Statement from the Sarajevo Open Center:
60 years ago, on 3 November 1953, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms came into force. It was a revolutionary legal document that in these 60 years has changed the interpretation and views on human rights in Europe.
In the period since 1950, when the Convention was adopted, until 2004, 46 countries have signed the Convention.
The signing marked the acceptance of the obligations regarding the respect of rights and freedoms, as well as recognition for the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which was established from the European Convention. The text has been officially translated in 30 languages, and ratification was carried out in all member states of the Council of Europe.
The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights is an integral part of the B&H Constitution, and as such is directly applicable in the legal system and has a priority over all laws at every level of government. Also, with B&H’s membership to the Council of Europe since 1992, our country is obligated to align its Constitution and all other legal acts with the European Convention, said the Open Center in Sarajevo.
Next to the current case of ‘Sejdić-Finci’ against B&H, it is important to emphasize that this documents offers the minimum protection of human rights in all areas of life, B&H citizens continue to not even have the minimum. There are many excuses, but the lack of financial resources and the complicated administrative and political structures should not be an excuse for the condition in which marginalized, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups find themselves today. We particularly refer to: women and young girls, victims of war, returnees, people with disabilities, young people and children, national and religious minorities, people in the LGBT community and many others.
Therefore, on occasion of the ‘birthday’ of this legal act, the Open Center and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in B&H (YIHR BH) note all the obligations of the executive and legislative bodies and judicial authorities. We should not have to wait another 60 years for the respect of human rights of all citizens’’, concludes the Open Society Center and YIHR BH.
(Source: Sarajevo Open Center)