minority they belong to. However agreement among ruling parties
was not reached during 2005 thus no constitutional changes took
place. One should mention here that, apart from representatives
of civil society in BiH, both European Union, US administration,
Venice Commission as well as a number of international
institutes (think-thank) are committed to constitutional
changes.
Inter-national relations are still loaded by attempts of ruling
nationalist parties to preserve ethnic homogenization including
preservation of territorial division on ethnic principles. There
is still fear from the others and nothing is being done to boost
tolerance and the respect to differences and the rights of
members of other ethnic groups and national minorities. Leading
persons in three dominant religious communities plays huge role
in that. Constitutional solutions contribute to this situation
since they are based exclusively on the ethnic principle that
feeds nationalism. In the domain of human rights, this situation
primarily leads to widespread discrimination on ethnic basis,
which has negative reflection on the return of refugees and
displaced persons. Discrimination on ethnic basis practically
deters employment, adequate education, appropriate health and
social care as well as the right to retirement.
The fact that the most responsible doers of war crimes, Karadžić
and Mladić, remain unavailable to justice further encumbers the
status of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is still behind in the implementation of
reforms which should establish rule of law and equality of all
citizens before law. Tardiness in the establishment of rule of
law breeds numerous infringements of human rights, feeling of
uncertainty among citizens and mistrust towards authorities.
Returnees and
displaced persons
At the end of November 2005, the Ministry for Human Rights and
Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), operated with
statistical data of the UNHCR, and stated that 50 percent of
refugees and displaced persons returned to their homes since
signing the Dayton Peace Accord, emphasizing that a real figure
can be determined only after census.
The same source was reported as saying that 186,000 people
registered to obtain a status of displaced persons within the
process of re-registration conducted in 2005, and that,
according to their estimate, there are million Bosnians and
Herzegovinians in 137 countries of the world of whom the major
part resolved the issue of their status through permanent
residence permits, through obtained citizenship, etc.
Let’s remind ourselves that all previous assessments showed that
about 2.2 million people, which is somewhat higher than half a
pre-war BiH population, have changed their addresses of
residence during the war. It means that, in accordance with the
assertions of the Ministry, i.e. data of the UNHCR, ten years
after the Dayton, more than 1 million people returned to their
homes.
The UNHCR, at the moment of making this report, had data
collected as of 30 September 2005, stated that altogether 5,599
persons, of which 1,099 from abroad, returned to their homes.
Other returnees were in the category of internally displaced
persons and refugees.
On the basis of the reports of its monitors, and on the basis of
the results of the “fact-finding missions on the status of human
rights” conducted in municipalities throughout BiH, on the basis
of the data obtained from the Unions and Associations of
Refugees and Displaced Persons, on the basis of the data
obtained from the local communities, i.e. from the
representatives of the governmental and non-governmental
sectors, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina cannot confirm the above-mentioned allegations. All
collected data speak in favor of the assessment of the Union of
Associations of Refugees and Displaced Persons in BiH, the
President of which, Mirhunisa Zukic, claims that only one third
of the total number of displaced persons and refugees returned
to their homes. While assessing the process of return, the
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, has dealt with the
results of real return, respecting the right of each individual
to select the place of residence.
It is absolutely impossible to establish the number of
returnees. The mission of the Helsinki Committee, for example,
could not obtain the total number of the population in Višegrad.
The President of the Municipal Council says that there are in
between 7,500 and 8,000 people, while the Mayor gave assessment
that there are in between 15,000 and 18,000 people living in
Višegrad today.
Having investigated how it was possible to come to the
unrealistic figure of million and even more returnees, we found
out that in the methodology used for monitoring the process of
return, very often a simple summing up of those whose property
had been returned and members of their family was done. It is
easily to ascertain in the field that most frequently one or two
elderly members returned to the repossessed apartment or house,
staying there for a limited period of time – until they sell or
exchange the property. In a large number of cases, the owners
use their reconstructed houses as week-end houses, and there are
also many who have certificate of registration at the pre-war
addresses, and live and work in another Bosnian-and-Herzegovinian
municipality, or abroad. For example, the UNHCR does not have
data on how many of the above-mentioned 1,099 returnees from
abroad live at their addresses. In addition, there is no any
institution which keeps record on how many people from Bosnia
and Herzegovina left their homes for the second time during
2005. Every day long queues in front of foreign embassies
testify about that as well as newspaper articles on „organized“
transfer of people to France, Germany, or overseas.
The Federation Ombudsmen in their reports state that no one
keeps precise record of the number of exchange or sale of the
real estate. However, they give alarming data according to which
about 2,500 apartments were sold and about 550 contracts on
exchange of the apartments were concluded only in the
municipality of Zenica; In the municipality of Kupres, 288
contracts on the sale of apartments were concluded, i.e. about
90% of the total number of housing fund and about 150 contracts
on the sale of property; in Mostar, the sale of apartments
exceeded the figure of 3,000 housing units, etc.
It can be easily seen that the population of returnees,
particularly minority returnees, is mainly composed of elderly
persons. There is an alarming example from Rogatica where the
first returnee’s child was born in 2005, 10 years after the
Dayton Agreement. Before the war, 13,209 citizens, who had lived
there and declared as Muslims, became refugees.
There is less and less interest for real return, less and less
interest of citizens to find an opportunity to go to the
environments where they will be the majority, or somewhere
outside BiH. It leads us to horrifying fact that ethnical
cleansing is in the final stage in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The
non-governmental organization, the “European Movement” from
Banja Luka established that only two municipalities in BiH, i.e.
Tuzla and Sarajevo Center, have more than ten percent of members
of other peoples. Before the war, only 20 percent of the
municipalities had a structure of population in which one people
was represented by more than 50 percent of the total number of
population. Today, the state is definitely divided on several
one ethnicity territories. It can be illustrated with several
examples:
-
About 220,000 Croats lived before the war in the territory
of the Republika Srpska while today there are less than
15,000 in the same territory. Out of 73,000 Croats in Banja
Luka, there are now about 6,500;
-
Out of 39,000 Serbs from Herzegovina who took refuge during
the war, about 9,000 returned to their homes;
-
In Bijeljina, according to the assessment of the
municipality, there are about 250,000 people of which 10
percent are Bosniaks. Before the war, there were 36.7
percent of Bosniaks in the structure of the population;
-
Out of about 3,000 pre-war Bosniaks in Bileća, there are
only about fifty Bosniaks now;
-
Out of 12,000 pre-war Croats in Kraljeva Sutjeska, there are
only 2,000 Croats today;
-
In the territory of the municipality of Modriča there lived
11,670 Bosniaks. Today, there are about 3,000 Bosniaks.
