Salkić on road blockades and national imbalance in RS MoI: High Representative should take serious steps

(Patria) - Ramiz Salkić, a deputy in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, stated that the High
Representative, due to everything that has happened in the past period, is obliged to react and take serious steps towards redefining police structures and achieving national balance on the foundations of the entity's constitutional provisions.

"The behavior of the Republika Srpska entity police during yesterday's road blockades and the issuance of permits for gatherings can be considered complicity in hindering the freedom of movement of people and goods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which constitutes a violation of the fundamental principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Such behavior, as well as some earlier actions, such as the physical abuse of a boy in Osmaci, according to his statement, the inadequate reaction during an attempted murder of a Bosniak youth in Bratunac, and attacks on a Bosniak family in Višegrad and many other attacks on Bosniaks in this entity, are proof of unprofessional conduct.

All of this are arguments for the High Representative that should be considered and reviewed in order to take serious steps against those who violate the fundamental principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement and who have been ignoring the provisions of the entity's Constitution on national representation in entity bodies for years. By ignoring the constitutional provision on national representation, systemic discrimination is produced, and the economic persecution of Bosniaks and Croats in peacetime is carried out, which is in direct opposition to the implementation of Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement," Salkić states.

He further emphasizes that the basic obligation of the High Representative is to ensure that the Dayton Peace Agreement is implemented, including Annex VII, the implementation of which is hindered by systemic discrimination.

"Intensive attacks on Bosniaks in the Republika Srpska entity are argumentatively linked to the unprofessional work and inadequate reaction of the entity police. The inadequate reaction of the Republika Srpska police towards perpetrators of attacks on Bosniaks is certainly also a consequence of the inadequate national composition of police structures and their non-compliance with constitutional provisions.

There are frequent biased actions by police officers, as well as public statements and manifestations of the police's affiliation solely with the Serb people. All of this creates distrust among Bosniaks and Croats towards such police structures, which do not hide their emotional and traditional connection to the continuity of the police, parts of which have been convicted of committing genocide and other crimes against Bosniaks. Due to all of the above and due to the nature of his mandate, the High Representative is obliged to react and take serious steps towards redefining police structures and achieving national balance on the foundations of the entity's constitutional provisions.

The police should be a source of security for all citizens; it is not today in this entity, and that must change. It should cease to be a mechanism in the hands of the authorities for achieving political goals and should become a mechanism in the hands of the authorities for creating a safe environment for all citizens, which is not the current situation.

The letter from a large number of associations of war victims to the High Representative and the police's assistance during road blockades in the Republika Srpska entity should be a red alarm for the High Representative to react, since he has not reacted before to numerous calls and warnings about the inadequate and tendentious conduct of the Republika Srpska entity police," said Salkić.