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HRI/CORE/1/Add.89
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Core document forming
part of the reports of States Parties :
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HRI/CORE/1/Add.89. (Core Document) |
Convention Abbreviation:
CORE DOCUMENT FORMING PART OF THE REPORTS OF STATES PARTIES
[14 March l997]
Introduction
1. Until
April 1992, the
2. In a
referendum held in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 February 1992
and on 1 March 1992, 64.31 per cent of the population voted for independence
and sovereignty, and 1 March 1992 is taken as the day when the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina won independence, although international recognition of
the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the United States of America and the
European Community countries and other States followed in the period after 6
April 1992.
3.
Simultaneous with the activities in favour of the independence of the Republic
of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its international recognition was the aggression
of the so-called Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) led by the Yugoslav
People's Army and part of the Serb population on the territory of Bosnia and
Herzegovina against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aggression
against the
4. From the
very moment it was internationally recognized, the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and its population were obliged to direct all their forces towards
the defence of the Republic's survival, i.e. towards protection against the
physical destruction of the population, particularly of the Bosniak population
which was facing the aggressor's policy of genocide directed at the
extermination of the people who had lived in those territories for centuries.
5. The
Republic of
I. LAND AND PEOPLE
6. The
Republic of
7. According
to the last census, taken in 1991, the
Muslims-Bosniaks:
1 902 956 or 43.48 per cent
Serbs: 1 366
104 or 31.21 per cent
Croats: 760
852 or 17.38 per cent
Others: 347
121 or 7.93 per cent
According to
unofficial data the total population of the whole territory of the
1992 - 4 411
052
1993 - 4 276
624
1994 - 4 217
150
1995 - 4 180
150
We point out
that census is conducted every 10 years.
8. The total
gross domestic product and gross national product of the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, according to 1991 data was 7,978,992 (in thousands of US dollars)
and 6,886,460 (thousands of US dollars respectively). According to incomplete
data, GDP in
9. The
foreign debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to data issued by the
National Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991, was US$ 2,049 million, of
which US$ 1,806 million were medium-term, long-term and short-term loans, while
the amount of US$ 244 million were guarantees.
10. The
unemployment rate in
11. As for
religion, of the total population, which was 4,377,033 according to 1991 data,
there were 1,872,422 (42.78 per cent) followers of Islam, 1,317,379 (31.10 per
cent) followers of the Orthodox religion, 772,392 (17.65 per cent) followers of
Catholicism, 4,644 (0.10 per cent) others and 250,913 (5.73 per cent) atheists,
while 159,283 (3.64 per cent) did not answer that question.
12.
Concerning the mother tongue, of the total population according to the 1991
data, 1,641,990 (37.1 per cent) answered that they spoke Bosnian as their
mother tongue, 1,165,129 (26.62 per cent) said they spoke Serbo-Croat, 824,877
(18.85 per cent), said they spoke Serbian, 593,703 (13.56 per cent) spoke
Croatian, 61,597 people (1.41 per cent) said they spoke Croato-Serbian, while
the rest did not specify their mother tongue.
13. We
emphasize that according to the provisions of the Constitution which was in
force during the census, the official language in
14. Of total
population, 60.2 per cent is rural population while the rest live in towns.
15. The
average life span in 1991 for men was 33 and for women 35 years.
16. The
literacy rate for those over 10 years old, according to the 1991 census, was 91.75
per cent, 97.10 per cent for men and 86.74 per cent for women.
17. The
infant mortality rate (children under 12 months of age) was 14.9 per 1,000 live
births. The fertility rate was 59.4 per 1,000.
18. The
portion of the population under 15 years of age was 23.47 per cent, 12.03 per
cent of whom were men and 11.44 per cent women. According to unofficial data,
of total population in mid-1995, 21.73 per cent were 15 or under.
19. The
population over 65 years of age was 6.49 per cent, of whom 2.47 per cent were
men and 4.02 women. According to unofficial data as of mid-1995, 10.96 per cent
of the population was 60 years of age.
II. GENERAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE
20. As
stated at the beginning of this report, the
21. In the
Republics of
22. The
Parliament is the highest authority within the framework of the rights and
duties of the Republic. It has 240 members and consists of two Chambers - the
Chamber of Citizens and the Chamber of Municipalities. The Chamber of Citizens
has 130 representatives elected by the citizens on the basis of a general and
equal right to vote, by direct and secret elections as determined by law. The
Chamber of Municipalities has 110 representatives elected by the citizens of
each municipality, by direct and secret elections as determined by law.