There were 10,600 Croats, and today only 150;
-
In Trebinje, out of 5.500 refugees, who mainly live in
Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 110 families returned;
-
According to the information of the associations of
returnees, out of 82,000 refugees from the territory of the
Tuzla Canton, about 8.000 returned so far;
-
Until 1992, in the territory of the county Plehan, near
Derventa, 7,500 Croats lived. Today, there are 320 Croats,
and in winter months half as many;
-
About 20,000 Bosniaks returned to Prijedor, out of 50,000
who had been expelled;
-
In the territory of the municipality of Tešanj, there were
about 6,000 Serbs until 1991, while today there is not even
5 percent of that number;
-
In Foča, not even 3,500 Bosniak nationality of the pre-war
population of about 20,790 returned. The same as in other
places, the people almost mainly return (over 95 percent) to
the rural parts.
More than 30,000 people displaced from other parts of BiH even
today live in the Canton of Sarajevo. According to the
assessment there are more than 3,000 those who obtained the
status of displaced person in Sarajevo although they had never
left the city – they can not return to their pre-war homes.
People accommodated in the collective centers are in the most
difficult situation. There are almost 4,500 such people in the
Federation. Such centers are officially closed in the Republika
Srpska, however, people who have no place to go still live in
some of these run-down places.
On the other hand, the reconstructed houses in which no one
lives can be seen in the field. In the local community Jeleč,
municipality of Foča, there are presently 70 mainly elderly
persons living in 36 households. There are not even as many
during the winter months, and figures show that since 2000, when
the first returnees returned, 120 houses were reconstructed, and
that the number of people is less than the number of housing
units. Even the school was reconstructed, but it does not
operate because there is no one to attend it.
It has been officially said that the process of return of
property was completed in 2004. It was assessed as successful.
The governmental bodies competent for the implementation of this
part of the Annex 7 even received the certificates for
successful completion of the job, however, the local authorities
in many environments have continued even during 2005 to obstruct
it in many ways, failing to enforce the passed decisions on the
right to repossession of the property. A large number of
citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still deprived of their
right to enjoy their own property.
The non-implementation of decisions
is not the only form of obstruction of return and discrimination
against the returnees. Local power-wielders, instructed by the
nationalistic power structures, are more frequently in the
function of impeding the returnees to exercise any of their
fundamental rights. One of the most common forms of obstruction
can be illustrated with the example of the Croatian returnees to
the municipality of
Derventa, who have been waiting already for six years for the
low-voltage electric network to be reconstructed and connected
to their homes. There are 150 households waiting for it. In the
area of Ustiprača, 20 percent of returnees’ houses are also in
darkness, the same as in the municipalities of Zvornik, Višegrad,
Sanski Most, Glamoč and elsewhere throughout Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The situation is similar with water supply, roads,
and in particular it is difficult to exercise the rights to
health and social protection, or education. Disharmonized
systems in the field of health care, pension funds, the
existence of different school curricula, difference in the
entity and cantonal legislation, the large number of subordinate
decisions and legislation bring returnees in all the parts of
the country into a discriminatory position.
However, the major obstacle to the
sustainable return can be seen in the impossibility to exercise
the right to work. The largest number of returnees is in the
category of poor people. Everywhere, without exception, there is
discrimination in employments of returnees in the
municipalities, public institutions and public enterprises. The
Constitutional amendment which provides for proportional ethnic
representation in all public governmental bodies, including the
courts, is not respected. Such ethnic representation in the
aforementioned amendment is based on the 1991 census. In
Bosanski Novi, there are about 6,000 Bosniaks today, mainly
returnees, and only three of them work in the administrative
bodies, one in the court and two in the education. In the
municipality of
Bosanska Krupa, where relatively good return of citizens of Serb
ethnicity is recorded, only four non-Bosniaks are employed in
public sector. In the field of education, in the municipality of
Foča, only one Bosniak is employed, working as attendant in one
multi-ethnic school „Sveti Sava“ at Tjentište.
Although the security of the returnees and their property has
improved in 2005, we still record a large number of assaults on
national and religious facilities and monuments, and there were
some cases of physical assaults and the cases of destruction of
property. The police are more efficient in their work, but there
is still unbalanced number of employees from the ranks of
minorities.
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH this time also
expresses its concern because the authorities still fail to
undertake measures in order to resolve many-year focal points
and potential inter-ethnic conflicts in some cases, such as
Kotorsko near Doboj where local authorities passed decisions to
allow construction of houses for displaced Serbs on the
appropriated private property. Already for years, Bosniaks have
been claiming back their private land, and 126 Serb families ask
for places to live in. In Sanski Most too, many-year pending
court disputes relating to appropriation of the land of the
citizens of Serb ethnicity have not yet been resolved. The
authorities claim that „there is no law” under which illegally
placed crosses at the Stolac Old Town and at the monument of
victims of Blajburg at Radmilja can be destroyed, etc.
In addition to the ruling coalition parties, the great part of
responsibility certainly rests with international community for
bad results in return, status of returnees and changed
demographic picture which has, after the Dayton Agreement, based
the implementation of the Annex VII on compromises with domestic
authorities, which they did not truly want. For the passed two
years, the international community has been trying to present
the process of return as being in the final stage or almost
completed. Surely, all those who want to return will not be able
to realize it in the next year, i.e. 2006, designated as the
last year for return in the Strategy for Return. There are not
nearly as many donors, while relying on domestic governmental
bodies did not produce any greater results so far. Generally,
everything finished on the rhetoric, i.e. that the issue of
return is the issue of all issues and that the future and
survival of Bosnia and Herzegovina depends on the results of the
implementation of the Annex VII.
The funds of 13.6 million convertible marks are earmarked for
the purpose of resolving the problems of refugees and displaced
persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006, stated recently Ivica
Marinović, Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH
and President of the State Commission for Refugees and Displaced
Persons. „In order to meet all requirements for the
reconstruction, it is necessary to have about 450 million
euros“, stated Mario Nenadić, Assistant Minister for Human
Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Let’s remind ourselves that the year 2006 is designated under
the Strategy for Return as the year in which the process of
return should be completed.
