Address
of Srđan Dizdarević, President of the
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in B&H
at the
Solemn Observance of the Tenth Anniversary of the Helsinki
Committee
Sarajevo,
12th of February 2005
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
dear friends, Excellencies,
Exactly ten years ago, 55
founders of the Helsinki Committee gathered in one of the
spaces of the National Theatre, and adopted a decision to
establish the first non-governmental organization in our
country, with a mission to protect and promote human rights
and freedoms. We took this decision in the midst of the
besieged city of Sarajevo, guided by our belief that such an
organization that would gather the citizens on such a basis,
would indeed be more than necessary in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
once it starts healing its war wounds and establishing a
democratic society in which each and every individual would
and should enjoy all the rights provided for in international
conventions.
In the past decade, we tried
to provide protection and support to the citizens of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, regardless of their national, ethnic,
religious or political affiliation or gender, relying
exclusively on the international standards that had been
accepted by Bosnia and Herzegovina when taking the commitment
to honor them. Unfortunately, we had to react in numerous
cases of violation of human rights, and we tried to assist
the authorities of the country in meeting their obligations,
and in making a step forward that was so very much needed if
we were to see the values long ago accepted by civilized world
prevail in our country.
All this time, we have been
guided by the criteria of impartiality and objectivity.
To date, about 33,000
citizens of BH have asked for assistance and received it from
the Helsinki Committee. We have organized eight Schools of
Human Rights for youth, dozens of seminars, round tables,
public debates, all with a view to improve the human rights
situation and empower the citizens in their fight for their
rights. The Helsinki Committee has become visible in public by
its determination to stigmatize any instance of violation of
human rights, and by its readiness to openly name without any
calculation the negative phenomena and those implicated in
them.
From day to day we ourselves
confronted with human suffering and injustice, meeting people
whose dignity has been shaken by arbitrary and unlawful acts,
but we are also satisfied that we are in a position to be able
restore people's faith and hope that justice will be done and
righteousness prevail.
Without being overly
pretentious, we from the Helsinki Committee could now say that
this adventure was worth embarking on, and that the invested
energies and dedicated efforts have paid off.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are now reaching the
stage of maturity, and our primary challenge at the moment is
to contribute to having Bosnia and Herzegovina become closer
to entering the European Union. We will focus our activities
on creating those preconditions in the area of human rights
that will enable our country to satisfy the criteria of the
respectable European family, that we indeed rightfully belong
to. However, our primary goal is to make the life of our
fellow citizens a better and a happier one.
We are about to adopt our
organization’s strategy for the next mid-term period, in which
we will lay emphasis on the strengthening of the rule of law,
compliance with the international standards, education and
dissemination of information on human rights, and provision of
special protection to the vulnerable groups of citizens,
children, women, victims of human trafficking, families of
missing persons, people with disabilities, victims of domestic
violence, disabled veterans and civilian victims of war,
elderly people and pensioners, gender minorities and members
of national, ethnic and religious minority groups.
We intend to be more present
among the young and among the population that lives far away
from major cities, to mobilize the media so that they take a
more active attitude toward human rights, and to expand the
provision of legal aid services and make these services more
effective.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to use this
opportunity to express the most sincere gratitude to all those
who took part in the work of the Helsinki Committee in the
previous period, and to all those who supported us in our
activities. I would particularly like to thank the founders of
the Helsinki Committee, who had vision and courage to support
the establishment of our organization. I would also like to
thank all the members of the Helsinki Committee, and all the
NGO activists who in their particular ways contributed to the
protection of human rights and freedoms. I thank those
representatives of the government authorities who have
demonstrated openness for our suggestions and proposals, and
readiness to enter into dialogue. I am grateful to the
teachers and university professors, and to all those who
contributed to educating and informing the citizens about the
human rights and ways to protect them. Finally, I would like
to thank all those that helped us to organize this Solemn
Observance event, particularly the staff and the Director of
the National Theatre.
I thank all of you who are
present here today, for coming and sharing with us the joy of
our tenth anniversary.
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