Authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina must protect those promoting and protecting human rights, ensure accountability for attacks against them, and tackle negative narratives around their work, a UN expert* said today.
“While I have encountered some positive practices by the authorities, nowhere I have seen a level of political will that would amount to full support for human rights defenders,” said Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, in a statement at the conclusion of her visit to the country.
“The greatest support human rights defenders are receiving is from one another. This solidarity should be replicated by the authorities,” Lawlor said.
The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about the serious deterioration of the environment for defending and promoting human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the Republika Srpska entity.
“Human rights defenders and independent journalists have been targeted in widespread smear campaigns and increasingly stigmatized, including by high-level political figures,” Lawlor said.
The Special Rapporteur stressed that the Law on the Special Registry and Transparency of the Work of Non-profit Organizations introduced in Republika Srpska may be used to further demonize and undermine civil society organizations that receive foreign funding.
“While I was relieved to see that this law was annulled by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am extremely concerned by the Republika Srpska government’s intention to go ahead with the drafting of secondary legislation, which will be followed by the creation of a register of non-profit groups receiving foreign funding. This legislation should be abandoned for good,” the expert said.
“I am appalled by the targeting of people defending the right to a healthy environment, who are often warned to stop their activism or face lengthy and costly SLAPPs lawsuits initiated by foreign and local companies in an attempt to silence them,” Lawlor said. She also noted the exacerbation of self-censorship among environmental defenders and journalists since defamation was re-criminalised in Republika Srpska.
The Special Rapporteur highlighted challenges faced by human rights defenders working on transitional justice issues, defenders of the rights of persons with disabilities, migrants’ rights defenders, defenders of the rights of minorities and LGBTI+ activists. “I abhor the complete impunity for the attack against defenders of LGBTI+ rights in 2023,” Lawlor said, stressing the need for an impartial and effective investigation into the case, with no further delay.
“In many of the cases of retaliation against human rights defenders, it is women who are targeted for exercising their right to defend human rights,” she said. “They are at the forefront of struggles for human rights and social justice in the country.”
“Human rights defenders in Bosnia and Herzegovina are achieving so much in spite of the fractured political landscape and the shadow of the war still hanging over the country, 30 years after the Srebrenica genocide and signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement,” the expert said. “I applaud their struggles and express my full solidarity with them.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina must work together with human rights defenders to make the protection, respect and realization of human rights a reality for all those within its jurisdiction, in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
The Special Rapporteur will present a full report on her visit to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2026.