Aggressive
nationalism
Inter-national relations remain encumbered by attempts of ruling
nationalistic parties, primarily the SDA, HDZ and SDS, to
maintain ethnic homogeneity. By nourishing fears from the
others, insisting on the thesis that other two ethnic groups
endanger status of their own nation, these parties manage to
keep themselves in power.
Even though the BiH Constitutional Court passed the decision on
the equality of the Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks as constituent
peoples across BiH there is still strongly expressed a wish to
establish domination of one ethnic group over the others in
areas where it has demographic and political supremacy.
Conservation of aggressive nationalism is helped by the fact
that criminal laws do not foresee any sanctions against these
deeds. Prosecutor’s offices do not react on these occurrences or
on those of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia, which
encourages extreme nationalism.
Fragile inter-national relations are additionally encumbered by
the occurrences of ethnically motivated violence and even
terrorism. Cases as this are being recorded during the year
2005:
-
Edvin Jaganjac of Sarajevo insulted and physically attacked
Orthodox priest Zoran Kalajdžić and his assistant Milenko
Vujić in Sarajevo-based settlement Dobrinja on March 7. On
that occasion the priest got a temple injury.
-
35 kilograms of explosive were found in Potočari, a site of
the Memorial Centre dedicated to the victims of genocide in
Srebrenica, on the eve of July 11, the day of marking the
tenth anniversary of sufferings of Srebrenica people. The
person who placed the explosive and the motives behind have
remained unknown ever since.
-
In Stolac a group of young Bosniaks 21 threw stones on a bus
transporting supporters of Football Club „Zrinjski“ of West
Mostar on May. One person suffered minor injuries.
-
A bomb exploded under the car belonging to Mate Lončar,
public attorney in West Herzegovina Canton, in night hours
of March 26. No one was injured. That was the second attack
on the Lončar family in this year.
-
An unknown person threw a hand grenade on a house of Ševala
H. IN Sarajevo-based settlement Vrace. The event happened on
January 2. No one was hurt.
-
Chetnics’ orgies and unseen vandalism happened in Bijeljina
on October 12, after a match between junior football
national teams of Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and
Herzegovina. A BiH flag was also set on fire. They were
dressed in shirts with images of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko
Mladić. They shouted paroles: “Nož, žica, Srebrenica /Knife,
string, Srebrenica/“ , “Out with Balije /Interpreter’s
remark: offensive name for Muslims/“ and „ Serb brothers,
Serbia to the Serbs, a Serb for a Serb “.
There are numerous cases of defilation of religious objects and
tombstones and writing of slogans, which incite hate:
-
A number tombstones at Liska cemetery, West Mostar, was
destroyed on April 16 and 17;
-
During 2005, according to the imam Mehmedalija Hodžić, in
Prijedor Municipality in ten occasions were defiled
religious objects of the Islamic religious community as well
as a Muslim cemetery. The Police has not found perpetrators.
-
Unknwon persons broke through recently reconstructed Azizija
Mosque in Bosanski Šamac and cut the carpet creating a cross
thereof. The event happened on October 2.
-
Late July in Kozarac were thrown stones on Orthodox Church
of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul.
-
On the Catholic cemetery Urije near Prijedor on May 3 and 4
was desecrated a family grave of Catholic priest Tomislav
Matanović and his parents. They were killed in Prijedor
during the war and their bodies were found in a well near
Prijedor.
-
Unknown persons placed a foundation for a monument in the
shape of cross to Croat victims in World War Two. The cross
was mounted in immediate vicinity of Radimlja Necropolis,
Stolac Municipality, which is under the state protection.
Competent authorities did not issue a licence to build the
monument.
-
On the road Trebinje - Bileća, on July 10, a day before
marking sufferings in Srebrenica, appeared poster with
photos of Radovan Karadžić indicted for war crimes and the
crime of genocide.
-
In the settlement Beksuja, Zvornik Municipality, appeared
graffiti on a mosque with offensive contents insulting
Muslims.
The said as well as many other similar events help to sustain
inter-national tensions and fear and prevent normalization of
situation in the country. It is concerning that the police very
rarely reveals perpetrators of these crimes. Even if the
perpetrators become known courts either set them free or punish
symbolically which encourages perpetrators.
National
Minorities
The Law on Protection of National Minorities entered into force
in 2003 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This law is based on the
Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities
which was ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH has not yet
ratified the European Charter on Regional and Minority
Languages.
Although the Law on Protection of National Minorities was
adopted more than two years ago, it is not being applied both
because the necessary by-laws were not passed and because of the
lack of political will.
Specifically, the Law enlisted 17 national minorities that live
in BiH, however, there are no reliable data on their number
since the last census was conducted in 1991, and in the meantime
significant demographic changes took place due to the war and
ethnic cleansing.
The Roma population is the largest minority in BiH, and
according to the assessment the number varies from 80,000 to
85,000 presently living in BiH, while the activists of the
Romani associations claim that there are in between 80,000 and
120,000 Roma people.
The position of national minorities is unfavorable, and they are
in the vast number of case the victims of ethnical
discrimination. Certainly, the position of Roma is the most
difficult when speaking of national minorities. Their position
is particularly difficult when it comes to employment,
economical status and housing needs. Only 1.5% of Roma at
working-age has employment as compared with about 50% of them
who had employment before the war. The only Roma, Redžo
Seferović, who had been working in the state service, was fired.
In the area of Zenica – Doboj Canton, in the Federation of BiH,
only six Roma are employed. In Visoko, one Roma is employed,
while two Roma policemen are employed in Sarajevo and Tuzla
Cantons each. In the chemical plant in Tuzla, two engineers of
Roma nationality work. There are municipalities in which there
are no Roma people employed.
The significant number of Roma people has not yet exercised
their right to return to the houses and apartments in which they
had lived before the war. In addition, the living conditions of
Roma are extremely bad and do not meet the minimum standards.
Most frequently they live in humid houses, without sanitary
knots, running water and electricity.
The vast majority of national minorities is not entitled to free
health protection, because that right belongs to employed
persons, members of their families and pensioners.
As for the education, only 15% of Roma children complete
compulsory eight-year education, and it should be noted that the
girls in average interrupt schooling in the fifth grade of
elementary school. There is high illiteracy rate of Roma.
