Letter to the United Nations Security Council: Human Rights of Bosniaks in RS Endangered, Systematic Violation of Annex 7 Obligations

(Patria) - The Vice President of the Republika Srpska entity, Ćamil Duraković, member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Ramić, members of parliament from the Bosniak people in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Ramiz Salkić, Amir Hurtić and Mirsad Duratović, and delegates from the Bosniak people in the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska, Armin Hamzić, Smail Mešić, Alija Tabaković, Adil Osmanović and Dževad Mahmutović, have sent a formal communication to the United Nations Security Council and the UN Secretary-General.

The letter was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina for forwarding to the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations in New York. The letter is submitted ahead of the semi-annual UN Security Council debate on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, scheduled for 12 May 2026.

The communication points to systematic and ongoing violations of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, relevant decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and international obligations in the field of human rights. The signatories particularly highlight the non-recognition of the Bosnian language as an equal official language, discriminatory elements in curricula, the absence of adequate budget allocations for the Bosniak community, discriminatory employment practices in public administration, structural underrepresentation of Bosniaks in police structures, as well as the glorification of persons finally convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes before the ICTY and the IRMCT, along with the denial of judicially established facts about the genocide in Srebrenica.

"Thirty years after Dayton, Bosniaks in the Republika Srpska entity continue to face structural inequality in language, education, employment and public life. This is not a political statement, but a documented account of violations of obligations accepted by signing the peace agreement. We are addressing the Security Council because it is the body with a special responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, including monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The human rights of Bosniaks in Republika Srpska are seriously endangered, and the systematic non-implementation of Annex 7 remains one of the key issues of peace, return and equality," the signatories state.

The signatories call on the UN Security Council to invite the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, to take measures within the mandate of Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Bonn Powers to ensure genuine constitutional equality of constituent peoples in Republika Srpska, eliminate discriminatory regulations and practices in the areas of education, police and public administration, introduce affirmative employment measures and inclusive budget policy, and remove decisions and provisions contrary to the rulings of international courts.

The signatories emphasize that these measures are necessary prerequisites for the genuine implementation of Annex 7 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, more than thirty years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, remains essentially unimplemented in Republika Srpska.