Prosecutor's Office of BiH must act: either establish responsibility for obstruction of defense of the constitutional order of BiH

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Members of the Presidency of the SDP BiH, at an emergency session held on December 16, 2021, adopted the following assessments and conclusions:

I. ASSESSMENT OF POLITICAL AND SECURITY SITUATION

The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina believes that an open attack on the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina is underway. In an atmosphere of blockade of the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially its escalation following the adoption of the latest decisions of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, we believe that there are no conditions for continuing negotiations on Constitutional reform, changes to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and amendments to the Election Law, nor on other issues that are currently of secondary importance. Elected officials of the SDP BiH in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to participate in the work of all parliamentary bodies and at sessions of the houses. In this regard, we call for the urgent unblocking of the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the normalization of the work of the executive branch.

The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is sinking ever deeper into extraordinary political circumstances with severe consequences for all citizens and peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Separatist politicians in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska (hereinafter: RS) have committed a series of criminal acts and initiated concrete anti-constitutional, unilateral, and illegal steps of the so-called "transfer of competencies" from the state to the BiH entity of RS. Legal and other facts indicate that the BiH entity of RS has embarked on a path of unilateral abandonment of the Dayton Peace Agreement and that full criminal, political, and any other responsibility for such illegal and adventuristic behavior will be borne precisely by those who initiated it.

Anti-Dayton oriented politicians from the BiH entity of RS have interpreted the previous inefficiency of the state bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the extremely lenient policy of the EU as additional incentive and encouragement for the continuation of the criminal project of breaking up the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead of repealing the unconstitutional entity Law on Medicines and Medical Devices, the anti-Dayton, anti-constitutional, and illegal actions of the entity authorities in the RS have continued with even more severe blows to the constitutional order of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In recent months, the international community, and especially the EU, have collectively failed to fulfill their internationally established obligations towards the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and have so far not imposed any sanctions on the political leadership of the BiH entity of RS, which has led to the most serious violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement since its signing to date.

II. DEFENSE OF THE LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC STATE

We strongly emphasize that the political independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international legal personality of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a full member of the United Nations, will be defended by legal, democratic, and, if necessary, all other available means.

We demand that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, within no more than 10 days, inform the domestic and international public what they have concretely undertaken and what they concretely plan to undertake in order to sanction individuals who have openly attacked the constitutional order of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the event that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH does not respond within this period, we call on the competent bodies to proceed in a lawful manner to establish the responsibility of those individuals who obstruct the defense of the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We demand that the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as an indispensable institution of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the final interpreter of this international treaty, within the shortest possible time, repeal the laws, decisions, and conclusions of the authorities of the BiH entity of RS that are aimed at destroying the constitutional order of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The SDP BiH will form a legal team that will prepare a precise legal response to the dangerous threat to the constitutional order.

The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina notes that the attention and time of all domestic and international actors should be primarily focused on unblocking institutions, annulling unconstitutional decisions, prosecuting those responsible, and preventing the escalation of the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Representatives of the SDP BiH will participate in talks on this topic.

We demand that the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Željko Komšić, member of the Presidency of BiH, Šefik Džaferović, and Bisera Turković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, inform in writing the United Nations, the European Union, the countries witnesses to the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that the authorities of the BiH entity of RS have committed serious violations of essential parts of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

III. STRENGTHENING DEFENSE CAPACITIES AND SECURITY FORCES

We sincerely thank the United States of America for their continuous, friendly, and concrete military assistance to the Armed Forces of BiH. We call on other NATO members to, following the example of the United States of America, concretely and as soon as possible assist in the military equipping and training of the Armed Forces of BiH, so that in the coming period this only legal armed force will be even more capable of protecting the security of all citizens and peoples, as well as the political independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We call on the NATO alliance to, as soon as possible, strengthen military forces in the Brčko District and other neuralgic points in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is necessary to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region through concrete measures and actions. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the greatest victim in Europe since World War II, and it is the international obligation of NATO, in accordance with Annex 1A of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to effectively protect the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina from followers of ideologies and policies that committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and other crimes in the 1990s.

IV. THE ATTITUDE OF THE SDP BiH TOWARDS THE CURRENT CRISIS

The Presidency of the SDP BiH strongly emphasizes the strategic commitment that the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina are paramount and more important than any narrow party, group, or individual interests. In crucial moments for preserving the political independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all ruling and opposition parties must cooperate on existential and strategic issues of preserving peace and the state.

In the event that within 60 days the anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional actions of the authorities of the BiH entity of RS are not concretely stopped and repealed, the leadership of the SDP BiH will form a Crisis Headquarters for action in extraordinary political circumstances.

In the event that the anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional actions of openly destroying the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not concretely stopped within the aforementioned deadlines, the leadership of the SDP BiH will initiate activities aimed at forming a Movement for the Defense of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the state level.

The Presidency of the SDP BiH makes a decision on permanent session and obliges members of the Presidency and others who, by virtue of their function, participate in the work of this body to be available.