Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH PA) Denis Zvizdić and Deputy Speaker Marinko Čavara spoke today in Sarajevo with the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, who is on a working visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina with her colleagues.
During the meeting, Ní Aoláin took an interest in the current political situation in BiH and the Western Balkan region, in the light of possible security challenges and potential terrorist threats.
She assessed that BiH, according to the Global Index for the fight against terrorism, has a low risk when it comes to potential terrorist attacks, and expressed content with the existing legislation in BiH that regulate the issue of the fight against terrorism.
She showed interest in the role of the state Parliament in the fight against violent radicalism and extremism, as well as hate speech.
Emphasizing the fact that BiH, compared to other countries in the post-conflict period and the period of transition, shows a high degree of tolerance, Zvizdić and Čavara informed Ní Aoláin about the fact that BiH is one of the first countries that prohibited the departure of its citizens to foreign battlefields and tightened sanctions by amending the Criminal Code.
They also said that BiH has a high-quality Strategy for the prevention and fight against terrorism for the period 2022-2026, as well as that it uses modern models of repatriation of returnees from foreign battlefields and the fight against violent and extremist phenomena.
They emphasized that in the next few months, through the adoption of amendments to the Law on the Institution of the Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture and Torture is expected and that Bosnia and Herzegovina is aware of the need to implement Decision 854/2017 of the UN Committee against Torture in connection with obligations under victims of war crimes and wartime sexual violence.
