Court Rules: FBiH Discriminates Mostar Residents by Building Corridor Vc Through Returnee Settlements

The struggle for the survival and existence of returnees, as well as other local residents in the southern settlements of Mostar (Kosor, Malo Polje, Blagaj, Ortiješ, and Lakićevine), has been ongoing since January 2017, when the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH adopted the spatial plan of areas of special features, i.e., amended the route of Corridor Vc Mostar South – Počitelj. By voting in the Parliament and the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH, the aforementioned route was lowered from the edge of Podveležje and "moved" so that it goes through fertile arable land and over returnee settlements.

In the style of the most notorious world regimes, which care about nothing but their own well-being, parliamentarians, without any analysis, expert opinion, or public debate, raised their hands and made a decision. They did not consider how this decision would affect the local population, who want and plan to stay in their homes and on their land and live from their work.

"The fact that someone cultivates land and lives from their work does not mean they do not know their rights. People know what private property means, what was and remains theirs, and they know how to defend it. No one has the right to divide private parcels without the owner's knowledge and "buy" the part they like. No one has the right to run the European corridor through private houses and parcels, without communication and cooperation with the people who will be affected by it," says Amna Popovac, president of the association "Eko dvogled" from Mostar.

This route would cause great damage to the Buna and Bunica rivers, as well as cut off underground water flows, which could lead to the drying up of wells used by people for drinking, as well as for irrigating vineyards and orchards.

The court in Mostar recognized the mistakes made during the decision-making process regarding the route change and determined discrimination against a part of the population.

"This is about indirect-hidden discrimination. The decision-makers on the route change acted seemingly neutrally, in the same way towards persons who are in unequal positions. Based on the fact that the highway route was changed in 2017, in a way that it goes through returnee settlements, without clear and objective reasons for it and without a prior public debate, the court determined that the plaintiffs have made it probable that the route change is an act of indirect/non-direct discrimination.

It is particularly important that the court stated in the explanation of the verdict: "In the specific case, the Federation of BiH did not prove that the change in the highway route was justified and necessary, and therefore, the possibility that the new highway route was motivated by hidden political motives cannot be ruled out," says lawyer Milenko Krčum, legal representative of the plaintiffs.

This is a first-instance verdict in the case of discrimination against returnees, which shows that those who fight for their right to live on their ancestral lands are right. Every state must make decisions taking into account the well-being of the population; only in the Federation of BiH are decisions made without respecting people's rights and in a way that benefits individuals.

"We call on citizens, if they live within 500 meters to the left and right of the planned route of Corridor Vc Mostar South – Kvanj Tunnel, to contact us so that they can be informed about all future legal steps taken.

We particularly call on those who are experiencing pressure in the form of parcel division without their knowledge or the initiation of expropriation. Our legal team is ready to provide assistance to everyone in the fight for life on their ancestral lands," stated from 'Eko pogled' Mostar.