Despair in HNS: Ljubić complains that pro-Bosnian parties invoke EU rulings

(Patria) - The President of the Main Council of the Croatian National Assembly of BiH, Božo Ljubić, stated in an address to media controlled by Dragan Čović and the HNS that pro-Bosnian parties are trying to exploit rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.

"We are witnessing that the so-called 'pro-Bosnian' bloc is trying to exploit the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights to delegitimize and derogate the constitutional category of constituent peoples and the right of these peoples to elect their legitimate political representatives to the bodies of government that the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) and the Constitution of BiH intended precisely for the representation of constituent peoples," Ljubić stated.

He added that this is being attempted through arbitrary and completely unfounded interpretations of ECtHR rulings, despite the alleged fact that, for example, the ruling in the Sejdić-Finci case contains parts that clearly attest that this ruling does not call into question the constitutional category of constituent peoples, nor the right of these constituent peoples to legitimate political representation.

However, the question arises what is problematic for Dr. Ljubić in the fact that pro-Bosnian parties are calling for the implementation of the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, when the EU and the US are calling for the same? It is obvious that these rulings do not suit Ljubić and the so-called HNS at all, so it is not surprising that all appellants who won their cases before the court in Strasbourg belong to other peoples or the Others. The same court has not found discrimination against Croats in any of its rulings.

Furthermore, Ljubić is clumsily trying to mislead the public when he refers to the Sejdić-Finci ruling.

Namely, the European Court of Human Rights, in the case ZORNIĆ v. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, defined the term 'constituent peoples' as a consequence of genocide and ethnic cleansing to which it was necessary to agree in order to ensure peace. This is literally stated in paragraph 43 of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the Zornić case, which refers to the earlier ruling in the Sejdić-Finci case;

"In the Sejdić and Finci ruling, the Court noted that at the time the contested constitutional provisions were adopted, a very fragile truce was in place, and that the purpose of these provisions was to stop a brutal conflict marked by genocide and 'ethnic cleansing'. The nature of that conflict was such that it was necessary to agree to 'constituent peoples' in order to ensure peace.".

Accordingly, the Court concludes that a democratic order must be established in Bosnia and Herzegovina without further delay, without granting special rights to constituent peoples.

"However, now, more than eighteen years after the end of the tragic conflict, there can be no reason for the contested constitutional provisions to remain in force. The Court expects a democratic order to be established without further delay. Given the need to ensure genuine political democracy, the Court considers that the time has come for a political system that will ensure every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina the right to run for elections to the Presidency and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, without discrimination based on ethnic affiliation and without granting special rights to constituent peoples while excluding minorities or citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.".

We remind that Azra Zornić sued BiH before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The proceedings lasted nine years and finally, in July 2014, the ruling was in her favor. Zornić did not sue Bosnia and Herzegovina either as a member of the constituent peoples (Pilav case) or as a member of the Others (Sejdić-Finci case), but as a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina who, as a citizen, was denied the right to run for the House of Peoples and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.