The minority languages are not being used in the communication
with authorities, including courts. There is no example of
minority languages being taught in the schools. There are no
printed media in Roma language, and there are only two radio
stations that broadcast shows in this language from time to
time.
We can point out as positive thing the establishment of the
Council of Roma as a consultative body, but it has not yet
achieved any noticeable results.
According to the information obtained from the Jewish
communities, there are about 1,000 Jews living in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance (ECRI) expresses its concern due to the fact that
anti-Semitic books can be bought in BiH bookshops, including
Mein Kampf and Zionist Protocols being interpreted as a threat
against Jewish community. In the Islamic Youth Journal, SAFF, in
the midst of January, an anti-Semitic text was published,
offensively speaking of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and
six million Jewish victims in the concentration camps during the
Second World War.
The human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina are closely
correlated with national affiliation, and we can not speak of
the rights of national minorities as of the protected rights.
Anti-terrorism
measures
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina established
the proposal of the Law on Changes and Amendments to the Law on
Intelligence and Security Agency of BiH (OSA) at the end of
November. By these amendments, which fit into the measures for
suppression of terrorism, the powers and competences of this
Agency have been enlarged. They foresee that OSA shall be
authorized, “in extreme cases when it is necessary to protect
human lives, property and other security interests of BiH, to
arrest persons, take them in, and to identify their identity.
“The amendments foresee that interrogation of a person brought
in can last as long as it is necessary for collection of
information of importance for the stated case but no longer than
6 hours, after which OSA is obliged to inform the Court of BiH
on the conducted proceedings and hand over the person to the
competent institution. According to the statement given by
Dragan Mektić, Deputy Minister for Security, these amendments
were passed in order to prevent conducts of terrorist acts.
This Proposal is a serious and unacceptable precedent directly
affecting the field of human rights, giving the rights to the
intelligence services which they should not have in accordance
with the recognized international standards.
Under urgent procedure, the House of Peoples of the
Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted the Law on Changes and
Amendments to the Law on BiH Citizenship on 16 November. Under
Article 8, paragraph 5 and 8 of the Adopted Law, the persons
whose citizenship is being taken away are deprived of a
possibility of appeal which is in contravention with the Article
14 of the International Pact on Civic and Political Rights as
well as Article 6 of the European Convention on Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom and provisions of the
Protocol 7 of the European Convention.
According to the statement given by Miodrag Pandurević,
Assistant Minister of Civil Affairs, decisions on granted BiH
citizenship will be subject to revision under the provided
changes and amendments, which will, according to his assessment,
include in between 1,200 and 1,500 naturalized persons.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only European country which has
not yet returned persons extradited to the US authorities,
imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay. The BiH authorities, primarily
the Council of Ministers, have not undertaken necessary steps to
protect the rights of the so-called Algerian Group that had been
extradited in January 2002. The wife of one of the prisoners in
the Guantanamo Bay has gone on hunger strike on 5th December
because of such attitude of the authorities.
Freedom of
expression, media and information
Enactment of the law which regulates the basis of the public
broadcasting system and on the public broadcasting service of
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and non-functioning of the
self-regulation instruments expressed through disrespect of the
Press Code, are the two most significant features of media
sphere during 2005.
The House of Peoples of BiH passed the Law on Public
Radio-Television System of BiH on 5 October. Prior to that, the
Constitutional Court of BiH passed a decision according to which
the Law has not been to the detriment of the vital interests of
Croatian people. The public broadcasting system in BiH, as
regulated by the Law, is composed of Radio-Television of BiH (BHRT)
in the territory of the entire state, Radio-Television of the
Federation of BiH (RTFBiH), Radio-Television of the Republika
Srpska (RTRS) and of the Corporation of the public RTV services
in BiH. The Law defines that the Corporation has organisational
units in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar.
The enactment of the Law means that major conditions from
the Feasibility Study of the European Commission were met, which
was also one of the prerequisites for the decision of the
European Commission to recommend that negotiations on the
process of stabilisation and accession commence. However, the
laws should guarantee that all citizens of BiH shall through the
public broadcasting system easier exercise one of the basic
rights - right to timely, true and accurate information in
future.
The issues that followed the passage and enactment of these two
documents presented the encumbrance of the process of
implementation. The Law on Public RTV Service was passed without
votes of the Croatian representatives of the House of
Representatives and without Croatian delegates of the House of
Peoples. The same scenario happened with the Law on Public RTV
Service of BiH. The Croatian representatives in the
parliamentarian bodies insisted on establishment of three
channels in three national languages. The member of the BiH
Presidency, from the rank of Croatian people, Ivo Miro Jović,
assessed the laws, prior to their adoption, as "racist", and
several other political parties with Croatian denomination
called citizens not to pay RTV fee. During the year,
representatives of other two peoples also invited citizens not
to pay the fee being unsatisfied with the production of
programmes.
„Some quisling media obviously are tasked with obstructing the
implementation of reforms by presenting untruth or distorted
truth.. This is about Federation TV and “Slobodna Bosna”, as it
has been assessed by the leader of the BOSS Party, Mirnes
Ajanović, in April 2005, while the élite politicians with Serb
denomination openly call media in Republika Srpska, first of all
RTRS, to start “behaving like a supporter” like media in the
Federation.
There is still expressed unhidden desire to have power over
media or at least to exert influence on their editorial policy.
In April, Dragan Davidović, Director of the Public RTV Service
stated that RTV of RS was fully independent in making its
editorial policy, and that because of that it was permanently
under pressure of mafia and criminal groups, which, at any cost,
wanted to put them under their control. Pressures are not
exerted only by the parties. So, this year also, reisu – l –
ulema Mustafa Cerić, the leader of the Islamic Religious
Community, did not restrain himself from giving dangerous
assessments of media. He used a religious gathering to say that
the FTV brings “Bosnian Muslims into connection with an alleged
international terrorist network”, and spreads “fear among
Muslims” and instigates “those who have not finished killings to
do it”. Without denying the right to anybody to criticise the
work of media, the Helsinki Committee deems that the vocabulary
and wording used by Cerić on that occasion present dangerous
accusation and does not contribute to the establishment of
tolerance and understanding, and puts journalists into a
position of an open target for all forms of attacks.
