We believe that it is desirable and useful for civil society organizations that are active in the field of promotion and protection of human rights, to also be actively involved in the entire process of the appointment of the Ombudsmen.
Members of the Initiative have expressed concern that reforms will be only declarative obligation for the responsible stakeholders.
The absence of women in governments, who in the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina have significant (if not the most significant) influence on decision-making processes, has been quite an issue for years, and nonetheless, mechanisms for improving the situation have not been established yet.
Adopting the Strategy was supposed to enable BiH to access the IPA fund set up to help reduce the number of unsolved war crimes cases.
CSOs took advantage of the accession process to a greater or lesser extent, in accordance with their capacity and advocacy skills, with key emphasis on the contribution of CSOs to European Commission’s reports on RC’s progress in the negotiation process, reports that came to be read with greater understanding and seriousness.
Representatives and delegates at the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina most likely would not have adopted the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination had there not been for EU conditionality.
We ask for transparency in the process of planning and implementing reforms on all levels and in all areas, and we condemn any attempt to block the reform process.
Civil society organizations will again consider the possibility of initiating collective complaints against the state and the entity to this violation of the law.
Structured dialogue should help Bosnia and Herzegovina in establishing an independent, efficient, unbiased and responsible justice system on the entire territory of the country that would benefit all its citizens.
It is necessary to strengthen the coordinating role of the state in order to implement laws and adopt unified policies on the highest level.
The Parliament used special legislative procedures, skipping the customary two readings of bills in Parliament. More than 80% of laws per year were passed in this way. As for the way in which the negotiation process affected the everyday lives of citizens, it was mostly evidently in better human rights protection.
The aim of this Brief is to consider the latest developments related to the EU enlargement
to the Western Balkans, namely the election of the new European Commission, the new initiative for the restart of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession, the announcement of new bilateral conditions, and the on-going deterioration of regional cooperation.