Straightjacket

Two things, or rather two ways of acting, are almost fatefully linked to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first is the discussion, debate, and agreement on its future by invited and uninvited guests, but by rule, complete strangers and without the participation of domestic interested political and other entities. And the second, in which only domestic interested parties usually participate, concerns its present, often also the future, equally involving negotiations and agreements, usually in secret, with or without any proof that such a thing ever happened or at least what actually happened?!

As terrifying as it is that we don't know what was agreed upon, what was agreed, or what follows from what was agreed... it is, if not more terrifying, that the interpretation of what was (not) agreed upon is left to the discretion of only those personally interested... No one can benefit from such interpretations. This did not begin with the Framework Peace Agreement for BiH, nor did it end with the Reform Program, which is and isn't an ANP. Who knows how many such talks and agreements have occurred, the results and consequences of which we are still suffering today, and perhaps they happened a hundred years ago. But, what they all have in common is that, on the one hand, they crucially influence our reality and the reality of BiH, and on the other hand, they institutionalize the evidently negative practice of decision-making by a small and obscure group in the name of – not the majority, but – all the citizens of this country.

The conversation between the presidents of Turkey and Croatia was only mentioned as news in the domestic media, while those in the immediate vicinity of BiH paid it the attention it deserves, especially regarding the Dayton Peace Agreement, and particularly its possible amendment. Any talks about the peace treaty by which BiH was put in a straightjacket should have included someone competent from BiH, but from this procedure of the two statesmen, it is more or less clear what their stance towards BiH politicians is: they do not consider them competent, capable, or invited to participate in any way in discussions about the future of the country they have – as it turns out – ruled for a quarter of a century without any right(!) and legal basis.

The signing of the Dayton Peace Agreements at the airbase in Dayton, Ohio, United States of America, made us happy because it stopped the war, ended the killings, deployed international forces throughout the country as, for example, peacekeepers instead of the then war observers... We accepted it without objection largely because of the aforementioned, but most of all because we trusted its signatory on our behalf. He enjoyed our almost undivided support, and his word – that it was good for us – was accepted without any re-examination.

The Dayton Agreements, without any basis in international law, without any political or moral responsibility, without creating appropriate conditions for equal negotiation, ended the existence of an internationally recognized country, a republic with a constitution that guaranteed equal rights to all its citizens on every inch of its territory, legalized war conquests, ethnic cleansing, and genocide on half of its territory, legitimized the division of the country in political and geographical terms, and ensured the uncertainty of BiH's future "for eternity." In other words, the Dayton Agreement, which was reached under the pressure of the international community on November 22, 1995, in Dayton, and signed on December 14, 1995, in Paris without the knowledge of the citizens of BiH and without a decision to sign the agreement by the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an official body. France is the custodian of the original, and the Office of the High Representative in BiH is the authorized interpreter of the Agreement. The Dayton Agreement was never officially translated into the language or languages of the peoples of BiH, it was not ratified in the BiH Parliament, nor was it ever published in the Official Gazette of BiH, which is a prerequisite for its implementation. It can be stated without hesitation that BiH is the only country in the world that implements constitutional provisions and forms its internal and external territorial and organizational structure based on a document imposed by the international community, which was not adopted by the people, which does not exist in its original written format, and which many in the country and the world claim is flawed, detrimental to the victims of aggression, and does not lead to unification but to an unjust and consequential division of the country. The height of absurdity, which those who have seized power thanks to this Agreement are experiencing, is that even today, after 25 years, the original Dayton Peace Agreement has not been obtained.

According to the interpretation of the Office of the High Representative, only the English version of the Agreement with its annexes is official and authentic. Despite several warnings from the OHR, official translations of the Agreement have never been made. Contrary to this claim from the Office of the High Representative is the claim of the Ministry of Justice of BiH, according to which the Agreement was also signed in the languages of BiH, but these translations were never made available to the public, which directly allows for unilateral interpretation of provisions and abuses, i.e., an intolerant totalitarian administrative and legal system due to which – not only has the state been weakened, but – almost complete anarchy, which prevails in all spheres of life in BiH today, has been enabled. Do we need to mention that no state service, no political or other organization is responsible, nor engaged on any basis, in searching for the original and, even if belatedly, adequate legal treatment of the basic state document.

