Will acting agent Harisa Bavčić go against human rights in favor of ethnic division of BiH?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Harisa Bavčić, acting agent of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the European Court of Human Rights, seems ready to send an appeal against the 'Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina' judgment, despite the fact that she is only an acting agent in this position, meaning she is not in office and this could have legal consequences for her, i.e., the possibility of criminal liability for such an action.

Moreover, she is already subject to criminal liability due to the way she expressed herself to the European Court of Human Rights, where she unhesitatingly supported ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that Slaven Kovačević can exercise his active voting right by moving to another part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ethnic cleansing is an act, usually psychologically and physically violent towards the targeted 'inappropriate' ethnic group, but not necessarily always a minority, in a certain area.

And, with her statement, Bavčić has created a basis for quiet ethnic cleansing, which we know began in the 90s and in what bloody manner, and by sending an appeal, she would definitively confirm that she represents the ethno-nationalist division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which she again supports in her statement by wrongly claiming that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been nationally divided for centuries!?

We do not know which history acting agent Harisa Bavčić studied, but Bosnia and Herzegovina was never ethnically divided until the aggression. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that Bavčić, even if she sends an appeal, is doing so illegally and not on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because there is no stance from the Council of Ministers, and she is acting outside of her mandate. Just like the other two acting agents.

As Patria unofficially learns, Harisa Bavčić is controlled by Monika Mijić, also an acting agent, who is also a member of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who made the appointment of Harisa Bavčić to the position of agent of the Council of Ministers of BiH before the ECtHR conditional on voting for the dismissal of Milan Tegeltija!? She was precisely the 10th necessary vote for the dismissal of the former president of the HJPC.

It is then completely clear why Bavčić will send an appeal on political orders, but the question is whether the relevant minister Sevlid Hurtić will react, and possibly inform the Court in Strasbourg by letter that Bavčić is not in office.

It sounds unbelievable that Bavčić accepts the burden of sending an appeal, because the judgment clearly indicates that ethnic representation undermines democracy, where the active voting right is one of the pillars of democracy.

By analogy, she was not legally elected either, because she was elected by those who were elected in a process that the European Court also says is discriminatory. Therefore, this is about a political competition between autocracy and democracy and its fundamental values.

Now Bavčić needs to decide which side of that political struggle she is on.

Because, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, take precedence over all other rights and laws, especially if certain decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in conflict with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, as is the case, for example, with the 'Ljubić' decision.

The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, political actors, and representatives of the international community should do everything to implement all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, not to waste energy lobbying for an appeal to be sent to the Court, which has established discrimination for the sixth time, hoping that the Grand Chamber will overturn the judgment.

All those who want a normal democratic state (especially the appellants) did not sue their country out of malice and hatred, but out of a desire for Bosnia and Herzegovina to move from a discriminatory system of governance towards true democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of all human rights.

And, all of this is actually identical to what the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina entails, because all experts in this field have clearly indicated that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be part of the European Union with the current Constitution and rules.

So, an appeal by Bosnia and Herzegovina against the 'Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina' judgment, which removes serious discrimination against a large number of citizens, would mean our country directly opposing its own European path.

Are Harisa Bavčić and those who control her ready for such action?