BiH Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Bojan Vujić, addressed the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council where he said that “the influx of foreign jihadists is a serious terrorist threat from BiH”.
From February 26 to April 5, 2024, the 55th regular session of the Human Rights Council will be held in Geneva as part of the dialogue on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism.
Vujić said that he came today “as a representative of the country that has been the most dangerous source of terrorism in Europe for more than three decades from BiH”.
“Unfortunately, even as BiH works towards joining the EU, Western governments have noted that it remains a key source of terrorist threats. For example, the US State Department wrote last year that, I quote, ‘terrorist groups continue to plan possible attacks in BiH “Similarly, last year’s reports by the Italian intelligence services suggest that up to 20 Islamist terrorist groups are operating in BiH today,” Vujić states.
He says that there have been deadly jihadist terrorist attacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but “the main influence of terrorism rooted in Bosnia and Herzegovina was outside the country”.
“The perpetrators of many of the most terrible terrorist attacks in recent decades had significant ties to Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the September 11 attacks in the United States, the 2004 Madrid train bombing and the 2015 Paris attacks. According to the Wilson Center in Washington, among “Among European countries, BiH had the largest number of citizens per capita who went to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq,” said Vujić.
He also spoke about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“One important reason is the influx of foreign jihadists who came to BiH during its war from 1992 to 1995. Shortly after the war broke out, a large number of jihadists, including Osama bin Laden and the two 9/11 hijackers, came to BiH to help the Bosniak army in its fight against Serbs and Croats. The Bosnian army included foreign jihadists in what it called the El Mujahid Squad, which became notorious for terrorizing both fighters and civilians, including many beheadings,” Vujic said in his address.
After the war, says Vujić, the El Mujahid Detachment was disarmed, but unfortunately some of the key foreign jihadists remained in BiH with the help, as he says, of sympathetic Bosniak officials, and some of their local followers continued to spread the jihadist ideology in certain Bosniak areas of the country.
“Although many Bosniaks in BiH adhere to a moderate form of Islam, the largest political party in BiH representing Bosniaks, the SDA, has its roots in the extremist ideology of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the party represents the moderate, democratic face of the West, it has never rejected its explicitly Islamist ideology, and its leadership maintains close ties to radical leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood and places like Iran. The SDA’s roots in radical ideology and its continued influence in BiH help explain why there has been insufficient political will to rid BiH of dangerous jihadist elements.” stated Vujić.
He also disputed the “very mild treatment given to Bosniak ISIL fighters returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina”, who received little more than a slap in the face from the courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Most of these dangerous individuals were raised in Muslim Sharia enclaves in BiH that practice radical forms of Islam separate from the official Islamic Community of BiH. In fact, according to a study published by the US Military Academy in 2019, even individuals have been convicted in BiH of terrorism-related activities received final prison terms of an average of less than 2 years. For example, a defendant who repeatedly provided financial support to ISIS was allowed to pay a minimum fine of only $15,000 instead of a one-year prison sentence,” Vujić pointed out.
The ambassador believes that “radical Islamist elements in BiH must not be allowed to flourish, and their path to political power must be resisted, not encouraged.”
“Fortunately, the BiH Constitution includes mechanisms that help prevent the dominance of Islamist politics in the country. The Constitution includes provisions designed to reduce power and ensure the representation of the interests of the country’s two autonomous entities and its three constituent peoples. This system, in addition to maintaining peace and stability among ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, benefits the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Europe by helping to prevent the concentration of all power in the hands of Islamist parties,” stated Vujić.
Despite this, he says, some Western officials are trying to undermine the BiH Constitution in favor of a centralized and strictly majoritarian system in which Serbs and Croats would be marginalized, and Bosniaks – and potentially Islamist parties – would have all the power.
“In order to reduce the terrorist threat from Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is necessary, first of all, to be wary of certain Bosniak scholars, clerics and politicians who represent a moderate democratic facade, even though their allegiance, current relations and writings show an attachment to radical Islamist ideology. Such radicals should be called out as they are, and not received in diplomatic salons as respected emissaries,” said Vujić.
Second, he says, it is vital to support the constitutional system of BiH as established in Dayton, including its decentralized structure and provisions that ensure the participation of Serbs and Croats in the political process in BiH.
“These steps are important not only for the security of BiH, but also for the security of Europe and the world,” stated Vujić, Klix.ba reports.