The assessment of the Helsinki Committee is that the public
broadcasting system with four legal entities is too complex and
expensive, and it is difficult for such a system to be
efficient. The organisational structure in this case also
adhered to the bad Dayton solutions, giving advantage to the
rights of a collective rather than to an individual – citizen.
Hence, we should not be surprised about the expressed opinion
that the three production centres in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and
Mostar present embryo of future mono-ethnic centres – Serb,
Bosniak and Herzegovinian, although the Law (Article 26)
guarantees all the national, language and other rights.
Politicians, guided by everlasting desire of their party leaders
to have “their media” and “their journalists”, and all this
under the cover of equality or being endangered, succeeded in a
way in realising the idea in regard to division of media area
into three parts. Profession was least taken into consideration
in the process of passing and enacting the laws, and present
situation in BHRT and RTFBiH can be best illustrated by the fact
that at the end of the year the employees were forced to ask for
their rights by means of strike and symbolic suspension of
broadcasting the programme.
There were also open and sometimes aggressive pressures over
media in 2005. To mention only some of them:
-
In March, a humiliating and insulting verbal assault by the
prime minister of Bosansko-Podrinjski Canton, Salko Ophođaš,
over a journalist of RTV Goražde brought to the surface a
daily and many-year “disciplining” of this media outlet;
-
In the same month, journalists and editors of Radio Q were
the target of threats and physical assaults by those who
call themselves teachers of Islam;
-
In April, Sandra Gojković, journalist of "Nezavisne novine"
received a phone threat that it will "be bad for her life
and security” if she publishes the text;
-
Three months later, a BN TV crew was physically attacked in
Divič, near Zvornik, and in Zenica, cameraman of BHT1 was
attached while carrying out his regular job;
-
Journalists and editors of FTV are constantly exposed to
threats and insults;
-
Journalists of Radio ZOS from Matuzići were repeatedly
disturbed in their reporting from the region of Doboj;
There is an increasing number of hidden and subtle pressures
over media on the scene. The aim is to directly affect on the
editorial and programming policy, as well as orientation of
media, to keep the quantity and quality of information under
control. Lack of advertising presents one of the most efficient
instruments for making economic pressure over media in BiH. For
example,
“Front Slobode” from Tuzla ceased publication
after 62 years, and one of the reasons for that is that the
government of the Tuzla Canton found provisions by which
advertisements and tenders can not be advertised in this
newspaper. That the politics dictate marketing can be confirmed
by the fact that there are few firms from the territory of this
canton that advertised in “Front
Slobode”.
During 2005, the status of journalists has become even worse,
and according to the knowledge and assessment of the Helsinki
Committee, they are, due to unresolved status, in such a
situation that their rights arising from labour rights are being
seriously violated. There are cases of delay of salaries for
several months to media employees, and contributions for pension
and health insurance are not being paid.
Ilegal work is present in a large number of media. That phenomenon is
outside the interest of and response from authorities. There is
particularly present exploitation of young journalists who
gladly accept “chance” to express themselves in media. The first
enquiries as to the salary throw them out on a street. Željko
Mitrović, the owner of TV Pink BiH, following the „reduction“ of
the number of employees, delivered notices of dismissal to 18
employees at the beginning of the year, and when they reacted
and asked for earned money, he stated: „I can not understand,
even less accept that the employees organise trade union in a
private firm. Tito’s regime shall not be applied“.
The Press Council and media monitors of the Helsinki Committee
warn of the expressed disrespect of the Press Code. It is most
frequently manifested through disrespect of privacy and lack of
providing an opportunity to reply. The news that finish
tragically, with murders, suicides, sufferings in different
accidents are often illustrated with photographs, and with, most
frequently unnecessary, full identification of a victim.
There is still noticeable lack of sensitivity for gender issues
in media, and there are still marginalised groups of people,
such as the members of ethnic minorities, persons with special
needs, gender and sexual minorities. The public is not
sufficiently acquainted with everyday discrimination experienced
by these categories of population, and consequently, the
attitude of the public towards them is based on prejudices,
stereotypes and lack of knowledge. The rights of the child are
also being seriously violated through media, and for that reason
the Press Council in April 2005, on the basis of its statute,
harmonised amended text and incorporated it into the existing
Article 11 of Press Code relating to the protection of children
and juveniles: „When dealing with the issue of children and
juveniles, the journalists are obliged to act with utter
thoughtfulness, respecting good customs and the Convention of
the Rights of the Child, first having in mind the interest of
the child. The journalists must not take photographs of children
at age of less than 15 years nor interview them in regard to the
child’s family if parents are not present or without a permit
given by parents or guardians. The journalists are obliged to
protect the identity of the child in proceedings in which public
is excluded. Newspapers and periodicals can disclose the
identity of children younger than 15 years carefully and with
responsibility in cases in which they were victims of criminal
offences. Under no circumstances, newspapers and periodicals are
allowed to identify children at age of less than 15 years if
they are involved in criminal cases as witnesses or as accused“.
There are also violations in regard to instigating and inciting
religious or ethnic hatred, untrue and unfair reporting, and
avoiding making clear difference between comments, assumptions
and facts. Particularly dangerous are still present cases of
language of hatred based on advocating the intolerance,
chauvinism, and even anti-Semitism.
Asylum seekers in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) there are legislative
regulations guaranteeing rights to aliens in BiH in accordance
with the international standards, including the right to asylum.
They are established by the Constitution, the Law on Movement
and Stay of Aliens and Asylum (Law) from 2003 and the Book of
Rules on Asylum from 2004.
The very
preamble of the Constitution of BiH states that it is inspired
by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, international
pacts on civil and political rights, on economic, social and
cultural rights, as well as by other human rights instruments.
Annex I to the Constitution lists additional agreements on human
rights which shall apply in Bosnia and Herzegovina, relating to,
among other things, the issues of asylum and asylum seekers.
Pursuant to
Article 35, item 3 of the Law, an alien, who has been granted
residence in BiH for humanitarian reasons, shall be entitled to
work, and shall have ensured education, health and social care
under the same conditions as the citizens of BiH. According to
the BiH legislation, their lives cannot be arbitrarily taken,
they may not be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
“Aliens
shall not be returned or expelled in any manner whatsoever to
the frontier of territories, where their life or freedom would
be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political opinion,
whether or not they have formally been granted asylum. The
prohibition of return or expulsion also applies to persons in
respect of whom there are grounds for believing that they would
be in danger of being subjected to torture or other inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. Nor may aliens be sent to a
country where they are not protected from being sent to such a
territory”, is provided by Article 34 of the Law.
