42 III broadcasting: “How to reach international standards for freedom of... journalists status in RS”
42 III broadcasting: “How to reach international standards for freedom of the media and journalists status in RS” Date: February 26, 2000 Guests: - Milos Solaja, journalist - Branko Todorovic, president of Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS - Perica Vucinic, editor in chief of the magazine “Reporter” - Rajko Vasic, Minister of Information in RS Government - Gordana Katana, journalist of “Oslobodjenje”, Sarajevo - Mehmed Husic, Journalists Independent Union of FBH, Sarajevo - Elizabeth Brocking, representative of American Embassy in Banja Luka - Arne Ruth, professor of journalism from Sweden - Erdnan Katana, journalist IV broadcasting: “Bilateral relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia” Date: March 4, 2000 Guests: - Mladen Pandurevic, president of the Forum of Democratic Alternative B-H - Milorad Dodik, president of RS Government - Sejfudin Tokic, vice president of SDP B-H - Aleksandar Popov, director of the Center for Regionalism - Hans Jorg Krecmer, ambassador of the European Commission for B-H - Julijan Hadson, the deputy of the UN secreatry general envoy for B-H - Dragisa Burzan, vice president of Montenegro Government - Vehid Sehic, president of Citizens Alternative Parliament B-H - Zivorad Kovacevic, president of European Movement in Serbia V broadcasting: “The perspectives of the development B-Hs relations with the neighbors” Date: March 11, 2000 Guests: - Zivorad Kovacevic - Rifat Rastoder, vice president of Montenegro Assembly - Sejfudin Tokic, vice president of SDP BH - Prof. Miodrag Zivanovic - Prof. Marko Orsolic, director of Multinational and Multi-religious Culture Center - Mujo Kafedzic, vice-president of MBO - Branko Todorovic, president of Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS 41 particularly concerned over the fact that this may herald the escalation of violence at the time of election campaign which will certainly have a bearing on the election. The Helsinki Committee believes that the Ministry of the Interior of the RS will find those responsible for the attack and that they will be brought to justice. Done in Bijeljina on 1 March 2000 Information Service Helsinki Committee TV BROADCASTINGS I broadcasting: “Truth and reconciliation – the imperative of B-Hs future” Date: February 12, 2000 Guests: - Jakob Finci, Jewish Community, Sarajevo - Srdjan Dizdarevic, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BH, Citizens Alternative Parliament BH - Vehid Sehic, Tuzla Citizens Forum and Citizens Alternative Parliament - Prof. Miodrag Zivanovic, Alternative Ministry Council, Banja Luka - Richard Goldstone, former prosecutor at International Tribunal for War Crimes in Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - Alex Boraine, Secretary General of South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission II broadcasting: “The Ways of Reconciliation in B-H and in the region” Date: February 19, 2000 Guests: - Neil Kritz, USIP, Washington, USA Gavin Ruxton, ICTY, Den Haag James Stewart, ICTY, Den Haag Vera Jovanovic, Ombudsmen B-H, Sarajevo Zoran Pusic, Citizens Committee for Human Rights, Zagreb Natasa Kandic, Fond for Humanitarian Law, Beograd Zdravko Mikulic, The Association of the Missing Persons, Mostar Paul Van Zyl, Executive Secretary of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission 40 He called on the citizens of the RS to demand from the authorities and the international community to make it possible to exercise their right to return and dispose of their property. Asked to comment last night’s incident in the Banja Luka sports hall BORIK during the basket ball match between IGOKEJA and BORAC NEKTRA, when Prime Minister Milorad Dodik’s security guards “beat up several supporters”, Todorovic stated that he was not sufficiently informed of the case. He stated that the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights would request an official report from the Ministry of the Interior in connection with the incident. Finally, Todorovic concluded “that it is necessary for the public to freely talk about all problems, violence or abuse of office”. BANJA LUKA, 31 MARCH (RSNA) – President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of Republika Srpska (RS) Branko Todorovic appealed today in Banja Luka on voters to cast their ballots in favor of those parties and individuals that would promote human and civil rights in the RS. “Citizens should vote for those political parties that will have international support necessary for the RS to join European integrations”, Todorovic said. According to him, voters should not vote for political extremists and adventurers who would take the RS to further isolation. He called on all citizens to turn out for the election and particularly young people and students because they were, as he said, “the driving force of the RS which should show the world that Republika Srpska knows how to promote civilizational values”. At his press conference Todorovic pointed out that the Helsinki Committee would not suggest to the voters to vote for any particular political party. PRESS RELEASES The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska most strongly condemns the throwing of an explosive device on the house of a returnee to Bijeljina, Osman Pilakovic. Such a terrorist act not only puts at risk individual lifes, but also inflicts extensive damage to Republika Srpska and to its efforts to build a democratic society and prevents and discourages the return of expellees and DPs. We are 39 The aim of the campaign is to familiarize the public with various types of corruption that prevail in B-H as well as the damage it has inflicted on the entire community. The first stage of the campaign will comprise a series of radio-jingles, cartoons, posters and comic strips dealing with the problems of abuse of public works, offices as well as tax evasion and lack of transparency in public institutions and public funds. The second stage of the campaign will inform citizens of ways to fight corruption. Citizens will be acquainted also with the manner in which they can exercise their rights in order to influence the authorities and make them perform their duties responsibly and conscienciously. PRESS CONFERENCES The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska gave a press conference at the International Press Center in Banja Luka on 31 March 2000. The conference was addressed by the Chairman of the Helsinki Committee of the RS, Branko Todorovic. Todorovic called on all citizens, particularly young people and students to turn out for the election and vote for those parties and individuals that would promote human and civil rights in the RS. Here is how news agencies reported thereon: BANJA LUKA, 31 March 2000 (Beta) – President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the RS Branko Todorovic called on the citizens of the RS to turn out for the coming local elections and cast their ballots in favor of those political forces that will have the strong support of the international community and fight for the respect for human rights in practice. At the press conference in Banja Luka, Todorovic stated that the citizens of the RS “should not vote for political extremists who advocate hatred, violence, chaos and poverty”. Asked to comment on the most recent incidents preventing the return of refugees to the two entities of B-H, the Chairman of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights assessed that preventing refugees from returning represented “the worst crime against this population category”. According to him, this is the doing of extreme nationalists who manipulate refugees and displaced persons, do not allow them to return, all with a view to creating ethnically homogenous areas. 38 population categories. Corruption appears in all segments of public activities through the abuse of public office and functions. It has to be noted with regret that appropriate legal and other measures to stop and curb corruption have not yet been found. To make the fight against corruption and crime more effective a wide-ranging campaign must be launched in society. One of the important preconditions for this is the establishment of an independent, competent and well-paid judiciary, Prosecutor’s Office and the police. Detection and fight against corruption cannot be an exclusively police task. Other government agencies should also take part. Good laws need to be adopted, all officials must be accountable for their work and all Ministers must see to the consistent implementation of laws and regulations. If this job is left to the police alone, nothing will be achieved. This would make the situation even more difficult and the hardest hit would be poor citizens. In the opinion of Vojislav Dimitrijeviæ, Public Prosecutor of the RS, a separate law should be adopted to prevent corruption. That law would regulate all the aspects of corruption and prescribe appropriate sanctions. To curb corruption in politics, the activities of the parties and individuals as well as their financing should be made public. A National Commission would be set up for fighting corruption that could supervise companies, management boards and individuals. All financial transactions must be public and under critical public scrutiny. The largest corruption transactions take place in companies and organizations that do business using cash. The cash flow is for the most part channelled by individuals who are not answerable to anyone. A particular type of corruption has been observed at the institutions engaged in urban planning, purchase and sale of urban land, construction of apartments, shops and cafes and issuance of construction permits. Those responsible take large sums of money for issuing such permits. Although all know about it nobody of those implicated in such scandals has been called to account. For this reason it is suspected that corruption and crime have engulfed all levels of authority in the RS. Campaign against corruption The Office of the High Representative to B-H, in cooperation with the Center for Contemporary Art in Sarajevo, has launched an anti-corruption campaign. The first stage started on 1 March. 