23. The
Presidency of the
24. Along
with the Parliament and the Presidency, there is the Government of the
25. The
territory of the
26. During
the state of war, in order to promote better functioning of the legal
authorities eight districts were formed as special social and political
communities. The setting up of these districts was necessary since, owing to
the communication blockade which was the result of the aggression against
27. In the
municipalities and districts there are also councils consisting of a number of
counsellors who were also elected in the first free and democratic elections by
the citizens in 1991. The municipal and district assemblies elect the municipal
executive board and the district executive board respectively, and the
presidents of the municipality (district). Because of the war, war presidencies
were established in the municipalities and districts which carried out the
duties of the municipal and district assemblies where the latter could not do
so owing to the war or for some other reason, and the situation in the field
required urgent and unavoidable measures.
28. The
judicial system of the
29. Along
with the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office there are also Lower Public
Prosecutor's Offices and Higher Public Prosecutor's Offices and District
Military Prosecutor's Offices during the state of war who act before the
District Military Courts.
30. Along
with the courts mentioned, there is also the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and
Herzegovina consisting of nine members where it decides on whether a law is in
accordance with the Constitution, and also performs other tasks defined by the
Constitution.
31. In 1994
began the transformation of the
32. Under
the exclusive responsibility of the Federation is a number of issues such as
foreign affairs; organizing and leading the defence of the Federation and the
protection of its borders; citizenship; economic policy; trade, including
customs duties, international trade and finances etc; the majority of other
issues is the responsibility of the cantons. The executive branch of the
Federation is made up of the President and Vice-President of the Federation and
the government of the Federation. The legislative branch of the federation is
made up of the courts of the Federation: the
33. At the
level of the canton there is a legislative body consisting of one Chamber the
number of whose members is fixed in proportion to the national structure of the
population, but which cannot be smaller than 30 or bigger than 50
representatives. The executive branch in the canton is the President of the
canton, and he is elected by the legislative body of the canton. Along with the
President there is a government of the canton. The cantons consist of a number
of municipalities at the head of which is the President of the municipality.
Local self-rule is exercised within the municipality and each municipality has
a Municipal Council, which is a sort of legislative body in the municipality.
Legal authority in the cantons is exercised by the municipal courts and
cantonal courts.
III. GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS
34. Human
rights and freedoms in the State of Bosnia and
35. The
Constitution of the
36. The
Constitutional Court of
37. Human
rights and freedoms are dealt with in article II A2-7 of the Constitution of
the Federation of Bosnia and
Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948;
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 1948;
Additional Protocols I and II to the
Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees, 1951, and Additional Protocol 1966;
European Convention on the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and Additional Protocols,
1950;
Convention on the Nationality of
Married Women, 1957;
Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness, 1961;
European Social Charter, 1961 and
Additional Protocol 1:
International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965;
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, 1966, and its Optional Protocol, 1989;
International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, 1966;
International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979;
Declaration on the Elimination of
All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, 1981;
Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1987;
Convention on the Rights of the
Child, 1989;
International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,
1990;
Declaration on the Rights of Persons
Belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 1990;
European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages, 1992.
38. The
Federation also ensures the application of internationally recognized rights
and freedoms at the highest level, determined by the Acts in the annex to the
Constitution. All the persons in the territory of the Federation have the right
to life; freedom (imprisonment and detention are allowed only in compliance
with the law); equality before the law; protection against any discrimination
on the basis of race, sex, language, religion, political or other affiliation,
national or social background; fair criminal proceedings; protection against
torture, cruel and inhuman treatment and punishment; privacy; freedom of
movement; asylum; protection of the family and children; property; fundamental
freedoms; the freedom of speech and the press; the freedom of thought,
conscience and belief; freedom of religion, including private and public
practice of religion; freedom of trade union organization, including by the
police; the freedom of association; free choice of labour; free education,
social care and health care; food and shelter; minority protection and the
protection of potentially vulnerable groups. All citizens have the rights to
establish and belong to political parties and political rights, to participate
in public affairs, have equal access to public services, the right to vote and
be elected. All of these rights are also foreseen by the laws of the Republic
of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
39. The
Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina obliges all the
courts, administrative organs and institutions exercising public authority to
apply and respect all the rights and freedoms anticipated in the
above-mentioned Acts in the annex to the Constitution.
