Human Rights Body Laments Nationalist Rhetoric in Bosnia

ECRI Chair Nils Muiznieks said that although there has been progress in certain areas, some issues give rise to concern, such as continuing ethnic discrimination in the field of electoral law, marginalisation of the Roma and politicians’ use of virulent nationalistic rhetoric.

ECRI is the Council of Europe's independent human rights monitoring body.

The report, released on Tuesday, also acknowledged that some achievements that have been made in these areas, including a new antidiscrimination law that has strengthened the legislative framework, and the transfer of some tasks in combating racial discrimination to the human rights ombudsman.

The report notes that strategies have been adopted to facilitate the return of refugees and displaced persons and to ensure systematic treatment of war crimes cases. Measures have been adopted to improve the situation of the Roma in daily life and a process of civil registration launched to assist Roma in obtaining identity documents.

Meanwhile, the continued existence of constitutional arrangements that exclude some ethnic groups from standing for certain elections remains a significant problem, especially since Bosnia has not yet implemented a European Court of Human Rights ruling that ordered it to change its constitution in order allow minority groups to stand in all elections.

In addition, the report writes that persons who do not identify with one of the three constituent peoples are often excluded from political processes.

An ongoing concern noted in the report is politicians’ use of virulent nationalist rhetoric, which fosters divisions between the various constituent peoples and ethnic groups living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Children of different ethnic backgrounds also continue to attend different schools, and some school textbooks still display ethnic bias. Minority returnees continue to face discrimination, and the rate of returns has slowed down. Ethnically divisive political discourse continues to create a climate of hostility and to deter other displaced persons and refugees from returning.

In its report, ECRI also makes a number of recommendations, asking that Bosnia provide training for judges and prosecutors on the new antidiscrimination legislation, complete the work under way to resolve all remaining cases of “two schools under one roof” and ensure that pupils are taught together wherever possible, put an end to instances of ethnic discrimination in the field of pension entitlements.