37 The RS Agency for Privatization is obligated to make control statements of privatized accounts and to give them to citizens. The distribution is expected to take place in May. Previously, the Agency for Privatization must harmonize the data bases with the Agency for Privatization in the Federation of B-H. Thus, it will not be possible for one and the same person to take part in privatization in both entities. The distribution of vouchers should start in June. Citizens will be able to invest their vouchers in companies that will be offered in the privatization process. Only after investment in particular companies will the value of vouchers be determined. Until then they will not have any nominal value. According to the assessment of international experts, privatization in the RS is evolving in accordance with the laws. Office of the High Representative to B-H (OHR) and U.S. Ambassador to B-H expressed their support to this form of privatization. Ambassador Thomas Miller is of the opinion that the privatization model in the RS is much better than the model applied in the Federation of B-H. CORRUPTION Widespread corruption practices both in Republika Srpska and in the Federation of B-H has caused many problems to the authorities. What is more, corruption has adversely affected citizens’ social rights. Due to evasion of payment of various taxes, customs duties and other levies the entity budgets have been left without large sums of money. As a result, funds for financing the beneficiaries of the budget such as pensioners, teachers, health personnel, judges and others have not been replenished. All this has provoked social discontent of these groups and has directly affected the means of subsistence of their families. Identification of methods for fighting corruption was the topic of the conference called by High Representative to B-H Wolfgang Petritsch. The Conference was held on 14 February in Sarajevo. One of the statements was made by Minister of the Interior (MUP) of the RS Sredoje Novic Novic stated that corruption had penetrated all walks of life and was slowing down considerably and even threatening to halt the development of B-H. Corruption is in collusion with organized crime and other illegal dealings. Corruption is one of the most serious abuses of the public, political and state interest to gain personal benefit. It spreads fast and puts in jeopardy the most the vital interests of the most vulnerable 36 VRS arms control The members of the SFOR’s Multi-national Division North (MDN), stationed in Tuzla, seized the weapons of the RS Army found at the warehouses in Bratunac and Sekovici. The weapons were temporarily ceded to the Commission of the Hague Tribunal investigating war crimes in B-H that occurred after the fall of Srebrenica (July 1995). The Commission inspected the weapons and then the SFOR troops returned them to the VRS. The authorities of Republika Srpska and VRS fully cooperated with SFOR and the Commission of the Tribunal in this action. Military assistance under control Between the Federation of B-H and the Republic of Croatia agreement was reached on the publicity of military assistance extended by Croatia to the units of the FB-H Army under the control of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). According to this agreement, all future military assistance must be made in public and sent through the Permanent Military Committee of B-H. This Agreement has been positively assessed also by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. PRIVATIZATION The privatization program has been effectively carried out in Republika Srpska, judging by the assessments of the competent entity agencies. Under the first pilot project for transformation of state-owned property into private property, 18 companies were offered for sale through public competitions, their estimated value not exceeding KM 300,000. Nine companies were thus sold in the first round and five more in the second round. Other companies will be offered for free sale. The companies whose value exceeds KM 300,000 will be privatized on the basis of the voucher offer. All RS citizens, including children born before 31 March 2000, will take part in the distribution of the assets of these companies. For that reason, all citizens had to register for privatization. On 31 March, the process of registration of RS citizens for participation in privatization based on the voucher offer was finalized. According to the data of the RS Agency for Privatization, a total of 1,384,809 citizens were registered as having the right to free distribution of state property. 35 VRS is currently streamlining the military units in order to bring them into line with the plans for reducing the military strenght. According to the existing plans, VRS was reduced by 15 percent last year and another 15 percent reduction is due this year too. The reduction of military strenght has been endorsed by the RS Government and the General Staff of VRS. Joint Military Commission The restructuring of the military forces and cooperation between entity armies is monitored and reviewed by the Joint Military Commission composed of the representatives of the VRS, the Army of FB-H and SFOR. The SFOR Command is satisfied with the work of this Commission. The Joint Commission assessed that it is still unrealistic to expect that a single army will be formed in B-H. The joint army is the goal in B-H but it will not be accomplished easily or quickly. The Commission reviewed the possibility of setting up a joint military unit comprising soldiers from both entities that could take part in the UN peacekeeping actions. The idea to form such a unit has been supported by the Presidency of B-H. Demilitarization of Brèko With the establishment of the District of Brèko, the planned demilitarization of this area has been also carried out. The VRS and FB-H Army units, that had been stationed in this area, have pulled out completely. The final arbitration decision on the establishment of the District of Brèko and the adopted Statute stipulate that the district will be demilitarized and its inhabitants will not be subject to military draft. Final demilitarization was officially completed on 25 February as had been agreed with the representatives of the entity armed forces and SFOR’s Multinational Division North (MDN). The big military barracks in Brèko became the responsibility of the civil authorities of the district. The purpose and use of the barracs will be decided upon by the authorities in the District of Brèko. 34 The Turkish Government promised assistance in the form of computers and technical equipment to the police of B-H and seminars will be organized in April in order to provide further training to the personnel working at the Interpol of B-H. Modern equipment for the police Within the restructuring, reorganization and education of the police force of the RS attention has also been given to obtaining modern technical equipment. In implementing this program, the Government of Great Britain presented to the Criminology Center in Banja Luka the most up-to-date technical equipment for analyzing different types of crime. The equipment is worth 210,000 dollars. With the help of this equipment and with proper training in its use, the RS police will more effectively counter organized crime, terrorism, drug abuse, prostitution and car thefts. With this equipment, the RS police will be able to have better cooperation with their counterparts in all European states. The UN mission in B-H donated equipment for the RS police worth 3.5 million dollars. Donated items include a bus, six patrol jeeps, computers, Xerox and fax machines, video cameras, drug detection equipment, security telephone systems, communications devices and night vision goggles. For a better standard of policemen The RS Minister of the Interior (MUP), Sredoje Novic, talked with the representatives of the MUP Trade Union on how to improve the living standards of the police. They stated that it was necessary to improve the living standard of the police both by raising the pay rate as well as by resolving housing problems. They agreed, first of all, to provide for the needs of workers who remained jobless following the set-up of a multi-ethnic police force in Brèko. The RS MUP Trade Union expressed full support for the Framework Agreement on Transformation of the Police Force but request concrete support of the international community in resolving the issue of reduntant workers and outstanding housing problems. REFORM OF THE ARMY There are ongoing activities in the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) aimed at its reorganization in line with the plan already adopted by the international community. 33 This is the first case at the Public Security Center, Bijeljina, that covers three more municipalities (Ugljevik, Lopare, Pelagiæevo) that persons of another nationality are also given employment with the police. So far only Serbs have worked in the police. Young policemen will first undergo six-month practical training and gain working experience in all of the services. Third class of the Police Academy At the end of February, instruction was started in Banja Luka for the third class of cadets at the Police Academy. There are a total of 82 trainees in this class. Of that number, 59 are Bosniacs, 15 are Serbs, 5 are Croats and three belong to other nationalities. The ethnic structure of this Police Academy class is based on the obligation undertaken by the RS Ministry of the Interior under the relevant agreement on the restructuring of the police, i.e. making it possible for members of other peoples and national minorities to join the police too. Cooperation of entity police forces IPTF is in the process of establishing better and closer cooperation between the Ministries of the Interior of Republika Srpska and the Federation of B-H. As of 1 March, meetings will be held every month of the highest representatives of the police from both entities. After these meetings chiefs of public security centers from RS will regularly meet with the chiefs of police from federal cantons. The expansion of cooperation and regular contacts is aimed at establishing a coordinated cooperation on activities for combating organized crime. Cooperation with the Interpol Cooperation of the police force of RS and the Federation of B-H with Interpol is very good and successful. This assessment was made by the Management Board of the Dayton Accords Implementation Council. The Ambassador of Turkey in B-H praised cooperation of the police of Turkey and B-H and indicated the importance of the agreement on prevention of organized crime in these countries. 32 Inspection of the Tunjice prison In February, the IPTF Human Rights Department conducted an unannounced inspection of the Tunjice prison in Banja Luka. The Commission was satisfied with the cooperative attitude of the prison authorities towards them. Upon the inspection, certain omissions were observed in the work of the prison institution. The Commission made certain recommendations to the prison staff towards ensuring full compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The Commission suggestions concerned certain organizational changes. The prison authorities were recommended to pay particular attention to inmates who had served the larger part of their sentence and to allow them to spend their weekends at home. The Commission also recommended the provision of better health care to inmates. The inspection team also learnt that in the past one and a half years 20 inmates had escaped by not returning to prison after a weekend spent at home. Convicts choosing prison The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS recommends to the judicial authorities in both entities to allow inmates to choose the prison in which they will serve their sentence. This applies in particular to transfer from one entity to the other, both for humane and security reasons. The recommendation was prompted by the case of Goran Vasic, a Serb who has been detained at the Cantonal Prison in Sarajevo on charges of a war crime. As one of a few rare Serbs, he has been subjected to ill-treatment by other inmates. Vasic was beaten up twice by inmates, including a foreign (Iranian) citizen who was particularly cruel. REFORM OF THE POLICE Changes in the police of RS are taking place in the positive direction and according to an earlier plan for reconstruction and promotion of professionalism of the service. In most cases, the police have been very responsible and professional in the performance of its duties. As part of the police restructuring taking place under the supervision of members of the international community, policemen of Bosniac nationality have also started working in Bijeljina. A total of 14 young policemen were taken on, including one girl. These young policemen were cadets of the first generation of the Police Academy that started work in Banja Luka last summer. 