| Europe
for BiH No 7, June 1999: page 1 | page
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In this issue :
Interview
with Branka Raguz
Building the rule of law, brick
by brick
Before the war,
Branka Raguz was a judge in Bugojno. Today, as a member of the BiH
Federation 'Ombudsmen', she fights to ensure that human rights are
respected in her native land. Altogether, three senior judges one
Serb, one Croat and one Bosniak work at the Ombudsmen's office,
making it, says Branka Raguz, one of Bosnia's few truly multi-ethnic
institutions.
Could you explain the situation in
which Bosnia's 'Ombudsmen' have to work?
My two colleagues and
I are constantly faced with the direct consequences of ethnic
cleansing. Today, discrimination is poisoning Bosnian society like
gangrene and it is the single biggest factor preventing refugees and
displaced persons from returning to their homes.
The main people
responsible for this situation are the country's administrative
officials. They act as the 'on the ground' agents of Bosnia's
politicians and practice discrimination on a very large scale.
Anyone who has the courage to return home to a town controlled by an
ethnic group other than their own will often find themselves faced
with all manner of harassment. At the most basic level this includes
problems such as being obliged to pay more than other townspeople
for services like telephone, gas and electricity.
But people are not
only discriminated against on the grounds of ethnicity. They are
also, and unfortunately this is becoming more and more common,
victimised because of their political opinions. Most people employed
in administrative posts and state-controlled companies are members
of the ruling party.
Others, even if they come from the
same ethnic group, will often find it impossible to find similar
work.
For example,
yesterday I received a very moving letter from a Bosniak living in
Bugojno, which is a Bosniak-controlled town. The man is completely
desperate. He cannot find a job for the simple reason that he served
in the JNA (the former Yugoslav army). In Velika Kladusa, a
municipality where two different Muslim factions fought each other,
the members of Fikret Abdic's political movement now face
discrimination. A maths teacher was fired there recently because he
didn't join the Bosnian army. In Capljina, Bosniak teachers are
barred from teaching Croat children. The list goes on...
Our task is to
investigate the complaints that people bring to us. When we come
across a clear case of human rights violations, we do the only thing
we can make as much noise as possible about the injustice that
has been committed. We have no " enforcement capacity " so
our normal approach is to publish details of the cases we
investigate and contact the media. The idea is to bring pressure to
bear on those responsible for human rights violations to respect the
law. We can be extremely tenacious in our investigations. As far as
the authorities are concerned we are "public enemy number
one" even if, officially, they approve of what we are doing.
What is the size of the task
facing you?
Only last year, we
had about 80 000 direct contacts with complainants and we opened
more than 8000 investigations. The credibility of our institution is
stronger than ever, and compliance with our recommendations had
increased to 45% by the end of 1998. With the support of the
European Commission, we have also managed to extend our network of
regional offices to cover the whole Federation territory.
One of our most
recent achievements came on 14 April 1999 with the cancellation by
High Representative Carlos Westendorp of all permanent occupancy
rights issued in the Federation and Republika Srpska during and
after the war in BiH.
This development
represented a victory against one of the major injustices in the
field of property rights (see on this page article "OHR
decision..."). Mr. Westendorp took this key decision based on
advice from the Federation Ombudsmen, the OSCE and UNHCR. But while
the High Representative's edict means that legal barriers to the
repossession of pre-war property rights have now been eliminated, in
reality many other obstacles still remain.
We will continue to fight because we
believe that our action will help, to build the rule of law in
Bosnia brick by brick.
Every success, every
person who is able to return home freely, represents another step
towards the creation of the state of law that we need so desperately
in Bosnia. What I find personally most encouraging is the fact that
people seem to be less and less scared to come forward and denounce
injustices. When we started our work, the people who came to see us
were whispering, and nearly always asked us not to reveal their
names and not to make too much noise about their particular case for
fear of reprisals. Today however, Bosnians who have been victims of
discrimination seem increasingly prepared to speak out against their
administration. They are even ready to appear on television little
by little, democracy is taking hold and the authorities will be
forced to change their ways.
What is the key to the
democratisation process in Bosnia?
Education. We need to
educate both the country's citizens and its public authorities. A
major information campaign is needed to ensure that people are aware
of both their rights and their obligations so that in the future it
will not be so easy to manipulate them. Aside from fighting against
human rights violations, we are also able, through the publication
of our reports and our contacts with the media, to inform people
about the universal declaration of human rights. The aim of our
mission is to raise public awareness, to alert people to human
rights issues and ensure that they react when faced by violations.
But people are also
being educated at school and this is one of our biggest problems. In
Bosnia today, the different communities can agree neither on the
curriculum to be taught to the country's children nor the content of
primary school textbooks. The result of this state of affairs is
that teachers in some schools continue to expound ideas of ethnic
hatred and to infect young minds in the most insidious way possible.
It is precisely this sort of situation that we want to fight against
at all costs. We are also vehemently opposed to the principle of
separating schoolchildren according to their ethnic grouping and we
have had some notable successes in this particular field.
In general, what is the mood of
the citizens who come to you for help?
At first glance, the
general situation in Bosnia appears to have improved significantly
since the signature of the Dayton agreement. The country is safer,
it is becoming progressively easier to move around freely and
Bosnia's ruined infrastructure is slowly being rebuilt.