The same applies to the Constitution of BiH or Annex IV of the Dayton Agreement; the official copy exists only in English. At the request of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided certified copies of the original Dayton Agreement with all annexes at the end of 2009. In recent years, the Dayton Agreement has been translated by whoever could, and used as a "smorgasbord," which has caused many systemic problems, hindered and slowed down work, and even paralyzed some key parliamentary and executive functions of the country, and has become the main obstacle to establishing a normal state. Even average English speakers know that some linguistic forms in English are formed completely differently than in the languages of our speaking area and cannot be interpreted with phrases familiar to us. And the Dayton Agreement is an international act on which the entire socio-political order of the state of BiH is based and built upon, which directly or indirectly affects many other citizens of BiH. The smallest translation stylistic error can – and often does – change the essence not only of a sentence but of an entire section. The most famous, most infamous, and most abused translation error is the term "constituent peoples" (later promoted to nations).

But that's not all.

The Dayton Agreement did not, as is often claimed, "balance ethnic groups, establish a compromise of interests of the warring parties, and impose the Convention on Human Rights, along with a number of other documents..." but rather 49% of the territory was named a "republic," allowing a high degree of fulfillment of the six main objectives of the aggression established on May 12, 1992: establishing state borders separating the Serb people from the other two peoples, establishing a corridor between Semberija and Bosanska Krajina, establishing a corridor in Podrinje, i.e., abolishing the Drina as the border of Serbian states, establishing borders on the Una and Neretva rivers, dividing Sarajevo into Serbian and Bosniak parts, ensuring access to the sea, and establishing capable state authorities... and, it was not stated but should be mentioned, in the "republic" entity, making everything that was Bosnian for centuries "Serbian," and in the "federation" part, Bosniak or Croatian...

According to some, changing Dayton is not realistically possible even after 25 years of missteps and failed implementation; it is only possible to seek solutions through new agreements that can have no other goal or result than establishing the current state. In the best-case scenario, they suggest, changes are possible only in a few years (?) or, leaving room to insist on preserving the foundations of Dayton, a divided BiH with a "republic" built on bad foundations, a dysfunctional "federation," and an almost invisible "state" that serves almost no purpose.
According to European political analysts, BiH is currently between Dayton and Brussels, as it has neither remained at Dayton nor entered the Brussels structure of the EU. It is possible that BiH has moved slightly out of its "Dayton" shell and approached the outskirts of Brussels, but it is still far from untying the Dayton straightjacket.

It is almost completely certain that in the new international circumstances, amending the Dayton Agreement is in the realm of science fiction and that its implementation will continue in the next period. It is imperative to first find the original Dayton Agreement and request international arbitration of disputed details, or a valid translation. Without this, it becomes entirely questionable by whose and what translation the Agreement is being implemented, i.e., whether it is being implemented as planned or is being illegally implemented in favor of secessionists and their associated corrupt ruling structures, which directly and indirectly threatens the life of the state and citizens of BiH.

Failure to take measures in this direction raises serious suspicion that this is a highest criminal act, directly aimed against the state of BiH and all its citizens, which is called treason.

There is no explanation acceptable to any sound mind for hiding documents of crucial significance for both the country and the people living in it, other than that they could be used to manipulate them and us: to use them for their own needs, for the purposes of hard-to-prove murky dealings, most of which are of no benefit, to present consent under pressure as successes of their own policy and national vision, to absolve failures by always blaming others, and to create preconditions for "eternal" rule over an uninterested populace.

Perhaps it is not known, but the annulment of the Dayton Agreement is quite possible; such an act is within the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, but such a request has never been sent from BiH!