40. The
issue of human rights protection at the level of the Republic is dealt with
intensively by the Commission on Human Rights of the Republic Parliament which,
as a permanent parliamentary body, monitors the situation in the field of human
rights protection and on that basis proposes to the Parliament and other State
institutions activities and measures for the prevention of human rights
violations and the promotion of their protection.
41. In the
Republic's Presidency, there is also a Commission on the Protection of Human
Rights. It deals with individual cases of threatened or actual violations. This
Commission records its observations to the appropriate authorities and requests
them to eliminate the consequences of human rights violations through the legal
procedure.
42. Specific
institutions for the protection of human rights at the level of the Federation
which have been included in its Constitution are: the Constitutional Court of
the Federation, the Court for Human Rights and the institution of the
ombudsman.
43. The
ombudsmen can investigate the activities of any institution in the Federation,
canton or municipality, as well as of any other institution or individual that
negated human dignity, rights or freedoms, including the practice of ethnic
persecution and its consequences. The ombudsmen have the right to bring charges
before the competent courts and intervene in proceedings which are under way,
including cases before the court for the protection of human rights. In
carrying out their duties, the ombudsmen can inspect/investigate all the
official documents, including the secret ones, and court and administration
documents and require cooperation from any person, including any official,
particularly when collecting the information, documents and papers required.
The ombudsmen can attend court and administration proceedings as well as the
meetings of other bodies, and can have access to all the places where the
persons detained are kept or where they work and he can survey those places. In
the Federation there are three ombudsmen and each of them submits an annual
report to the Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minister, to each of the canton
presidents and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and at any
time can submit special reports to the competent federal, cantonal, municipal
or international body.
44. The
institution of the ombudsman started working early in 1995, and was established
primarily with the aim of contributing to the elimination of the consequences
of ethnic cleansing, i.e. to the repatriation of the expelled, and to prevent
any discrimination on national, religious or any other grounds. That
institution has its offices in Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla and Mostar, so that its
activities cover the whole area of the Federation. The participation and support
of the OSCE in the establishment and functioning of this institution is of
particular importance. Within the scope of the ombudsmen's activities the most
frequent categories of human rights violation relate to the prevention of
repatriation of refugees, and Bosniak and Croat tenants' rights (preventing
tenants/owners from returning to their temporarily abandoned flats, looting the
flats, etc.), and freedom of movement (a problem particularly present in
Sarajevo and Mostar). More and more people are turning to the ombudsmen, which
points to the institution as being justified and expected to contribute further
to the promotion of human rights.
45. The
Court for Human Rights also offers protection in cases when human rights are
threatened. This court was conceived according to the model of the European
Court of Human Rights. An additional guarantee that this court will exercise
legal protection is the fact that during the transition period the majority of
judges will be foreigners who will be appointed by the Ministerial Council of
the Council of Europe, as well as the fact that the Government will be
responsible for the execution of its decisions. This court will be competent to
examine final decisions of regular courts at the request of parties in the cases
of human rights violations.
46. The
Constitutional Court of the Federation has nine members, of whom one third are
foreign judges appointed by the President of the International Court of
Justice. The task of this court is to check the constitutionality and legality
of all regulations and general acts, which prevents the passing of laws that
violate human rights and eliminates the consequences of human rights violations
by already passed acts, and guarantees the rule of law and thereby the dignity
of man and his individual freedoms and rights.
47. There
are numerous non-governmental organizations dealing with the protection of
human rights. Some of them work in the whole area of the Republic while some
work regionally. Among the former are the International Peace Centre in
Sarajevo, the Helsinki Parliament of Citizens, the Helsinki Committee for Human
Rights, in Sarajevo, the Association of Citizens for UNESCO in Sarajevo and the
Independent Union of Professional Journalists in Sarajevo, while among the latter
the most significant is the Forum for the Protection of Human Rights in Tuzla.
48.