But if you take a
closer look at individual Bosnians, you very quickly start to see
some very deep wounds. Every man, woman and child in this country is
still carrying scars from a war which, though it may have finished
in a physical sense, continues to haunt peoples' souls.
Because of this, much
of our work involves psychotherapy in some form or other. Once the
people who come to see us have finally received some sort of
compensation, for example if they finally succeed to return to live
in the house they owned before the war, they have also made progress
along the psychological journey towards 'healing their minds'. That
is perhaps the most important aspect of our work because it is only
when people's rights have been recognised that they can begin
building their future.
Interview by Isabelle Brusselmans
International
Crisis Group
Monitoring the Bosnian judiciary
Bosnia's judicial
system is still full of relics from the pre-war regime. In the
former Yugoslavia, judges were appointed by politicians and that
system still hasn't changed. Bosnian citizens, especially members of
ethnic minorities, distrust the country's courts.
Discrimination is
widespread, and to make matters worse the Federation is currently
suffering from an 'overdose' of courts and tribunals. The reason for
this state of affairs is that every ethnic group in the country
insists on being tried by its peers and not by members of a
different community. "There are many more courts than before
the war and at the same time far fewer judges and profesional
lawyers," explains International Crisis Group (ICG) programme
manager Niall McCann. "Many judges are members of political
movements and have little practical experience. In addition to this,
judges' salaries are very low, which leaves them open to
corruption."
In a bid to evaluate
just how well the Bosnian judicial system is working on the ground,
a team of Bosnian lawyers appointed by the ICG are currently
operating in 8 field office locations around the country (Sarajevo,
Zenica, Bihac, Mostar, Livno, Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Zvornik). They
have been tasked with compiling reports on individual trial
proceedings and drawing up periodic assesments of the overall state
of the criminal and civil justice systems throughout Bosnia.
The ICG, together
with a number of local partner organisations - including NGOs
specialising in legal advice and individual lawyers - are hoping to
train Bosnian lawyers and law students to monitor the judicial
system and analyse its performance when it comes to respecting the
rule of law and human rights. With European Commission support, ICG
will publish quarterly reports that it hopes will contain practical
suggestions for helping Bosnia's legal profession regain the dignity
it lost during the war. Dr Zoran Pajic, Professor of international
law, will be advising the project on a full time basis.
ICG teams will also
analyse the performance of local and regional government
departments, which act, according to the Federation's Ombudspersons
"as the 'on the ground' agents of Bosnia's politicians and are
the main perpetrators of human rights violations" (see
interview Branka Raguz). This sort of discrimination can clearly be
seen in some municipalities where returning minorities have been
forced to pay extra fees for gas and telephone services or to obtain
passports. The ICG wants to tackle the pervading political culture
that currently makes it difficult for Bosnia's judiciary and civil
servants to carry out their work with full professional and moral
integrity. Only a depoliticised public service, trusted by all
citizens and free from discriminatory practices can guarantee that
human rights are protected. The first quarterly report will be ready
by June 30 1999.
ICG website: www.crisisweb.org
ICG BiH E-mail: Niall_mccann@compuserve.com
European Commission assistance to
Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999
Phare and Obnova programmes 146
million euro
Democratisation and institution
building 17 million euro
Sustainable economic development 37
million euro
Integrated activities to encourage
refugee return 69 million euro
Civil society and social development
15 million euro
Implementation support, monitoring,
audits 8 million euro
ECHO (humanitarian aid): 56,4 million
euro
CAFAO (Customs and Fiscal Assistance
Office): 9 million euro
TOTAL : 211,4 million euro
In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina
will in principle benefit from:
loans for budgetary support (20
million euro for the period 1999-2000)
infrastructure related activities
from the European Investment Bank (100 million for the period
1999-2000)
Fifth
donor's conference for BiH
Clear sign that BiH still
considered as crucial
Despite the difficult
circumstances in Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably due to the
consequences of the Kosovo crisis, the European Commission and the
World Bank have decided to proceed with the organisation of the
fifth donors' conference for Bosnia and Herzegovina which took place
in Brussels on May 20 and 21.
Donors pledged 992
million euro in support of the 1999 programme of economic reform and
reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The target set was
therefore achieved.
"While the
operations in Kosovo continue, we want to confirm our commitment,
together with all the main donors, to the positive evolution of the
democratic process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which remains on of
the keys to the stabilisation of the whole region" said
European Commission Director Fabrizio Barbaso. "Of course, we
follow with interest the new strategy of BiH authorities to enhance
the dialogue with the European Union. For our part, we are strongly
committed to intensify our dialogue with BiH in political and
economic fields. The European Union is launching a Stability Pact
for South Eastern Europe. A positive role of BiH in the Stability
Pact will have an impact on the process of its
"rapprochement" to the EU. The State level and Entities
must work closely together and develop a common position before
relations between the EU and BiH can be upgraded with a perspective
of integration into its structures" he said.
- European Commission Representation
Office to BiH
- Union Bank Building, 4th floor
- Dubrovacka 6
- Sarajevo - Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Tel +387 71 666 036
- Fax + 387 71 666 037
The European Union on the Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/index.htm
This publication is available in
English and Bosnian (Latin and Cyrillic alphabets). If you are
interested in receiving this newsletter, please fax your request to
Mediaplan in Sarajevo (fax: +387 71 206 542) or Strat&Com in
Brussels (fax: +32 2 649 18 85).
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