Until 1 July
2004, the applications for asylum were submitted to the UNHCR.
Ever since that date it has been within the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Security, which by 21 November 2005 received 135
applications for asylum for 218 persons (one application can
relate to several persons). By the end of November 2005, 83
requests for 125 persons were denied. None of the requests was
approved.
There has
not been established yet a specialized institution in BiH for
sheltering asylum seekers. By the end of 2005, Rakovica should
have become an asylum center exclusively, but it has not
happened. According to the data from the end of November of the
current year, 133 persons, 70 of male gender and 63 of female
gender are accommodated there. 61 of them are asylum seekers, 60
have the status of temporary admitted persons and 12 of them are
persons with a refugee status. The status of the majority of the
temporary admitted persons has been continuing for seven years
already. By the decision of the Council of Ministers, their
temporary admittance has been extended till 30 June 2006. They
come from various countries: Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia,
Bangladesh, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Moldova and Ethiopia.
They live in
inadequate conditions, in wooden prefabricated shacks. Despite
the efforts of the dwellers and employed staff, the facilities
look neglected. The equipment is inadequate and old. Each shack
has one common kitchen and one bathroom for both men and women.
Food lacks
variety and is insufficient, particularly for single persons
who, like the others in the Center, prepare their meals
themselves. According to the standards established, each
individual receives monthly a monotonous and modest ration in
terms of quantity, the value of which is less than 17 euros,
plus 7,5 euros for their own needs. Children and nursing mothers
receive 5 to 7 liters of milk per month. Each dweller receives a
loaf of bred daily.
The dwellers
are provided with primary health care. The contract is concluded
with the Health center Ilidža. The chronic patients are provided
with transportation to the health institution and medication
partly. Still they must buy those medicines that are not listed
as free of charge. Provision of the secondary health care is
carried out in cooperation with the UNHCR. In general, the
asylum seekers obtain and exercise the right to hospitalization
with difficulty.
There are no
cultural events in the camp, except occasional workshops for
women and indoor football tournaments. All ten employees in the
camp work on the basis of temporary service contracts concluded
with the Ministry of Security. None of them has a permanent
employment, nor health and social insurance.
The majority
of asylum seekers are the Romanies from Kosovo. Registers of
births, marriages and deaths have been transferred to Serbia,
and after June 1999 the UNMIK issued new documents to the
citizens of Kosovo. The problem of documents of the country of
origin is present in this case and seemingly unsolvable, because
the BiH Ministry of Security has no cooperation at all with the
UN Administration in Kosovo. Those who have been in the camp for
seven years already with the status of temporary admitted
persons express their dissatisfaction and depression. They are
overwhelmed with insecurity in respect of return to their former
homes. Namely, if they want to get a donation for renewal of
their houses in Kosovo, they can do it only if they cancel their
registration with BiH and sign that they return voluntarily to
their country of origin and register their permanent residence
there. However, majority of them is not ready to take this step
due to economic and safety-wise insecurity in Kosovo.
The UNHCR
staff states that there are TAP persons (temporary admitted
persons) in BiH. Some of them have had that status for seven
years already. Most of them are the persons from Serbia and
Montenegro (SCG) with which BiH has signed an Agreement on Dual
Citizenship, according to which the SCG citizens, who have had
an approved residence in BiH for more than three years, are
entitled to apply for the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Such persons, according to the allegations of the UNHCR, are
faced with discrimination by the BiH institutions, because their
applications for citizenship are being denied.
In case of
children, infringements of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child can be registered, i.e. there are cases of failure to act
in the best interest of the child. On the occasion of the visit
to the camp in Rakovica, the Helsinki Committee noticed
inadequacy of the living conditions. Although they have access
to educational institutions and the majority of the children
attend school and have transportation to the schooling facility
provided, the children from the Rakovica camp live in
prefabricated facilities, with common bathrooms, where exercise
of the right to privacy of the child and harmonious development
of child's personality is severely hindered.
Playroom for
the preschool-age children is organized in a container of less
than 10 m2, damp and dirty, without water and
toilette. A social worker also resides and works, mainly with
women, in such a container.
It is not a
rare case that persons, caught in transit at the border without
required documents are brought into the camp, escorted by the
police. During the night, or a day or two later, they leave the
camp and go in the unknown direction. In such cases, a violation
is committed in terms of the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens
and Asylum, because nothing is known about their destiny, and it
can only be assumed that such persons continue to stay illegally
in the territory of BiH or become victims of trafficking in
human beings.
The Law on
Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum precisely specifies the
expulsion measures and the reasons for the pronouncement of an
expulsion measure. The Law also regulates the manner of
execution of the decision on expulsion. The Helsinki Committee
notices that, in fact, there is no coordination of the competent
bodies from the moment the decision on expulsion is rendered and
final decision on the appeal submitted until the moment when a
certain person must leave the country. It other words, in case
of persons who were denied asylum or persons who received the
decision on expulsion, nobody monitors in most cases their
further destiny and movement.
The Ministry
of Security has no data on the number of illegal immigrants in
BiH. There is no center for such persons at all. Thanking to the
funds of the European Union, such a center should be built next
year in Istočno Sarajevo (Eastern Sarajevo).
Women Rights
The State of Bosnia and Herzegovina embodied into the
legislation of the country a whole set of international
documents pertaining to human rights and freedoms, among which
is the Declaration on the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women. The Beijing Declaration and the
Action Platform were signed. The Law on Gender Equality was
passed (June 2003) at the state level. Instruments for its
implementation were anticipated. Gender centres are established
at the state level and at the level of the Entities. Legislative
assemblies of the state, Entities, Cantons and the Brčko
District established Gender Equality Commissions.
Notwithstanding signed documents and passed laws human rights of
women are insufficiently respected.
According to the assessment of demographists 51 % of the total
number of population represents female population. Around 40 %
of working age population is unemployed in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, out of which 46.8 % are female workforce. One
should mention here that these are percentages registered with
employment bureaus. 20 % of BiH population lives below the
poverty line and 30 % is on the verge. This economic and social
picture in Bosnia and Herzegovina most severely affects the most
vulnerable groups – women, children and the old.