Education in the field of human rights has an important preventive character in
the establishment of a democratic society. The mass media (radio and
television) give more and more time to informing the public about the
instruments of human rights protection. In this respect, school curricula are
being adjusted (in primary and secondary schools and at university level),
while some NGOs train staff in the field of human rights. Additionally,
international legal documents in the area of human rights are being published:
to date 21 documents have been published which, along with the Constitution,
have become part of domestic law.
49. The law
on health care prescribes a number of rights such as the right to urgent
medical aid, the right to obligatory forms of health care, the right to
primary, secondary and tertiary levels of health care, the right to
compensation for salary during temporary inability to work, the right to orthopaedic
appliances, the right to spa treatment, the right to medical treatment abroad.
It must be pointed out that owing to war destruction and the difficult material
position of the health service, the majority of some rights have been limited,
including the right to orthopaedic appliances, the right to spa treatment and
the right to medical treatment abroad. Exceptionally, the staff of the armed
forces and their families are granted full rights to health care.
50. The
health care beneficiary who thinks that his legally provided rights to health
care in a health institution were violated has the right to appeal to the
Ministry of Health. For final protection of his rights, the beneficiary can
apply to the competent court, which also includes the right to damage
compensation. However, it can be claimed that in the recent war period the
health care service was very good and it can be stated that every citizen was
provided full health care in accordance with the possibilities of the State in
war, so that no major rights violations took place in this field. Isolated
cases of the right to health care were remediated in time, so that we can say
that there were no violations of the right to health protection. It is
essential to point out that in concrete cases it was owing to the
impoverishment of the country because of the war that those rights could not be
exercised in the way and to the extent guaranteed by the law.
51. In the
free territories under the control of the legal authorities, there are no
striking cases of violation of the human rights provided under the
international instruments, although there were some isolated cases of neglect
and violation of legal and other regulations by citizens, members of all
nationalities and some officials implementing the law. In this respect, it is
important to emphasize that the violations of human rights were not motivated
by national, racial or other discrimination. Permanent engagement of the
competent bodies contributed to the decrease of such cases, as well as to the
increase of the level of protection of the human rights and freedoms of all the
citizens irrespective of their national, religious or other affiliation.
52.
Provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights were
incorporated in the legislation of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and
are consistently respected.
53. Under
the circumstances described, created by unprecedented aggression against the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a United Nations Member State, its
competent bodies declared a state of war on 20 June 1992 in the whole territory
of the Republic, and it is due to this fact that, in accordance with article 4
of the Covenant, some of the rights contained in the Covenant, as well as in
the national legislation, were limited. The limitations refer mainly to the
freedoms of movement and congregation of citizens and were for the purposes of
the defence of the country. Despite such measures, the world public was witness
to the aggressor's crimes committed at places of public congregation, such as
the massacres at the bread queue in May 1992, at the market in February 1994,
and outside the building of Markale and in Tuzla in 1995.
54. In the
period since the beginning of the aggression the courts in the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in spite of the mass crimes committed by the aggressor,
especially against the Bosniaks have pronounced only two death penalties which
went into effect but which have not been executed to date since the procedure
for pardon is under way.
55. In the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the whole period of aggression, there
was no establishment of concentration camps, destruction of religious
structures, or any other form of revenge. On the other hand, the instances of
such behaviour are evident on the aggressor's side where the provisions of the
Covenant and all other principles on which the contemporary international
community is based were broken. This is known to the whole world community.
56. The
Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all the lower courts in the
Republic, throughout the period since independence in April 1992, among other
issues have dealt with the rights provided by the Covenant according to which
all citizens appearing before the courts are fully equal regardless of race,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social
origins, material standing, birth or any other condition. The Court Councils
have been composed of judges from all three peoples, i.e. no court decisions
have been made by a one-nation council. All the cases are dealt with in the
same way, irrespective of whether it concerns a natural or corporate person and
what group the citizen belongs to. In no case have the courts in Bosnia and
Herzegovina made any distinction with regard to belonging to any nation,
religion, race, sex, language, social origin, material standing, political
opinions, birth or any other condition. The principle of law has always been
strictly respected.
57. As an
example of the work of the courts, we give more detailed information on the
work of the
58. In the
period since 1992, the courts in the
59. The
respective ministries are preparing new laws on work, welfare, children's
protection and family relations, and health care which will deal with the
problems herein discussed.
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©1996-2001
Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights