FIRST PART Why is the OHR not reacting and not annulling the amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs of the RS?

For NAP writes: Dr. sc. Amir Šelo, legal expert

Introduction

The National Assembly of the RS at its 12th special session adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs, which was published in the "Official Gazette of the RS" no. 81/25.

The explanation states that the proposed legal solution introduces the possibility for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to establish an auxiliary police force in cases where it is necessary to compensate for a large number of police officers to perform certain police tasks. It is stipulated that the selection of members of the auxiliary police force will be carried out through a public competition, and that the provisions of the Law on Police and Internal Affairs relating to the rights and duties of police officers will apply to members of the auxiliary force during their engagement.

In addition to the above, it is stipulated that the minister decides on the engagement of the auxiliary police force at the proposal of the director, as well as that members of the auxiliary police force, when engaged, exercise police powers under the supervision of a police officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Law empowers the Government of Republika Srpska to regulate the rights and obligations of members of the auxiliary police force, the method of engagement, the organization and operation of the auxiliary force, training, the method of holding and carrying weapons and related equipment, as well as the appearance, form and content of the official identification of members of the auxiliary force by means of a by-law. Also, this legal solution stipulates that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to carry out its tasks and duties, may use equipment for disrupting communication signals and object recognition systems, with the aim of eliminating security risks.

The reason for adopting the Law is stated as the need to establish formal-legal conditions for the establishment of an auxiliary police force, in order to raise security to a higher level, especially during periods of emergency caused by humanitarian crises. In the previous period, we witnessed sudden dangers to the life, health, and property of the population caused by natural or human factors, i.e., natural disasters in the form of major floods, fires, landslides, and other unpredictable situations that occurred throughout Republika Srpska, sometimes in certain parts, sometimes affecting a large part of Republika Srpska, but also global events such as the epidemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, which also affected the entire territory of Republika Srpska and as such required an organized institutional response.

By forming an auxiliary police force, the Ministry would be able to respond more effectively to the aforementioned challenges, as practice has shown that the active number of police officers is insufficient in emergency situations and that certain circumstances require the engagement of a larger number of police officers, i.e., individuals who have undergone certain training and acquired adequate knowledge, all with the aim of providing an effective response in the aforementioned situations where quick reaction is often key to success.

In addition to emergency situations caused by natural disasters and crises caused by epidemics, we have also been facing the problem of the influx of illegal migrants for a long time, which, in addition to the humanitarian crisis, also causes a security crisis. The Ministry may find itself in a situation where it cannot allocate a sufficient number of its members from the regular police force for these purposes for a longer period, i.e., for tasks of preventing and eliminating security incidents and maintaining security related to the migrant crisis, which has been continuously present for several years, as this could endanger internal security in Republika Srpska, as stated in the explanation of the amendments to this Law.

Historical and Legal Context of the Formation of the Reserve Police Force in the RS

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Srpska Republika Bosne i Hercegovine was established by the Law on Ministries, and the Law on Internal Affairs of February 28, 1992 ("Official Gazette of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina" No. 4/92, March 23, 1992, pp. 74-88) is the first regulation of Srpska Republika Bosne i Hercegovine that regulated this area. The Law specified the scope of work, jurisdiction of organizations, powers, and other important issues related to the functioning and, within the law, the execution of all tasks for which the Ministry of Internal Affairs was competent. Given its name, Article 3 of the Law defines the area of internal affairs, which includes:
1) public security tasks and duties (further specified in Article 15 of the Law);
2) national security tasks and duties (further specified in Article 16 of the Law); and
3) administrative affairs, which the Law considers to be "tasks and duties relating to: identity cards, personal names, registration of citizens' residence and stay, citizenship, civil registries, holding public gatherings, unique citizen identification number, and other tasks and duties defined by law".

According to Article 5 of the Law, these internal affairs are carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which can generally be defined as the scope of work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The content of the Law was divided into eight chapters/sections, and Chapters I, II, IV, and VI of the Law are particularly important for this analysis, as they define the subject matter related to the organization, scope, and jurisdiction of the Public Security Service, i.e., the police.

Considering that the Law stipulates that, in addition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs at its headquarters, there are two global organizational units - the Public Security Service and the National Security Service, the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is specified in relation to these units. In this regard, the jurisdiction of the Public Security Service includes performing administrative, professional, and other tasks and duties relating in particular to:
1) direct protection of the constitutional order from violent endangerment and changes, and endangerment of the country's security;
2) protection of citizens' lives and personal security;
3) prevention and detection of criminal offenses;
4) locating and apprehending perpetrators of criminal offenses;
5) maintaining public order and peace;
6) security of certain persons and facilities;
7) forensic and technical expertise;
8) road traffic safety and certain traffic safety tasks and duties in other areas;
9) control of border crossings;
10) residence and movement of foreigners;
11) travel documents for crossing the state border;
12) acquisition, possession, and carrying of weapons and ammunition;
13) fire protection;
14) trade and storage of hazardous materials; and
15) providing assistance to eliminate consequences in case of general danger caused by natural disasters and epidemics.

The Law stipulated (Article 16, Paragraph 1) that the aforementioned tasks and duties are performed by members of the active police force, and as needed, by members of the reserve police force. The provision of this article on the position and role of the reserve police force clearly defines its role, which will also be clarified in the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Given the tasks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS and its participation in the genocide in Srebrenica and numerous other war crimes during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, its jurisdictions of "direct protection of the constitutional order from violent endangerment and changes, and endangerment of the country's security (the first point of the Ministry's jurisdiction)" actively monitored the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in mobilizing the reserve force and its role in the period 1992-1995.

As for the organization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS during the 1990s, the Law provided for the following levels of organization:
1) The Ministry at its headquarters, functionally responsible for the entire territory;
2) Centers for Security Services (CSB), on a regional basis; and
3) Public Security Stations (SJB), for the area of municipalities.
Within the SJB, police stations (SM) are established and operate, as well as the necessary number of reserve police stations, and other police organizational units as needed.

The Law on Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska (consolidated text) of March 25, 1994, in Chapter IV "Jurisdiction and Organization of the Ministry," discusses the Ministry at its headquarters, which, based on Article 27, is responsible for performing the following tasks and duties:
1) directly performs state security tasks and duties;
2) monitors, directs, and coordinates the work of public security centers and public security stations, especially in public security tasks and duties, and in more complex cases, directly takes measures to prevent and detect criminal offenses and locate and apprehend their perpetrators, provides expert assistance to public security centers and public security stations, and supervises their work;
3) directly participates in performing tasks and duties of protecting citizens' lives and personal security, as well as protecting facilities and other material assets in case of general danger or when public order and peace are significantly disrupted;
4) supervises the execution of internal affairs entrusted to other bodies, enterprises, and other legal entities;
5) prepares proposals for the organization and total number of the reserve police force in the Republic and the criteria for its staffing;
6) activates the reserve police force in extraordinary circumstances, based on the order of the President of the Republic;
7) procures weapons and appropriate accessory kits for the active and reserve forces within the funds provided in the Republic's budget for these purposes;
8) establishes training and professional development programs for the active and reserve police force and other authorized officials, verifies their capabilities, ensures their implementation, and orders the execution of appropriate exercises, cooperates with foreign bodies and international organizations in the field of internal affairs, etc.

The Rulebook on the Internal Organization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of April 1, 1994, in Article 57, provided for the formation of a staff: "In the event of the declaration of a state of war, a staff shall be formed, headed by the Minister. The staff from the previous paragraph shall consist of the Minister, the Deputy Minister, the heads of the public and state security departments, the commander of the special police brigade, the brigade command, and the commander of special police units. The forces referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall include members of the special police brigade and members of the active and reserve police force."

The Law on the Army of the RS, in conditions of immediate threat of war or state of war, also defined the obligations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS in those conditions in one article. Namely, Article 12 of this Law establishes the right of the Ministry of Defense to assign conscripts from the reserve to the Army, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to labor obligations, and to civil protection bodies and units. Based on this article of the Law, the filling of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS units in situations of declared immediate threat of war or state of war in part or the entire territory of the RS was carried out based on orders from the Ministry of Defense and its regional bodies. In this regard, the reserve police force of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska was part of the armed formation that directly participated in the commission of genocide and numerous war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thus, the structure of the RS police, with necessary transformations, became a wartime structure. At that time, the police, with the engagement of the reserve police force and the establishment of new units (most often police departments in certain places and special police units for carrying out special security tasks), transformed into wartime units that directly participated in the commission of genocide and other most serious war crimes.

The reserve force of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS participated in the crimes of genocide and the most serious war crimes during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In case No. IT-05-88/2-T of December 12, 2012, before the Trial Chamber against Tolimir, point 218 states that "instructions for specific actions were given for various engaged units." In document DP P01202, pp. 3-5, orders were issued to the 1st Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade, the 2nd Battalion to be formed from parts of the forces of the Birčanska Brigade and the 2nd Romanija Brigade and to cooperate with one company of the Skelani Battalion, then a part of the Bratunac Brigade, the Rogatica Brigade in cooperation with the 1st Battalion of the Bratunac Brigade, the Milići Brigade, as well as reserve forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs numbering two to three companies in cooperation with one company from the Vlasenica Brigade.¹

Regarding the military aspect of the convictions for genocide in Srebrenica, the most convicted individuals are from the Main Staff of the VRS and the Zvornik Brigade, and when it comes to police structures, the largest number of former members are from the Second Special Police Unit Šekovići and the Training Center "Jahorina" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS.

On January 18, 2018, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment against Tomislav Kovač, stating that as the commander of the Staff of the Police Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS and Deputy Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS with all ministerial powers, acting individually and in agreement with other participants in a joint criminal enterprise, who had the intent and common goal to partially exterminate the group of Bosniak people in the Srebrenica enclave by forcibly relocating approximately 40,000 women, children, and elderly, and by summary executions of approximately 8,000 Bosniak men and youths, aware that his conduct and actions took place within a comprehensive or systematic attack aimed at the forced relocation of the civilian Bosniak population and the mass liquidation of Bosniak men, which would result in the partial destruction of the group of Bosniak population of the UN protected zone of Srebrenica, he undertook activities in planning, preparing, supporting, assisting, and committing the criminal offenses described in detail in the indictment, thereby making a significant contribution to the achievement of the common goal.² Unfortunately, Kovač did not live to stand trial, as he fled to Serbia.

¹ The Trial Chamber judgment in the case of Tolimir is available at the link: https://ucr.irmct.org/scasedocs/case/it-05-88%2f2#trialjudgement, accessed: 09/25/2025.
² BiH Court Press Release: https://sudbih.gov.ba/post/read/20729-potvrdjena-optuznica-u-predmetu-tomislav-kovac; accessed: 10/12/2025.

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