Access of women to employment possibilities, particularly if
they are over 35 years of age, is extremely difficult. New
owners of privately- owned companies often put forward
requirements not related to training and work abilities. Age of
applicants, their look, readiness to renounce having children
are some of the criteria required by employers.
The field of health and social care does not fall within the
competence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it is a
competence of the Entities, Cantons and the Brčko District.
Approximately 59 % of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not
covered by health insurance. Even if they are entitled to health
insurance the level of technical and personnel equipment in
health institutions is uneven or does not cover the most
important health needs of women. There are numerous examples
thereof. Drvar Municipality does not have maternity clinic and
childbearing women are forced to travel up to 100 km to get
adequate medical assistance.
Domestic violence or violence against wives and children in
Bosnia and Herzegovina shows an upward trend and represents a
direct consequence of poverty and economic and social status of
family and post-war trauma. Women as victims of violence, most
often are subject to violence by members of their close family –
husband, father, son, and it is not so rare that they are
victims of violence and their environment. This could be
corroborated by several examples:
-
Željko Zec of Novi Grad, indicted for domestic violence, was
sentenced to one-month detention under suspicion of beating
his mother Mileva Šaponja, who died from injuries. Mileva
Šaponja was found dead in her apartment on January 2, with
apparent injuries to body and head. It was established that
Zec had been committing violence against her mother
continuously for period of time. He admitted that had beaten
her using hands, fists and broom handle.
-
A.A. of Kakanj was arrested since he has beaten his
seven-months pregnant wife A.D. and incurred serious bodily
harm
A research is done by the School of Political Science and in
line with information from and analysis made by the police it
states that the registered number of cases of family violence
where the police intervened in 2004 is 2,869 cases in 15 BiH
cities. 1,233 cases were processed and ruled by court. Analysing
20 % cases brought up a data that physical violence was in
question in 40 %, and psychical violence in 28% of cases.
Nongovernmental organizations were the first ones in BiH, which
to the response to this problem established 5 institutions –
„Safe Houses “ as well as SOS telephone for victims of violence.
These non-governmental organizations still do not get
appropriate financial support from the state for the work of
Safe Houses. Admittance of users to the Safe House is done in
coordination and with assistance of police authorities, social
services and other subjects who are directly involved in solving
domestic violence.
The existing Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the
Gender Equality Law were insufficient way out of the problem and
the Law on the Protection from Domestic Violence in the Federation
of BiH was passed in
April 2005 and its ultimate goal is prevention but also
repressive actions in solving domestic violence problem,
protection of victims and punishment of violence-prone persons.
One cannot neglect the fact that standardization regarding the
level of pronounced sentences in court trials was not ensured
across Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus sanctions are not
even-levelled, which decreases the effect of all enacted laws.
When it comes to human trafficking and particularly human
trafficking in women, Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a
transit country from east to west. Most regularly registered
emigrants are Albanians, Iraqis, Kurds, Chinese, Ukrainians,
Moldavians and Romanians as established by fifty-odd prosecutors
and representatives of the police force on seminars on human
trafficking.
Particularly worrying is a warning given by nongovernmental
sector, founders of „Safe Houses “, that they accommodate
girls-citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina more and more often,
which shows that our country is not only a transit country but
more and more often a country of origin of victims of human
trafficking.
It is very difficult to get data on the number of victims in
human trafficking since there is no unique database at the level
of Bosnia and Herzegovina but as illustration 30 girls mostly
from BiH and Montenegro were accommodated in Safe House of NGO
Lara – Bijeljina at the beginning of 2005. The report of the
Internal Organization for Migrations (IOM) says that from 1999
till the beginning of this year 817 victims of human trafficking
were registered of which 12 % were juvenile girls.
More and more often families report disappearance of girls
presuming that they might have gone abroad and married there.
Particularly striking was an event near Modriča, when the
disappearance of 13 girls was reported one of whom returned back
with no kidney, spleen and one more organ, while others have not
been found since. Similar cases happened in other areas of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Decision on the Procedures and Manner of Coordinating
Activities to Prevent Human Trafficking and Illegal Immigration
in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the establishment of the office of
the State Coordinator for Bosnia and Herzegovina led to the
enactment of the updated State Action Plan to Fight Human
Trafficking for the period 2005 – 2007. This Plan defined new
goals in fighting human trafficking in next three-year period
and new program papers for operative actions were developed for
each new year during this period. This should represent an
adequate reaction of state structures to this form of organized
crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As for participation of women in politics nongovernmental sector
considers it inadequate and unsatisfactory.
At general elections in 2002 14.3 % women were elected to the
House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, 21.4 % to the
House of Representatives of the BiH Federation Parliament, 16.9
% to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, 21.9 % to
Cantonal Assemblies in the BiH Federation, 21.7 % to Municipal
Councils.
Major imbalance is in representation of women in executive
authorities. In the BiH Council of Ministers women are
represented with 28.57 %, and in the BiH Federation Government
with 6.25 %.
Almost identical example is when you consider the number of
women at presidential offices of working bodies in the
Parliamentary Assemblies where women representation is 22.77 %.
The Helsinki Committee is, above all, dedicated to the fact that
the field of health and social care should be uniquely solved at
the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to reach balance
and equal approach in the quality and scope of the exercise of
these rights for all women and vulnerable groups.
Furthermore we believe that the harmonization of local
legislation with European standards in the field of human rights
when it comes to the exercise of the right of women should be
considered seriously and more attention should be paid to gender
equality issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Children’s
Rights
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is incorporated into
the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Constitution of
BIH – Annex 6, amendment to the Annex) and thereby it took over
an obligation to carry out all the necessary activities with the
aim to implement this Convention. In September 2000, our state
signed and took over the obligation arising from the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict and Protocol on the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
The rights of the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not
present the priority issue in practice, either of political or
legislative actors, as well as other subjects who, under their
policies and activities, should have an obligation and
responsibility to protect the realization of the human rights
and freedoms of the youngest population. It is assessed that
children make 1/3 of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees under the auspices of
the UNICEF developed the Plan of Action for the children of
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2002 – 2010 which include the areas of
particular significance for strengthening the position of
children, as well as priorities for their protection. It should
be noted that this is the first document related to the children
and intended for the children.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the
Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees established the Council
for Children as a working-consultative body, aimed at
strengthening and promoting children’s rights in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and in line with it to present the problems, to
prepare recommendations, reports, analysis, etc. for the Council
of Ministers, as well as for all other competent bodies and
institutions that are in charge of these issues. The state
Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education (June 2003) is
the most concrete contribution by the legislative assembly of
BiH, which, among else, provides for the principles in
education: the right of the child to education, the significance
of children’s rights, promotion of respect for human rights,
freedom of movement, as well as all other issues in regard to
the work of educational institutions. All other issues relating
to the protection of human rights and children’s human rights
are not under their competence.
