Bosnia and Herzegovina should be given the right to democracy and human rights, enabling all citizens to run for office and to vote for candidates of their choice, it was said at the regular session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Circle 99” on the topic “Universal principles and Bosnian reality”.
The keynote speakers were Azra Zornić, an appellant before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and David Pettigrew, an American professor of philosophy and Holocaust and genocide studies.
Zornić stated that all signatory states of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms undertake to submit to the final judgment of the European Court in every dispute in which they are parties, and Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified the Convention with all protocols in 1997.
“I would like to emphasize the responsibility of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the implementation of all the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. So, from a legal point of view, there is not, nor should there be, any obstacle in the implementation of the mentioned judgments. In July this year, it will be ten years since the adoption verdicts in the case ‘Zornić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina.” All these ten years, the ethno-national chauvinists, with their political activities, or rather the abuse of their political power, with the wholehearted help of their neighbors from Croatia and Serbia, who claim the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have prevented any attempt implementation of my verdict,” said Zornić.
“After 19 years of my struggle, I will not give up my court-chosen right to be allowed to be Bosnian by nationality without ethnic or any other affiliation, because I believe that it is a personal and private choice of every individual of our homeland,” said Zornić.
Prof. Pettigrew said that Europe should correct the injustice done to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Although I welcome the publication of the recommendation to open negotiations on accession to the European Union, I believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to the EU should be treated and accelerated as a matter of restorative justice in order to repair the damage or correct the injustice done to Bosnia. Bosnia was a victim of war crimes that initiated joint criminal enterprises guided by the same principles in both Serbia and Croatia. These joint criminal enterprises wanted the geographical territory, Greater Serbia and Herceg-Bosna, as part of the elimination efforts similar to the National Socialist ideology of lebsensraum which justified the territorial conquest and elimination of the population,” said Pettigrew.
In addition, he said, the citizens of Bosnia suffered war crimes from 1992 to 1995, including crimes against humanity and the genocide in Srebrenica.
“War criminals are glorified, war crimes are denied, hate speech has become normalized, and survivors are prevented from erecting monuments to the victims. Survivors are marginalized and retraumatized. Instead of facing obstacles, tests and further steps, Bosnia and Herzegovina should be accepted into the EU as a form of reparation to correct the injustice that people have suffered. The international community should recognize its responsibility for not preventing crimes originating from Belgrade and Zagreb,” he said.
Pettigrew notes that citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina are bravely advocating for democratic reforms and human rights.
“The European Court of Human Rights has consistently ruled that the Dayton Constitution is in conflict with Article 14 of the EU Convention on Human Rights. However, although the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights indeed called for democratic arrangements without delay, BiH did not receive support in this regard. The EU has not acted with enough urgency. Bosnia needs to be given the right to democracy and human rights, allowing all citizens to run for office and vote for candidates of their choice. Similarly, due to the stalemate imposed by the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia needs support in to the process of reestablishing respect for the rule of law,” he said.
He emphasized that the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU should be accelerated in order to prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from entity Republika Srpska further destabilizes the region and to prevent the spread of Russian imperialism in the Balkans.
“In order to achieve all that is expected in the EU accession process, Bosnia should be quickly admitted to the EU, and not subjected to further steps. it would be a necessary precondition for achieving the very reforms that the EU expects. Bosnia’s membership in the EU would finally provide full support, the full weight of Europe, for constitutional reforms and the restoration of the rule of law that has been missing so far,” Pettigrew pointed out, AA writes.
