No entity or ethnic group in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) can carry out a peaceful separation.
This is the view of Nedim Ademovic, an expert in constitutional law, commenting on the decision made by the Government of Republika Srpska (RS) on Thursday, May 23rd, in Srebrenica, which proposed an agreement for “peaceful separation” to the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
The decision was made ahead of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly session, which included the Resolution on Srebrenica on its agenda.
“Neither entities nor ethnic groups have any right in this regard, nor the right to self-determination. This is a clear and decisive position. The only body that can do this is BiH, namely the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH), within the framework of the constitutional procedure. The highest legislative-legal body in BiH can change the Constitution of BiH, and when the Constitution is changed, the internal structure can also be changed,” said Ademovic.
He added that the decision of the RS Government is “absolutely unconstitutional” and that “everyone in BiH knows this, especially Milorad Dodik.”
“This is not the first time an agreement on peaceful separation has been proposed to the FBiH, and like before, it will fail and nothing will come of it. Therefore, it is mere speculation, and there is no serious discussion to be had,” Ademovic emphasized.
He also pointed out that Annex 1 to the Constitution of BiH includes, among other things, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that people have the right to self-determination.
“However, it has long been established practice that the right to self-determination exists only when a people can prove that they are oppressed as a minority living alongside a political majority and that their survival in that state is threatened, necessitating disunion or some reorganization of the state to ensure their survival in that territory,” said Ademovic.
He added that in such cases, there needs to be “homogeneity of a certain national, that is, ethnic community in a given territory.”
“In the case of RS, all the cases adjudicated so far, both those related to the war in BiH and those related to discrimination in the enjoyment of various rights in the territory of RS, speak more towards the fact that minorities, Bosniaks, Croats, and of course Others, are endangered in RS. They cannot survive in that territory because a radically strong ethnonationalist policy is being implemented, which does not allow for any affirmation of a pluralistic society or the affirmation of collective and individual rights of people on an ethnic basis,” concluded Ademovic, Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