Specifically, protection of children and their rights are under
the competence of the Entities, i.e. cantons, and the Brčko
District, thus, all legislation and subordinate acts are passed
by these legislative assemblies. Such system of government
directly affects on the scope and quality of children’s
protection and rights, i.e. on their discriminatory position in
access to health and social protection, education and access to
media outlets.
In the economic and social position of citizens and apparent
poverty of the society in which 20% of the population live below
the general line of poverty, the children are exposed to special
risks. 60% of children in BiH are not covered by health
insurance. It is appalling that around 50% of disabled persons
do not have health protection, and it is believed that around 5%
of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina relates to the
disabled children, who, in a large number, are not covered by
health protection. According to the data of the UNICEF, out of
1,000 born children, 8 children do not live to the 5th
birthday, and of a particular concern is a fact that many
parents do not register either the birth or death of their
children. Around 15% are not vaccinated i.e. re-vaccinated
against infectious diseases, 45% do not have running water in
the houses in which they live, 5,6% of them are not included
into the primary education,
and it is recorded that children at the age of 10, and even
younger, are subject to economic exploitation.
Children who are still with their parents in collective refugee
and asylum centers, in which the accommodation capacities and
living conditions are below human dignity, are in an extremely
difficult situation. The transportation to the school is not
provided to the children, particularly in rural environments.
They often go on foot, even for more than 7 kilometers (village
Branjevo – municipality of Zvornik – 350 pupils), which
certainly affects on the security of the youngest ones.
The introduction of nine-year primary education is not followed
by technical equipping of the schools, there is a shortage of
teaching tools, the classrooms are unadapted, and a large number
of schools do not have sufficient financial resources to cover
material costs, particularly for heating. In bigger urban
centers there are ongoing activities related to inception of
video surveillance aimed at preventing criminal offenses and
preventing the children from being maltreated by some delinquent
groups (maltreatment in regard to the extortion of the money,
taking away of mobile phones, and recruitment for illegal sale
of narcotics). In some environments, special protective measures
are being introduced, such as building of high wire fences.
It is alarming situation in which the school age children are
being divided by ethnicity and that there is a practice of open
segregation and apartheid. Forty seven schools in BIH work upon
the principle of “two schools under the same roof“. They work on
the basis of two separate curricula, with an explanation that
the aim is to preserve the right to own culture, language. The
competent authorities and the coalition political partners, SDA
and HDZ, support this practice in local communities, thus being
direct accomplices in disrespect of domestic legislation and in
violating the numerous international documents pertaining to the
human rights.
A burning issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina is certainly the issue
of the violence against children. The children are subject to
all forms of violence – from economic, physical, and mental to
sexual. Violence against children is present primarily in the
family, but also on the streets and in the schools.
There is an increase of the domestic physical violence, where,
according to some data and assessment obtained from the
established shelters for victims of domestic violence, each
fourth family, i.e. children from each fourth family are victims
of some form of domestic violence.
In accordance with the report of the Department for the
Protection of Human Rights at the Ministry for Human Rights and
Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest number of cases
of violence in BiH is recorded against female children at age of
7 to 16 years. It is considered that in BiH there is a lack of
resources to be directed to services dealing with prohibition
and prevention of violence.
It is of a particular concern the increase of sexual violence
against the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with
pedophilia, as well as sexual abuse of children. There are
everyday newspaper headings testifying about it, within the
black chronicle – „a juvenile neighbor raped two boys“, „father
sentenced to prison who sexually abused minor daughter for four
years, and beating his son with his fists and wooden sticks” and
similar.
Attached are several examples:
-
Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo accused Ismail Baki,
citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, of fornication since he
sexually abused his six year old daughter while bathing her
or using other suitable moments in several occasions during
October 2004 in his apartment in Sarajevo;
-
Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo brought charges
against Afrima Ćizmoli of Kosovska Mitrovica for domestic
violence. As stated in the indictment on January 1 this year
in Sarajevo Ćizmoli came to an apartment used by his
ex-wife and three juvenile children, soon after leaving
Sarajevo Prison, and committed a crime and incurred serious
bodily harm to his ex-wife, son and daughter with fists and
broom handle.
Moreover, it has been recorded that the minors make contacts via
internet and provide sexual services for 6 KM (around 3 EURO),
in order to collect money to buy drugs. There is a well known
case where the President of one Roma association warns that Roma
girls at age from 10 to 15 years are sold at the price of up to
50,000 KM (around 25,000 EURO).
The major part of these cases are processed and sanctioned, but
due to different standards applicable in the judiciary of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, the pronounced penalty measures for the same
act depend on the place of a trial, thus the accused is
sentenced to different sentences to prison, which is
inadmissible when proceedings relating to children and their
rights are in question.
A group of domestic non-governmental organizations in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, together with the UNICEF and the Save the Children
organization made a report on the cases of trafficking in
children in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the obtained
data, in between 110 and 160 children were identified as
subjects of trafficking for the purpose of sexual abuse in the
period from 1999 and 2003. The majority of victims are older
than 14, and few of them are at age of only 10 years, and almost
all cases refer to girls.
Unfortunately, despite the alarming data published in the
aforementioned report, there is no major response to it, and we
do not have any information of whether this report has been more
seriously discussed at any of the official governmental bodies
in BiH.
Media, as powerful means of communication with the public,
particularly printed, have rather sensationalistic approach to
reporting, with an aim to enlarge the press run, without taking
into consideration the obligation of media to protect the
privacy and identity of the child.
UNICEF’s brochure „the Media and the Children’s Rights” has been
made to assist the journalists writing about the children to
work with responsibility and to provide security for the
children, but it is not sufficiently used in practice.
The Helsinki Committee deems that the authorities should start
thinking of introducing the Fund for Children of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, to provide the children with almost the same
conditions for exercising their rights, primarily in the fields
of health and social insurance, and child’s allowance.
No:
07A-12/2005
Sarajevo, 17.01.2006
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