14 years have passed since the verdict in the Sejdic and Finci case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. While political partners in the Federation are preparing the ground for new negotiations on electoral reform, many doubt the sincerity of their announcements that they are going to implement this and a number of other judgments for discrimination passed before the highest human rights court. The appellants are still fighting today, even though they know they are right. These issues have burdened relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for more than a decade, but the priorities of political elites are always far from equal rights for all.
Just a few days ago, the Council of Europe sent a request to BiHauthorities to urgently stop ignoring the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which would eliminate discrimination based on ethnicity. The Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that the ignorant attitude towards these judgments is the source of numerous problems in society.
“Deeply embedded ‘ethnic keys’ in the country’s constitutional system, at the state and entity level, over the years have intensified divisions along ethnic lines, which has negatively affected the state of human rights in the country. Increased threats to peace and stability, increase in hate speech, glorification of war criminals and unsanctioned denial of genocide are just some of the negative consequences,” says Dunja Mijatovic.
In the coalition agreement, the leaders of the political parties undertook to adopt limited changes to the Constitution and the Election Law within six months, after the formation of governments at all levels, which would implement, among others, the judgments of Sejdic and Finci, Pilav, Zornic, Slaku. However, the opposition doubts the intentions of the rulers.
“I responsibly claim that when the HDZ negotiates that those judgments will not be implemented. Because, taught by previous experience, the HDZ, for example, implements the judgments of the European Court in such a way as to propose that the members of the Presidency be called the Croatian member of the Presidency and others, the Bosniak member of the Presidency and others, the Serbian member of the Presidency and others. This directly contradicts the judgments of the European Court,“says Milan Dunovic, DF representative in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH).
Appellant Jakob Finci was sure that the Constitution would be changed after BiH was admitted to the Council of Europe, more than 20 years ago. But the discrimination continued. According to Finci, what followed was a verdict in favor of BiH, and not against it, as some represent, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