31 At the seminar, a presentation was made on the status of a Prosecutor in the judiciary of Sweden and on his role in criminal investigation. Also presented were the most frequently applied coercive measures in criminal cases tried by Swedish courts, along with exceptions in their duties during interrogation and investigation. Courts in RS The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS published a book titled “Prisons in RS – Research”. The book contains findings of research conducted by legal experts of the Helsinki Committee. The purpose of the book was to describe the prison system in RS, while bearing in mind applicable legislation and practical implementation aspects. The first part of research addresses legal aspects i.e. the legal framework that regulates this area and the second part addresses the status of convicts in practice. There are three penitentiaries in RS, at Srbinje (Foèa), Banja Luka and Bijeljina, five district prisons and a special prison hospital at Sokolac. According to the survey made for the period 1992 to 31 October 1999, 772 persons were found guilty of a crime and sentenced and 328 were found guilty of an offence. 15 of them were women and 14 were minors. The publication devotes particular attention to capital punishment. The Penal Code of RS, inherited from the former Socialist Republic of B-H, also stipulates capital punishment. In court practice to date, a number of death penalties have been pronounced but none has been carried out. Currently, there are 3 persons sentenced to death kept in prisons in RS. It is believed with certainty that the punishment will not be executed. The RS is currently drafting a new Penal Code that will be harmonized with the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms, which does not recognize capital punishment. As for this punishment, it can be claimed that the provisions of the European Convention on non-existence of capital punishment in RS have so far been abided by. During its research, a team of the Helsinki Committee did not find any dramatic human rights violations in prisons. The procedure followed by the police in treating inmates has been fairly correct. 30 court in Sremska Mitrovica had issued an indictment against Vucinic and Cvijanovic on charges of alleged libel and insult of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Vucinic was charged with allowing, in his capacity of Editor-in-Chief of the weekly Reporter, the publishing of an outrageous photograph of President Miloševiæ. Cvijanoviæ was charged because he had authored a text, which appeared in the same magazine, in which he allegedly insulted the Yugoslav President. The charges were brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Sremska Mitrovica because it was in this town that the entire circulation of Reporter intended for sale in Serbia was seized. In the opinion of Ambassador Robert Berry, the court in Banja Luka had no legal grounds on which to interrogate the journalists because no diplomatic relations exist between FR Yugoslavia and B-H. There are likewise no protocols on cooperation among the courts in these two states. Following up on this issue, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the RS also voiced its concern and called this interrogation a “direct threat to the freedom of the media and journalists in the RS”. The Helsinki Committee holds that this case brings up the issue of relations of judicial authorities of RS and the neighboring Yugoslavia and offered the accused journalists all the necessary legal assistance. Seminar for Prosecutors In order to improve the work of Public Prosecutors’ Offices in Banja Luka a three-day seminar was held in Banja Luka (22 – 25 February) for prosecutors from RS and the Federation of B-H. The seminar was organized by the OSCE with the assistance of the Government of RS. This gathering reviewed conditions in which Public Prosecutors’ Offices operate. Attention was also given to the question of how, within the existing legal norms, to improve labor efficiency and strengthen the role of the Prosecutors’ Offices by increasing the number of activities in investigation and court proceedings. The methods of more resolute struggle against corruption and crime were also addressed. The participants at the seminar were also offered new ideas in order to help them influence amendments to the legislation. Public Prosecutors’ Offices could also play a more prominent role in the investigation stage and court proceedings. During the work, the role of the Public Prosecutor’s Offices in B-H and the role of Prosecutors with expanded powers were reviewed. 29 TV Doboj – non grata A TV Doboj crew was prohibited from reporting on the work of the municipal division of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons. The division head Blasko Jevric refused to allow TV Doboj journalist Violeta Jankoviæ and her cameraman to attend the meeting. The reason for such a decision was not given even though TV Doboj had been invited to attend the meeting. REFORM OF THE JUDICIARY The judiciary in Republika Srpska is persistently burdened by problems that are addressed either inadequately or not at all. The courts are inundated with numerous outstanding cases. On top of that, the judiciary has financial difficulties and relatively low salaries. The courts are understaffed in professionals. Most experienced judges have left the courts to become attorneys or join private companies. It is often mentioned in public that the judicial authorities of the RS and certain individuals within them are corrupt but no specific names have been given to date. Resignation by the Minister of Justice The crisis in the judiciary of the RS culminated in late March when the Minister of Justice in the Government of the RS Milan Trbojeviæ resigned. The resignation was sent at the request of the Serb People’s Alliance (SNS) that expressed its dissatisfaction over judicial reforms and over the inefficiency in resolving particular criminal and corruption scandals. Prime Minister of the RS Milorad Dodik accepted the resignation and appointed Ceda Vrzina as the new Minister of Justice. Vrzina stated that there were quite a number of scandals in the RS that needed to be exposed and that he hoped to be successful in his work. Objections to the work of the courts The Chief of the OSCE mission to B-H, Robert Berry, objected to the court in Banja Luka following its interrogation of journalists Perica Vucinic and Zeljko Cvijanovic. In response to the request made by the court from Sremska Mitrovica, FR Yugoslavia, the court in Banja Luka invited these two journalists to the court for interrogation. The 28 Long-term media work permits From 21 March, the Independent Media Commission (IMC) started issuing long-term work permits to electronic media. Permits for private media are issued for a five year period and the media that previously violated the IMC Code for editing radio and TV programs and terms and conditions for obtaining temporary permits are granted twoyear permits. Public radio and TV stations will obtain two-year permits because many of them will undergo the privatization process and will have to change their status. Two-year permits will also be granted to the newly established radio and TV stations. IMC bans media work On 17 February, the Independent Media Commission (IMC) banned Television Erotel. The ban was imposed because TV Erotel did not want to accept a temporary permit for broadcasting programming assigned to it by IMC. The IMC banned work to Television Vlasenica, which had worked for two years without a permit. The IMC granted a work permit some time ago to Radio Vlasenice but not to its television. The employees at RTV Vlasenica believe that the work ban was imposed because this television had put on air the live coverage of the Congress of the Socialist Party of Serbia. Incident at TV Doboj During the broadcasting of Television Doboj program TV Duel, another incident occurred. Taking part in the program were the representatives of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Serb People’s Alliance (SNS). During the program, Miroslav Pijunoviæ, one-time member of the paramilitary formation MICE burst into the studio carrying a weapon. He hurled threats at members of SNS. TV viewers could see all of this, as it was a live broadcast. Consequently, SNS accused the Editor-in-Chief of TV Doboj Ozren Jorganoviæ of steering the conversation in a partial way and of failing to provide complete security to the persons taking part in the show. First television in Brèko On 2 March, the first private television station TV MiB was put into operation in the District of Brèko. Present at the inauguration ceremony were the Supervisor for Brèko Ambassador Robert Farrand, Mayor Siniša Kisiæ, etc. This TV is owned by Bogdan and Milan Nikiæ. 27 IMC may at any moment require from the media to submit a comprehensive report on political spots and programming as well as a report on the time allocated to each individual political party. Management Board of RTV RS The High Representative to the B-H Wolfgang Petritsch extended the mandate of the Management Board of Radio Television of RS (RTV RS). The mandate of the Management Board was extended because the Government of the RS had not adopted a law on RTV RS. Because of non-existence of an entity law, the High Representative to B-H as early as last August imposed the Law drafted by the OHR experts. The Government of the RS was under the obligation to pass and adopt, by end February 2000, the Law on RTV RS and it was until then that the mandate of the Management Board appointed by the High Representative was to last. At the same time, the High Representative to the B-H expresses his disappointment over the fact that the People’s Assembly of the RS has not made sufficient efforts to attain European standards in the public information system. RTV RS suing the Government of the RS The Radio Television of the RS (RTV RS) filed a suit against the Government of the RS following the failure of the Government to meet its financial obligations vis-à-vis RTV RS. The suit points out that the Government of the RS had not met its budgetary obligations towards RTV RS and failed to pay the larger share of the money required to cover the difference between the originally planned and actually collected TV subscription fees. International Administrator for RTV RS The Office of the High Representative to B-H appointed Jovan Kovacic as the new international administrator for the RTV RS information program. Kovacic had previously been a Reuters correspondent from Kosovo. Branimir Grulovic, former Chief of Reuters television for the Balkans was appointed his adviser. Their task is to help the Editor’s Office in charge of information programming at RTV RS to attain the highest possible level of professionalism and quality. They will be subordinated to Dragan Gasic, technical supervisor of RTV RS and Simon Heyslock, deputy High Representative to the B-H for the media. 26 Manual for journalists As part of education of journalists in Banja Luka, a manual for journalists was presented titled Right to Be Different. This manual, inter alia, advises journalists on how to act more professionally and impartially and says that they should allow to be used for the promotion of intolerance and hatred. The book points out that many media that call themselves independent are often not professional and give political overtones to their coverage. The manual was published by the Media Center from Sarajevo, the European Center for War, Peace and Media and the Freedom Forum. Press Council The Independent Association of Journalists of the RS and the Association of journalists of RS jointly established the Council for the Press. The role of the Council is to review and prevent possible breaches of the journalists’ code and other principles of journalists’ ethics and draw the attention of the public to possible abuses of the press and the freedoms of the media. Apart from journalists, members of both associations, the Council also has among its members a number of well-known public figures. Both Associations of Journalists of RS called on the news associations in the Federation of B-H to also establish a press council of the FB-H. This would further improve the successful hitherto cooperation between the journalists’ associations from the two entities. Media and elections The behavior of all media in B-H during the election campaign is prescribed by the Independent Commission for the Media (IMC). According to these rules, all political parties must be given equal treatment by the media. Since paid political advertisements on the electronic media are prohibited, media have to put on air all spots of the political parties. The total broadcasting time for political spots of all political parties by a medium must not exceed 14 hours. Radio television establishments should keep detailed records on the schedule of political spots broadcasting, time, sequence and contents of the political programming. These records must be communicated to the IMC every Monday during the election campaign. 