by Anes Alic
Yet again the Council of Europe (CoE) is mulling sanctions against Bosnia-Herzegovina, most likely in the form of a membership revocation, as the country’s leaders break another deadline.
The CoE had given Bosnia a 30 November deadline to implement a 2009 European Court of Human Rights decision on eligibility for high office. In late 2009, in the “Sejdic-Finci” case, the Court ruled that Bosnia’s constitution violates international law because it bars ethnic minorities from running for major state posts.
Bosnian Jewish official Jakob Finci and Roma official Dervo Sejdic sued Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006 hoping to bring attention to the fact that the country’s constitution allows only the three main constituent ethnic groups – Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats – to run for the presidency or parliament.
Acknowledging that the constitution was largely rushed in an attempt to keep the peace right after the 1992-95 war, the Court ruled that the discriminatory provisions must be removed. An ad hoc parliamentary commission was set up following the 2009 ruling to draw up a set of proposed amendments for the State Parliament to vote on by the end of November.
The commission met a few days before the deadline but failed to draft a full set of amendments. The Commission is comprised of representatives of the country’s 13 largest political parties and has met 10 times to date, but has achieved no progress.
In March 2010, the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina adopted an “action plan” to amend the constitution by early May, in time for the announcement of a date for general elections in October, but the commission failed to reach consensus on the issue.
Bosnia’s current constitution was delineated by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war. Both the international community and Federation entity parties are calling for constitutional changes, while Bosnian Serb officials stand opposed to amendments.
Dayton established a tri-partite presidency rotating between an ethnic Croat, a Bosniak and a Bosnian Serb, effectively barring members of the country’s 17 national minorities from full participation in political life.
The country’s constitution and electoral law states that only members of the three constituent ethnic groups are eligible to stand for election for the tripartite presidency or the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly. Those who do not declare themselves as Bosniak, Bosnian Serb or Bosnian Croat are defined in the constitution as the “Others,” and denied the right to stand for election.
Bosnia joined the Council of Europe in 2002 and has ratified the European Convention of Human Rights and its Protocol without reservation, thus voluntarily agreeing to meet relevant standards including non-discrimination.
Also, in 2008, Bosnia ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, committing itself to “amend electoral legislation regarding members of [its] Presidency” within one to two years.
However, only one 2002 promise has ever been fulfilled with agreement from all three ethnic groups: the abolishment of the death penalty.
Aside from mulling over sanctions, it is difficult to predict how the international community will react to Bosnia’s failure to meet another deadline. Punishing authorities is tricky; the politicians tasked with implementing the ruling ended their mandate 14 months ago and are now only acting authorities as the country struggles to form a new state government over a year after general elections.
Nor is it the first time the CoE has issued an empty sanctions threat. In 2010, the CoE warned local authorities that if constitutional and electoral-law reforms were not made before the summer, sanctions could be imposed. Still, October elections passed without those reforms, and thus not conducted in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. There was no backlash, despite the threats.
Constitutional reform is one of the main obstacles to Bosnia’s democratic progress. All previous efforts to reform the constitution, dating back to 2000, have failed. The Bosnian Constitution must be changed if the country is ever to move out from under the protection of the international community and toward true sovereignty.
By Anes Alic for ISA Intel. Copyright 2011, ISA Intel. All rights reserved