25 provisions have in part been inherited from the previous political system, and in part they are provisions and rules brought at different places and therefore are not a good legal framework for the work and development of media establishments. The Association of Journalists of Republika Srpska asked the Government of Republika Srpska to work in a more responsible manner on the adoption of the law on information that should serve as the fundamental piece of legislation for the development of free and responsible media. This Association is asking for assistance also all international organizations that are responsible for monitoring the operation of the media in the RS. They are expected to take part, in cooperation with the news agencies, in the drafting of a piece of legislation that will be suited to the needs of democratic societies, primarily in Europe. Journalists stand ready to accept legal provisions that will be based on generally valid media standards and accepted international charters and declarations, related to the activities of the media. The Association of Journalists made it incumbent upon its members, all editor’s offices and media establishments in the RS to work as good professionals during the election campaign and to give all political parties equal opportunities and thus contribute to the development of democracy. Particular media in the RS are still under the influence of certain parties and often cover the activities of political parties with a bias. During the election campaign particular political parties publicly stated that the media neglected them while giving preferential treatment to other parties. Such objections were made against the Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTVRS) by the Serbian Radical Party (RSS) and the Serb Democratic Party (SDS). According to the assessment of these parties RTV RS gave preference to parties from the ruling SLOGA coalition. Media under the responsibility of the Government of the RS As stated by Rajko Vasic, Minister of Information, the Government of RS has under its responsibility, when it comes to electronic media, only RTV RS and as for the printed media, the daily Glas Srpski (Serb Voice) and the weekly Oslobodjenje (Liberation), as well as the SRNA news agency. According to Minister Vasiæ, other media are the responsibility of municipal authorities. Minister Vasiæ pointed out that the independence of the media in the RS is wrongly understood and that it is sufficient to attack the Government for a medium to be considered as independent. The notion of an independent medium should be understood to mean professionalism of the journalists, truthfulness and accurate information, regardless of who it concerns. Government-controlled media can also be independent if they present the truth and do not hide anything. 24 FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT According to the latest information, religious objects, mosques Ferhadija and Arnautija, have been deleted from the land book registers, as if they had never existed. Their former sites have been entered as open space. Inter-religious cooperation The freedom of movement in Republika Srpska and the Federation of B-H is expanding by the day. This applies in particular to road transport. Uniform registration plates on cars make it possible to move quite freely and safely throughout B-H. Joint Transport Corporation of the RS and FB-H On 1 March, Prime Ministers Milorad Dodik of RS and Edhem Bicakcic of FB-H signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint corporation in the field of transport between the two entities. The purpose of the corporation is to promote road transport and improve the road network. The idea to establish a public corporation is supported by the desire of both entities to link up and ensure safety of the road network. This is of crucial importance for economic development, international trade and free movement of people, goods and capital throughout B-H. This will also make it possible to establish the most important land transport routes with neighboring and other European countries. The establishment of joint corporations between the RS and the FB-H has been made possible on the basis of Annex IX of the Dayton Peace Accords. In the area of transport three corporations have been envisaged for rail, road and river transport. The first joint corporation between the entities was established in the field of rail transport last year. Owing to this corporation, inter-ethnic rail transport was established and a Protocol signed with Croatia and Yugoslavia. As a result, the Bosnia-Herzegovina railways have been given the possibility to join international rail traffic flows. FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA Media in Republika Srpska are still in a very grave situation because the entire field of the media has not yet been properly legally regulated. The currently valid legal 23 the 21st Century was organized by the World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The participants were representatives and priests of all religions in B-H (Orthodox, Catholic, Islamic and Jewish). The objective of the conference was to bring together the representatives of the official authorities, civil society and religious communities and to exchange ideas and experiences on the status of religion and religious communities in the democratization of society in B-H. One of the conclusions was that a single law should be passed on religious communities and their equality before the law. As an outcome of the debate on the topic of religion and education, the position was adopted that this subject matter should be studied at schools only as religious culture. DISCRIMINATION National and religious discrimination in Republika Srpska has been present in all quarters and at all levels. The members of other nations and religions have been exposed to all forms of discrimination. Bosniacs, Croats and Roma have been deprived of some basic human rights. They have no right to their own home, a job, property, telephone. They often have problems with obtaining personal and property-related documents. Convention on the Protection of Minorities Bosnia-Herzegovina adopted the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and became a member of the Association of States Struggling against Corruption, the Council of Europe head office in Strasbourg, France stated. The framework convention contains basic principles for the protection of national minorities that each state party is to honor. The principles set forth in the Convention include struggle against discrimination, promotion of equality between the majority population and national minorities, as well as creation of conditions for preserving and developing cultural identity, language, religion and tradition of minorities. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been applied in most European countries and will come into effect in B-H on 1 June 2000. 22 RIGHT TO RELIGION The right to the freedom of religion in the RS is regulated by the Constitution and relevant legislation. Under these provisions, all citizens are entitled to the freedom of religion under international standards and conventions on human rights and freedoms. However, not all citizens of Republika Srpska can enjoy the freedom of religion in practice and in real life in equal measure. Full freedom is enjoyed only by persons belonging to the Orthodox faith. Apart from the existing religious Orthodox shrines and buildings several hundred of new ones have been built or are in the process of being built. Persons belonging to the Catholic faith may carry out their services in the existing and renewed religious facilities. These facilities have frequently been stoned and desecrated. In early March unknown persons burst into the Catholic Church in Bijeljina. The entrance door was smashed and the inside of the church was searched. The Biljina church district welcomed a new permanent priest but he is cannot move into the parsonage near the church. The parsonage has been usurped by a nearby elementary school that turned it into classrooms. This is where retarded children receive their education. The school does not want to hand over the parsonage to the priest. Persons of Islamic religion do not have a place where to perform their religious rites. During the war all mosques in the RS were destroyed. Muslim Bosniacs hold religious services at private houses or in some adapted premises. The Islamic communities of Banja Luka and Bijeljina asked from the municipal and entity authorities to allow the construction of mosques. The authorities refused to grant permission. The authorities of these two towns designed new urban plans, which do not allow the construction of mosques on their former locations. The authorities of Banja Luka also rejected the decision of the Human Rights Center, which demanded from them the issuance of a permit for the construction of Islamic religious facilities previously demolished by Serb extremists. Because of that the High Representative to B-H Wolfgang Petritsch relieved of office Mayor Djordje Umicevic. An inter-religious conference was held in Banja Luka geared to reconciliation, understanding and cooperation among the members of different religions in B-H. The Conference titled Religious Communities and Democracy in B-H at the Beginning of 21 UNHCR would work more intensively on removing the difficulties hampering the return process. Mrs. Ogata assessed that the new property laws are a key document for the return process and proposed the holding of a conference of the representatives of Republika Srpska, the B-H Federation and the Republic of Croatia. According to her data, since the end of the war around 25,000 inhabitants have returned to the RS, of which 13,000 have returned in the past year. On this occasion it was proposed to consider the exchange of occupancy right between citizens from one and the other entity as one of the possibilities of more efficient settlement of the refugee question. Plots of land for development and apartments for refugees Various methods are devised in order to settle the problem of permanently housing Serb refugees in the area of the RS. In the past few months, in many municipalities refugees are allocated free plots of land for development where they are to build their homes. This method is not the most efficient because most refugees do not have enough money to build houses. More recently, the Government of the RS constructed several residential buildings in a number of towns intended for the accommodation of refugees and displaced persons. The problems of refugees are thus being settled on a permanent basis. One such building with 46 apartments was built in Bratunac and the refugee families that had until recently stayed in collective centers moved in. In the municipality of Vukosavlje, the construction has started of 300 houses for refugees and 48 pre-fabricated apartments are being constructed in Derventa. The Government of the RS planned the construction of a settlement in Doboj. In the area of the Laktaši municipality, 48 apartments for Serb refugees have been built. Once they move into these apartments, Bosniac apartments where they have stayed so far will be freed for the expellees to return. According to the latest plans of the Government of the RS, a total of 10,000 apartments are to be built in the next two years. It would be necessary to construct 44,000 apartments to resolve all housing problems in Republika Srpska. 20 Terrorist attacks During this period there were a number of terrorist attacks motivated by political reasons in the RS. As the election campaign was going on (for local elections due on 8 April), extremists from particular parties wanted to pick a fight with their political adversaries. Apart from the attacks carried out with a typical terrorist overtone, what causes particular concern is the fact that the police have not found any perpetrators. After every attack, the police conduct an investigation on the spot and that is all. Two such incidents occurred in Srebrenica. In early February a car make Kadett, owned by Branislav Gojkoviæ, Chairman of the Municipal Committee of the Social Democratic Party of B-H (SDP) Srebrenica and manager of the timber and wood-processing company JADAR was set ablaze. The car burned out in the fire and the police did not find the culprits. In late February, a car make Vektra owned by Milisav Gavriæ, retired Police Commander in Srebrenica, was also put on fire in a similar way. No culprits were found in this case either. In Prijedor, the car of Zoran Zmijanjac, Deputy Chairman of the Municipal Committee of the Radical Party of the RS and Deputy to the Prijedor Municipal Assembly was put on fire. A hand grenade was thrown in front of the IPTF station at Pale (1 February). The explosion damaged three IPTF vehicles and one civilian car. On 19 March a planted explosive device in Banja Luka totally destroyed Dragan Kojèinoviæ’s car. The window panes at nearby buildings were cracked by the denotation. The police did not identify the assailants. Positive examples of return Despite permanent prevention of return of non-Serbs into Republika Srpska and obstruction by local and entity authorities, there are nevertheless some positive examples of return. Most people still continue to return to rural areas. Some return to towns but their number is much smaller. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata discussed the problems of return with top ranking officials of the Government of RS. In her talks with Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and Minister for Refugees Miladin Dragièeviæ, she promised that 19 Grozdan Savic. This attack was reported to the local and international police. During the investigation, the police brought in to the Lopare station eight Serb suspects. A group of Serb women attacked Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee Izet Nakicevic in a municipal building in Zvornik. This incident lasted around half an hour and the police did not intervene. At Karakaj, Zvornik municipality, a Bosniac woman was attacked at the registration center for privatization. In the nearby settlement of Kula Grad, to which Bosniacs have been returning, a cross has been put up and the returnees keep receiving threats. The Serb refugees now living at the village of Glinje (Ugljevik municipality) prevented the arrival of Bosniacs to this village. According to a previous agreement with the local authorities, the Bosniacs were to start repairing their houses that are currently unoccupied. However, Serb refugees requested from the local authorities to first issue decisions to them allocating free plots of land for development where they want to build their houses. A group of extreme Serb nationalists at Kopaci (Srpsko Gorazde municipality) threw an explosive (11 March) on the reconstructed house of returnee Muja Sisic. 20 Bosniacs had been accommodated in that house, returnees to Kopace who had started repairing their houses. The return of Bosniacs was agreed with the local authorities and international organizations. At Kopaèi, 38 Bosniac houses are currently being reconstructed with the assistance of the international organization GOAL. Because of the above incident, Deputy Chief of Police and three policemen in charge of security of the returnees were suspended from duty at Srpsko Gorazde. At Kopaci (Srpsko Gorazde municipality), another incident occurred on 27 March. Another Bosniac house was attacked with around 20 returnees inside. The house was stoned and all the windows smashed. In the meantime, there were other incidents. When a Serb wedding party passed by that house, someone in the column opened fire on the Bosniacs and the drinking fountain in front of Nezir Kanlic’s house was destroyed. Bosniac returnees complain about the lax attitude of the local police who do not bring in the assailants. Everybody knows who the assailants are but the police tolerate their behavior. Explosive devices and hand grenades were thrown several times on Esad Music’s house at Laus, Banja Luka municipality. After the most recent attack, the police found and arrested two assailants (Silvije Sobot and Dario Barisic). Charges were brought against them. 18 business facilities have been built in particular municipalities on land belonging to the expelled Bosniacs and Roma (Bijeljina, Visegrad, Srpsko Gorazde, Rogatica). Around 30 cases were registered in the entire RS of violent prevention of return, apart from the mentioned cases in Bijeljina and Janja. The Office of the High Representative to B-H has also indicated this problem. It stressed in particular a large number of attacks on Bosniac returnees and their houses in the territory of the Prnjavor municipality. According to the OHR data presented by spokesman James Ferguson in the Prnjavor municipality, the property of one returnee was destroyed on 20 March and one returnee was wounded on 21 March. The accident that occurred on 25 March claimed the life of one returnee. The returnee was cleaning up the house and burning waste when a hand grenade, that had probably been hidden in the garbage, exploded, killed one and wounded two more returnees. A day later, a new incident occurred when a Bosniac house was stoned. OHR spokesman James Ferguson expressed grave concern over the fact that the local police had failed to find a single of the perpetrators of these and other incidents. He stated that the incidents had been staged in order to intimidate returnees and obstruct the return process. Ferguson called on the local authorities and the police to guarantee, in accordance with their obligations, security to citizens and make it possible for them to return to their property. The deputies to the Prnjavor Municipal Assembly also voiced their protest over frequent threats and armed incidents that Bosniac returnees had been exposed to. They demand from the local police and the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) of the RS to take vigorous measures to shed light on particular incidents. Unless they can do it by themselves, the deputies will ask IPTF and SFOR for assistance. The hand grenade attack on a Bosniac house also was carried out at the settlement of Gornji Ratkovici (Teslic municipality). A hand grenade was thrown on Suad Osmic’s house, but inflicted only material damage. The attack was condemned by the local authorities, who requested from the police to identify the perpetrators. Serb refugees at the Brcko settlement of Klanac prevented the reconstruction of the house owned by a Bosniac returnee Sead Junuzoviæ. Security during the construction was provided by the Brcko multi-national police force. However, to avoid a conflict with some 100 Serb refugees the police withdrew. At Koraje (Lopare municipality), Serb refugees attacked Bosniac returnees who were repairing their houses. Serious bodily injuries were inflicted on Safet Zekrijah and Admir Karic, Nedzad Alagic and Halil Salihovic. Only one attacker was identified as 17 Prevention of return The methods used to prevent return include threats and physical attacks on returnees, hand grenades thrown on their houses. The most drastic examples of prevention of the return of Bosniacs occurred from 19-28 February in Janja and Bijeljina. In that period, four houses belonging to Bosniac returnees were set ablaze at Janja and several hand grenades were thrown on them. Two of the houses belonged to deputies to the Bijeljina Municipal Assembly, members of the Coalition for a Single and Democratic B-H (Mehmed Mehmedoviæ and Zuhdija Baæevac). The damage inflicted by the explosion of a hand grenade thrown on Sead Gruhonjiæ’s house amounts to more than KM 3,000. Due to the unstable situation at Janja, Bosniac children did not go to school for several days. To stabilize the security situation at Janja, the local police, the IPTF and SFOR reinforced their presence. Before the war, Janja had been a town inhabited solely by Bosniacs, some 11,000 people. During the war, all inhabitants were expelled and their houses were move into by Serbs who had fled parts of the Federation of B-H. The problem of Janja will be difficult to resolve because all the Bosniacs want to return to their homes and Serb refugees want to settle at Janja permanently. In Bijeljina, at the town center, a hand grenade was thrown on the house of a Bosniac returnee, Osman Pilakoviæ. All these incidents passed without casualties. The local police did not find a single perpetrator. According to the data of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of the RS, by end March, a total of around 64,000 applications for return of private houses were made (owners are Bosniacs, Croats and Roma) and over 22,200 for return of apartments. The authorities usurping other people’s property The return of Bosniac and Roma families to the RS has deliberately been prevented also by the civil and military authorities. Namely, many official entity and local civil and military institutions are located in expelled Bosniacs’ and Roma’s houses. This problem is particularly pronounced in the eastern part of Republika Srpska. Large Roma houses in Bijeljina now house the military court, the directorate for privatization of the RS, the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons, the Institute of Textbooks, etc. There are similar cases in Zvornik, Višegrad, Rogatica, Foèa (Srbinje), Èajnièe and other towns in that area. A number of cases have been registered in this area of land and houses of expellees having been given to Serb refugees for permanent use. Residential buildings and 16 responsibility for the return of property and the enforcement of these decisions, including dislocation, rests with the municipal divisions of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of the RS. Not even the international mediator for B-H Cristian Schwarz Schilling is satisfied with the pace of the return process. Mr. Schilling stated this (on 12 March) following his visit to some towns in the RS and the Federation of B-H. He pointed out in particular to the problem of so-called drifters, i.e. internally displaced persons, families that had not left the RS, but were expelled from their homes during the war and have not yet returned to them. They continue to be accommodated in sub-standard premises with a number of persons occupying one room. Mr. Schilling stated that he was given promises concerning return as early as a year ago from the official authorities of the RS, but very little has been done in that respect. On that occasion, Mr. Schilling sent the message that “unless the Dayton Agreement, particularly its Annex VII, are implemented, there will be no international financial assistance for the RS. And without that assistance, the RS is dead”. Dislodgment Under the Property Laws adopted by the OHR, in order to ensure the exercise of the right to return to pre-war property the authorities are obligated, in certain situation, to evict, dislodge the present tenants. This applies to the occupants who are not willing to leave other people’s property voluntarily but do not have refugee status or do have alternative accommodation. Dislodging in such situations is inevitable, albeit rather unpopular. Prior to eviction, the occupants are given the deadline within which to move out voluntarily, ranging from 15 to 90 days. Dislodging have provoked protests among the current occupants of other people’s property, which is often abused by some political parties. Municipals associations of war veterans and disabled war veterans have also opposed evictions. On the other hand, the returnees have demanded that dislodgment be carried out within the legally prescribed periods without delays. To date, dislodgment has been carried out in more than 100 cases by the municipal divisions of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of the RS, in a number of towns, including Banja Luka, Kotor Varos, Prijedor, Brcko, Bijeljina and Derventa. 15 RIGHT TO RETURN The right to return of refugees and expelled citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina is clearly regulated by the Dayton Peace Accords, Annex VII. According to these provisions, all persons are allowed to return to the places of their pre-war domicile and to be returned all their immovable property (houses, apartments). Annex VII stipulates two more possibilities for solving this problem: the right for each person to decide at his/her own discretion where he/she wants to live and to freely sell or swap his/her pre-war immovable property. The exercise of the right to return is the major problem in the implementation of the Dayton Accords. This problem is often referred to, however, little has been done to resolve it. In their statements, the official authorities of the RS advocate the return of refugees and expelled non-Serbs and make various promises. However, in reality, the return proceeds very slowly and is hindered by numerous obstructions by the authorities themselves. According to the current pace of return, this process could take 30 to 50 years. According to some of its promises, the Government of the RS estimates that all refugees could return to their original domiciles within two years. Such a promise is utterly unrealistic and is no more then political rhetoric. The process of return is also prevented by many objective reasons. First and foremost, accommodation facilities are lacking. Displaced Serbs who have come from the Federation of B-H have shown little interest in returning to their pre-war homes. On the other hand, the majority of refugee and expelled Bosniacs would wish to return to their former homes. Many municipalities seek to settle this problem by allocating free plots of land for development to the displaced Serb population. Thus, in March, 242 such plots were allocated to displaced persons in Bijeljina. Only after they have built houses, they will move out of those to which Bosniacs should return. This will be a long lasting process (in all municipalities), because the refugees do not have enough money for rapid construction and everybody is hoping to get some international aid. Under the property laws adopted by the High Representative to B-H, priority in the return of property shall be given to those citizens who did not leave the RS during the war and whose houses and apartments have not been occupied by refugee families. Displacement will be applied on families who have double accommodation and who have sold or swapped their property in the FB-H. However, because of the deliberate obstruction carried out by the municipal divisions of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of the RS even these clear cases are rarely resolved. The entire 14 Representative to B-H. This, however, has not been done and there is a deliberate obstruction of enforcement of decisions taken even in priority cases. Priority cases concern those citizens who have not left the RS but have been expelled from their homes, as well as cases of double use of property by Serb refugees and occupation of other people’s property by domicile population. According to the OHR’s property laws, such cases should be dealt with urgently and illegal occupants must abandon other people’s property within 15 days. Otherwise, they will have to be moved forcibly (dislocated), which is again within the responsibility of the Ministry for Refugees. The obstruction of work of the municipal services of the Ministry for Refugees has been supported and encouraged by local authorities. Citizens demand that their right to work be protected when privatization in the RS is implemented. As many companies have been out of work for a long period of time, or work at the minimum capacity, a large number of citizens are out of work, on so-called waiting. Privatization of such companies will definitely leave them jobless. Citizens demand that in the course of privatization they do not lose their jobs. A typical example of lay-off in the privatization process occurred in the VITT trade company from Bijeljina. The company had its two shops with four employed persons. VITT sold its shops to a private company. The new owner occupied the shops on the very same day and immediately laid-off the four workers, even though they had worked in those shops for 15 to 20 years. A large number of ethnic Serbs who had fled the territory of Federation of B-H have complained about the implementation of the Labor Law in the FB-H. Under the new Labor Law (Article 143), all persons who have lost their jobs since 1991 for various reasons (ethnicity, war, refugee status, etc.) are to be returned to their former work posts. If the companies cannot take them back to work within six months, they are obligated to recognize their years of service as if they had been “on waiting” and provide them with a severance pay for termination of work. However, most firms in FBH have not been implementing these decisions set forth in the Labor Law. The reasons are both understandable (lack of funds, inability to repair the destroyed facilities and start new production) and untrue (preventing return of persons belonging to another ethnicity). Citizens are interested in amending the laws and regulations in the FB-H stipulating that a returnee to the Federation must spend at least two years in his own property and only after the expiry of that period may sell it or swap it. Citizens also call for the adoption of a law that will make it possible to swap a tenancy right between the two entities. 13 The delegation of the RS Government led by the Minister of Justice Milan Trbojeviæ visited the Hague Tribunal in late March. The delegation met with the Chief Prosecutor, Karla del Ponte, the Justices of the Tribunal and the Scheveningen prison warden. The discussions also reviewed the possibility of releasing particular detainees to await trial in liberty. The delegation voiced protest with the Tribunal over the use of force by SFOR during the arrests of the defendants. The delegation gave the example of the unjustified arrest and beating of Rade Mikanoviæ in Prijedor. The Tribunal was requested to pay the cost of medical treatment for such victims and financial compensation for the fear and pain they had suffered. In the course of this period, SFOR troops arrested Dragoljub Prciæ from Prijedor. A public indictment was issued against Prciæ on charges of a war crime. During the arrest, he was in the company of Rade Mikanoviæ. SFOR used force during arrests and beat up both. Mikanoviæ was released and Prciæ was transferred to the Hague. The arrest itself did not provoke any major reaction of the citizens. All parties and citizens protested against the use of force during the arrests. LEGAL ASSISTANCE The Legal Service of the Helsinki Committee with its Attorneys-at-Law has successfully continued the work on the project for providing legal assistance to citizens from all over B-H and for representing citizens in particular cases in court. In the reviewed period, 344 citizens asked for assistance. Their most frequent problems concern Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Accords, i.e. their right to return. The citizens complained that the municipal divisions of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons have outdated records and are slow in settling cases in court. A large number of citizens submitted requests for return of their property and for more than a year they have not received any answer from the competent services of the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons. The municipal services have not met the deadlines within which they were supposed to enforce the certificates attesting to ownership and issued by the CRPC. The Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons, i.e. its municipal divisions, are obligated to carry out these decisions and implement property laws adopted by the High 12 than 25 percent owned by the Government or financed from the Government budget in the amount of more than 25 percent. This rule was adopted by the PEC and it will be enforced after the local elections (8 April). The regulation was adopted in order to avoid collusion between politicians and businessmen and the abuse of political and economic powers. It has been observed that so far individual politicians served on ten or even more Management Boards. (Momèilo Krajišnik, the former member of the B-H Presidency, was during his term of office, a member of 14 Management Boards). “This rule will be an important tool in the fight against corruption, discrimination and political sponsorship that have seriously damaged the fabric of political life in B-H in the past years”, stated Robert Berry, Chief of OSCE Mission. If the candidates who are elected as municipal deputies breach this rule, they will be given the option to either leave the office to which they have been elected or give up their seat on the Management Board. The same rule will apply to the elected officials at higher levels of government administration. They, too, will be requested to relinquish either of their two offices. COOPERATION WITH THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL The authorities of Republika Srpska have shown an increasingly cooperative spirit in their relations with the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. This has become evident lately on several occasions. The civil and military authorities of the RS have agreed to hand over weapons for analysis to the Hague Tribunal experts that are investigating the crimes committed following the fall of Srebrenica (July 1995). The weapons had been in the warehouses at Bratunac and Šekoviæi. Following the completion of the expert analysis, the weapons were returned to the warehouses. The Hague Tribunal investigators visited Republika Srpska in late March. They submitted to the RS authorities a list of names of 32 persons that they wanted to interrogate about crimes committed in those parts during the war. Of those persons, five are RS police officers and others are RS Army personnel. The military authorities found six persons and asked them over to make statements to the team of investigators from the Hague. The said persons agreed and were interviewed by the representatives of the Tribunal. The other persons from the communicated list were not invited for lack of their current address. 11 Although it will not take part in the elections, the Serbian Radical Party has nevertheless pursued its own special campaign. This Party has organized gatherings, roundtables and press conferences calling on the electorate to boycott the elections. The system of open lists In the new voting system, the system of what is known as open lists, the voters may vote only for a party or for particular candidates from the party list. Voters from abroad also take part in the elections. They will send in their ballots by mail. The election campaign officially started on 22 February and will last until the very elections. 24 hours prior to the opening of the polling stations, the so-called election silence will be introduced. Ban on paid political advertising The Independent Media Commission (IMC) decided to ban paid political advertisements in the election campaign on the electronic media. The ban on radio and television advertising was imposed in order to ensure equal media access to all parties. The media protested because of this ban because they will not be able to earn any money during the election campaign. The electronic media are under the obligation to allot to all parties taking part in the election campaign equal amount of time free of charge. Ban on running in the elections for candidates occupying other people’s property The Provisional Electoral Commission (PEC) brought a regulation saying that persons staying in other people’s property shall not be elected. If particular parties have put forward candidates who occupy other people’s property, such persons are required to abandon such property if they wish to remain in the election list. In the hitherto practice, there has been quite a number of cases of officials occupying the apartments of expelled citizens. The initiative for adopting this regulation was launched by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the RS. The elected political officials shall not be members of Management Boards of particular companies or managers of such companies. This applies to the companies that are more 10 The District of Brcko of B-H was to be organized as a separate administrative unit having its own self-rule and falling solely under the responsibility of the state of B-H. Following the proclamation of the District, Supervisor Farrand formed a transitional government and a transitional Assembly. The Government is composed of 9 members and is headed by Mayor Sinisa Kisic. The Assembly has 29 members and its Speaker is Mirsad Djapo. According to the Statute of the District of Brcko, this area is to be fully demilitarized and its inhabitants are not subject to military draft. All three languages spoken in B-H (Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian) are as equal as the two alphabets (Latin and Cyrillic). The state of B-H and the District of Brcko share the same flag and anthem. ELECTIONS Under the decision of the Provisional Electoral Commission (PEC), municipal elections in B-H are to be held on 8 April 2000. They will be held in accordance with the PEC Rules and Regulations. It had been previously planned to hold the elections under the new Electoral Law for B-H. However, the joint authorities of B-H reached no agreement on the adoption of that law. The most disputable article concerned the election of the members of the B-H Presidency. The High Representative to B-H Wolfgang Petritsch and the Chief of OSCE Mission Robert Berry asked all parties represented in the B-H Assembly to adopt the draft law on elections drawn up by the experts of the OHR and the OSCE. The PEC confirmed the participation in the elections of 68 political parties and seven coalitions. There are a total of 22,355 candidates on electoral lists. The local elections will not be held in the District of Brcko or in the Srebrenica municipality. The Serbian Radical Party is forbidden to run in the elections Under an earlier decision of the PEC, the OSCE and the OHR, the Serbian Radical Party, the second largest party by the number of votes polled in the RS in the 1998 elections, was forbidden to run in the elections. The ban was imposed because the Serbian Radical Party refused the PEC proposal to re-register and to abandon the candidacy of Nikola Poplasen, the ousted President of the RS, as well as of Mirko Blagojevic, President of the SRP Executive Council, and Ognjen Tadic, SRP Secretary General. 9 At this session the deputies of the People’s Assembly of the RS were expected to elect the second Vice Speaker of the People’s Assembly from the Bosniac side. This election was agreed as part of the agreement on Bosniacs joining the Government of the RS. One of the items on the agenda was also the appointment of a judge of the Constitutional Court of B-H from the ranks of the Serb people in lieu of Mirko Arsovic who had resigned. The Law on Ombudsmans The People’s Party of the RS adopted at its session on 8 February the Law on Ombudsmans, which stipulates the establishment of the institution of ombudsman in the RS. Ombudsmans in the Federation of B-H have been functioning for more than three years. The ombudsmans are tasked with monitoring and protecting human rights of all citizens of Republika Srpska. Under this Law, there shall be three ombudsmans in this institution (the representatives of Serbs, Croats and Bosniacs). The office of Ombudsman may be held by any person with a bachelor’s degree who is fully familiar with the situation of human rights and human rights violations in the RS. The first ombudsmans are elected for a period of one year and at the proposal of the Office of Ombudsman for B-H. Consent to the appointment of the ombudsmans is granted by the OHR, OSCE, the People’s Assembly and the Government of the RS. The adoption of the Law on Ombudsmans was supported and welcomed by the OHR and the OSCE. THE BRCKO DISTRICT The decisions of the Dayton Peace Accords have not settled the issue of the area of the Brcko Municipality. The pre-war area of the Brcko municipality had for the most part belonged to Republika Srpska and in a small part to the Federation of B-H. Brcko was administered by Supervisor Robert Farrand. The administrative regulation of this district was defined by the final arbitration decision brought by U.S. diplomat Roberts Owen on 5 March this year. Under this decision, Brcko was declared a district based on condominium. The District of Brcko was proclaimed on 8 March, in the presence of many officials including U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. 8 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for War Veterans’ Affairs Tihomir Giloric (member of the Socialist Party). In response to that, the Socialist Party wanted to withdraw all its members from the Government. However, these Ministers, at Prime Minister Dodik’s request, remained in the Government of the RS. Consequently, they were expelled from the Socialist Party. The crisis in the Government of the RS delayed the enactment of particular draft laws. The Bosniacs join the Government The Government of Republika Srpska is exclusively made up of Serbs. Bosniac representatives asked for themselves particular ministerial posts. Having spent quite some time insisting on this matter, Prime Minister Dodik, who had consulted other Parties, offered to the Bosniacs three posts of Advisers in three Ministries. This was also accepted by the deputies of the Coalition for a Single and Democratic BosniaHerzegovina. The Bosniac advisers will be appointed following the elections (8 April). PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY OF THE RS The problems besetting the Government and the President of the RS in their work have inevitably attended the work of the People’s Assembly as well. The work of the People’s Assembly was strongly influenced by the split in the ruling SLOGA coalition which had been made up of the Serbian People’s Alliance (SNS), the Party of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD) and the Socialist Party (SP). After some differences came to light, the SP stepped out of the SLOGA coalition. This considerably affected the work of the People’s Assembly of the RS whose President is Petar Djokic (member of the SP). The crisis in the work of the People’s Assembly was manifested in the failure to adopt some key draft laws such as the law on the purchase of apartments, the law on information, etc. The crisis culminated at the tenth session of the People’s Assembly on 20 March. Since particular parliamentary parties obstructed the procedure, no agenda was adopted. The Speaker of the People’s Assembly adjourned the session and decided that it would resume after the elections (8 April). The debate on the adoption of the agenda was held exclusively in order to promote the interests of particular parties, i.e. this was the way for them to advertise themselves in anticipation of the elections. 7 Establishment of the Border Service of B-H The Border service of Bosnia-Herzegovina was set up under the agreement set forth in the New York Declaration. It is organized as an independent state agency that is under the general responsibility of the Presidency of B-H. The Director and his Deputies submit reports on their work directly to the Presidency of B-H. The Border Service is mandated to secure the border, border crossing points and airports in B-H. The Service will be organized at three levels of directorates with several organizational units – the administration, field offices and border police units. WORK OF ENTITY AUTHORITIES President of the RS Republika Srpska has been without a President of the Republic for more than a year. On 5 March last year High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina Carlos Westendorp relieved of office President of the RS Nikola Poplasen. Since then, Republika Srpska has been without a President. The President was relieved of office because he had refused to comply with the suggestion made by the OHR on designating the Prime Minister Elect of the RS. This office has since then been only partly discharged by the current Vice-President of the RS Mirko Šaroviæ. Vice President Šaroviæ (belonging to the Serbian Democratic Party) was not willing to accept the office of President. He only decided to do so three months ago, but the High Representative to B-H did not give his approval. Government of the RS The current Government of the RS, led by Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, was elected in January 1998. Following the November 1998 general elections the incumbent President of Republika Srpska was to propose a new Prime Minister Elect that would propose to the People’s Assembly the names of persons to fill the ministerial posts in his government. Since not a single of his proposals for the Prime Minister Elect was accepted, and since the President of Republika Srpska was relieved of office, Milorad Dodik remained Prime Minister. The political conflicts in the SLOGA coalition and the departure of the Socialist Party from the coalition resulted in a cabinet crisis. Prime Minister Dodik relieved of office 6 offensive in order to overcome the situation where the Dayton Accords have in fact not resolved anything in B-H. Ambassador Petritsch also critically assessed the no-show of the Serbian deputies at the sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly. The deputies from Republika Srpska did not attend the session because the Chairman of the Presidency of B-H Alija Izetbegovic made a statement referring to the “ustashi and chetniks”. After Mr. Petritsch’s warning, the deputies did come to the following session. Crisis in the Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers had three Co-Chairmen (representatives of all three peoples). The crisis in the Council of Ministers occurred following the decision of the Constitutional Court of B-H proclaiming the functions of the Co-Chairmen unconstitutional and no longer valid. Under this decision, the current Co-Chairmen of the Council of Ministers were to be relieved of their duties. The Co-Chairman representing the Bosniac people Haris Silajdzic tendered his resignation and stepped down from the Council. Following a several-day-long crisis, the Presidency of B-H proposed a new organizational structure in which the Council of Ministers was to be administered by one Chairman and two of his Deputies. The rotation of the First Man of the Council of Ministers will be effected in the same way as in the Presidency of B-H (every eight months). This decision was also approved by the Constitutional Court of B-H. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers and his Deputies have not yet been appointed. The Crisis of the Constitutional Court of B-H The Constitutional Court of B-H is composed of two representatives of each of the following peoples: the Serb, Croat and Bosniac peoples. The crisis occurred in early February with the resignation of judge Mirko Arsovic, representing the Serb people. He explained that his resignation had been motivated by his dissatisfaction with the decision of the Constitutional Court terminating the validity of particular provisions of the Law on the Council of Ministers. Arsic’s resignation blocked the work of the Constitutional Court and this will remain the case until a new judge from the RS has been designated. 5 The visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mrs. Madeleine Albright to Banja Luka and the clear American support to the moderate political forces in the RS represented an important juncture that will prompt many citizens to cast their ballots in favor of the moderates. Regrettably, particular leaders of moderate political forces very often tend to discredit the international support that they have by their not well thought out actions and statements. We believe that the international community should, in parallel to supporting moderate political leaders, also make very clear demands on them with regard to human rights, transparency of the government’s financial transactions, privatization, support to returnees and cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. ACTIVITIES OF JOINT AUTHORITIES OF B-H Under the Dayton Peace Accords, Bosnia-Herzegovina was constituted as a single state made up of two entities – Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Each entity has autonomous authority (the parliament, the Army, the Police, education, the judiciary). The joint authorities of B-H are regulated by Annex IV of the Dayton Accords. These authorities include the Parliamentary Assembly of B-H that is bicameral. The Chamber of Representatives is composed of 42 deputies (28 from the Federation of B-H and 14 from Republika Srpska). The Chamber of Peoples has 15 deputies (5 Serbs, 5 Croats and 5 Bosniacs). The Council of Minister is responsible for foreign policy and civil issues. The Presidency of B-H is the supreme authority of B-H and is composed of three members (a representative of each of the constituent peoples of B-H). Annex IV specifies how joint authorities should be elected and how they should discharge their duties. The Chairman of the Presidency of B-H is rotated every eight months. Since 15 February the Chairman has been the Bosniac member of the Presidency Alija Izetbegovic. Although we have entered the fifth year since the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, many joint institutions in B-H do not function the way it was stipulated by Annex IV of the Dayton Accords. Opposing views are often voiced in the joint authorities. The representatives of the entities solely pursue the interests of their own side and their own nation. Such obstruction of the work hinders the implementation of the Dayton Accords. Thus, B-H suffers financial damage in respect of arrangements and agreements stipulating joint appearance before international donors. The work of the joint authorities has been particularly strongly criticized by the High Representative to B-H Wolfgang Petritsch. Mr. Petritsch suggests a new diplomatic 4 daily basis, most scathing criticism on the moderates in Republika Srpska with clear messages to the voters that they should not vote for these moderates in the elections. We think that this propaganda produced very good results in the north-eastern and eastern parts of the RS. The activities of a large number of non-governmental organizations in overseeing the election campaign and preparations for overseeing elections created favorable conditions for the elections. As for foreign topics, the events in Kosovo, in Montenegro and Serbia quite evidently continue to attract most attention. The entire general public of the RS is very much concerned over the suffering of Kosovar Serbs and this is one of the most frequently addressed foreign policy topics. The media and the general public follow very carefully events in Chechnya, almost entirely siding with Russia, unlike the general public in the Federation of B-H that formally gives strong support to the Chechens calling for a halt on human rights violations. Also very interesting were the responses to the results of the elections in Austria and we could highlight two aspects that prevailed. On the one hand, there was tacit and even overt support among the nationalists to the leader of Jerg Heider’s Freedom Party. On the other hand, moderate political parties in the RS understood the pressure exerted on Austria by the international community as part of a global concern over the upsurge of the xenophobia and intolerance policies, thus describing the engagement of the international community in B-H as something normal and expected. The election of Stjepan Mesiæ as President of the Republic of Croatia was welcomed in many quarters in B-H with a great deal of optimism. The Bosniacs showed unhidden pleasure when they found about the very clear stance of the new Croatian President regarding the relationship of the Republic of Croatia vis-à-vis Herzeg Bosnia and the Croat people in B-H in general. The very early visit by the newly elected Croatian President to Bosnia in late March helped both clarify and improve relations between BH and the Republic of Croatia. In Republika Srpska people were greatly encouraged by the meeting between Prime Minister Dodik and Croatian Foreign Minister Tonin Picula and by the financial and political support to the activities geared to enabling the two-way return to the RS and Croatia given by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. However, more careful analysts certainly did not forget the loudly announced Dodik – Granic (the former Croatian Foreign Minister) agreement signed almost two years ago which has since then for the most part remained a dead letter. 3 rights violations and particularly the rights to private property and restitution of property. In mid-February, following an order issued by the Hague Tribunal, SFOR seized from the units of the Army of the RS their light weapons at Sekovci and Bratunac in order to send them for analysis in connection with the events in Srebrenica in 1995. This and a number of other activities of the Hague Tribunal have aroused public interest in Republika Srpska and a number of controversial responses. The announcements by particular political leaders from B-H that cantonisation of the RS is necessary were received with strong disapproval by the public in Republika Srpska. The Office of High Representative also expressed its clear disapproval of this idea, which helped ease high political tensions. At the end of February, the campaign for local elections, which were to be held on 8 April, was initiated. It was marked by the threats of the Serbian Radical Party to the effect that it would seek to foment unrest and provoke violence and prevent the holding of the elections. The Party representatives called on several occasions on the citizens to boycott the elections. During the election campaign media access was granted equally to all parties and as the day of the elections neared the situation in the RS seemed increasingly calm, a very interesting and unexpected phenomenon. The nationalist Serb Democratic Party received a strong support from extremist political leader from the B-H Federation Alija Izetbegovic, as well as from Haris Silajdzic, who made a number of unbalanced statements directed against the RS. The moderate forces in Republika Srpska entered the election campaign with a great deal of inertia, as if expecting somebody else to do that job for them. The representatives of the SLOGA (Concord) coalition were preoccupied with their internal conflicts, struggle for ministerial and managers’ posts and personal promotion, while spending much less time campaigning at grass-roots level. Prime Minister Dodik on a number of occasions discredited himself by making unbalanced statements and unpopular moves, which largely affected the weakening support of voters to the moderates. Biljana Plavšiæ’s Serbian People’s Alliance busied itself much more with the TELEKOM scandal than the election campaign. Minor political parties slowly disappeared and it is to be expected that there will be a clear division on the political scene into the left, the right and the moderate center. On the eve of the elections, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia imposed a silent, selective blockade of the border with the RS, preventing the RS citizens from transporting across the border food or other products. This was a very clear message to the RS citizens to refrain from giving support to the parties that were not obedient puppets of the Belgrade regime. The Yugoslav state television program leveled, on a 2 INTRODUCTION In the February-March period, it became quite clear that the ruling coalition SLOGA (Concord) was falling apart and the consequences of that were becoming evident. The Socialist Party of Republika Srpska broke up into two factions clearly indicating that the establishment of a new political party of socialist orientation was underway. The Government of Prime Minister Dodik emerged from this political conflict seemingly stronger, but mutual distrust and differences between Biljana Plavšiæ’s Serbian People’s Alliance and Prime Minister Dodik’s Party of Independent Social-Democrats became more and more apparent. The core of the Socialist Party of the RS maintaining very strong links with Belgrade and the Belgrade regime sought through Speaker of the People’s Assembly Petar Djokiæ to initiate a number of political steps with a view to weakening Prime Minister Dodik’s position, but to no avail. Prime Minister Dodik demanded that the Speaker of the People’s Assembly step down. Political differences in the RS eventually resulted in slowed down and aggravated operation of a number of institutions due to political obstruction and impossibility to reach a political agreement. The process of registration of citizens for privatization in the RS went well, with a good turnout but also with a clear desire to speed up privatization. The problem of corruption remained one of the most important problems, difficult to solve and adversely affecting the reconstruction of the country and the democratization process. In mid-February the Office of the High Representative (OHR) organized a conference on transparency and fight against corruption. After the conference, government officials at all levels in B-H agreed to take concrete measures to express strong political will in their fight against abuse and corruption and lend support to transparency and responsibility. B-H accepted to sign without delay and the entities to implement the European Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption and join the group of states against corruption (GRECO). Regrettably, irrespective of the publicly expressed desire to make an active contribution to fight against corruption, the general public soon became aware of numerous scandals in which highest-ranking government officials had been implicated and which failed to produce any clear answers. In this period, the People’s Assembly of the RS eventually adopted the Law on Ombudsmans, and vacancies were announced to enable those interested in the post to apply. We are deeply convinced that the established ombudsman institutions will, also in the RS, help faster and more resolutely address a number of problems of human REPORT on the activities envisaged by the project “Protection, promotion and monitoring of human rights in Republika Srpska” NED Grant No. 2000-079.0 Bijeljina, April 2000
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