Victim Associations Wrote to Schmidt: Enable Increase of Bosniaks and Croats in RS Ministry of Interior

(Patria) - Victim associations have addressed High Representative Christian Schmidt, asking him to, in accordance with his mandate and powers, make appropriate decisions that will enable an increase in the number of Bosniaks and Croats in the police structures of the RS entity, in accordance with the Constitution.

"We, the representatives of the Associations of Victims of Aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of civil society organizations dealing with human rights protection, as well as the majority of the public in our country, witness with great concern the almost daily attacks on non-Serb returnees in the RS entity.

As many as 120 incidents

In the past few years, according to the records we have, as many as 120 incidents have been recorded in which returnees to this entity were the targets of attacks", stated the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, the Association of Families of Martyrs, Captured and Missing Persons of Kotor Varoš, the Alliance of Camp Detainees in BiH, the Association "Movement of Mothers of the Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves", the Association "Women of Podrinje", and the Association "Woman-Victim of War" in a letter sent to the High Representative.

The attacks and threats, they further state, motivated by religious and national intolerance, are taking the form of systematic action aimed at pressuring Bosniak and Croat returnees with the ultimate intention of forcing them to leave their homes.

"The increasingly frequent, more open, and more brutal attacks on returnees are a consequence of the political actions and rhetoric of the RS entity leadership, led by Milorad Dodik, but also the lack of adequate reaction from the police of this entity.

Perpetrators of incidents, even when discovered, are not sanctioned, nor are appropriate measures taken against them.

The police of the RS entity not only fail to take decisive, legally prescribed measures to protect returnees, but they also put pressure on them when they report attacks, threats, or harassment on religious and national grounds.

Physical attacks and threats, attacks on religious buildings, and provocations on religious and national grounds have been recorded in almost every place in the RS entity - from Srebrenica, Bratunac, Vlasenica, Bijeljina, Foča, Višegrad, Kotor Varoš, Derventa.

The latest case from Osmaci testifies that the RS police themselves have started physically mistreating returnees.

Citizens of non-Serb nationality do not trust such a police force. Distrust is further amplified by the fact that there are not enough representatives of the Bosniak and Croat peoples in the police structure of the RS entity itself.

According to official data, 7,001 people are employed in the RS entity Ministry of Interior. Of that number, 6,551 (93.6 percent) are Serbs, 330 (4.7 percent) are Bosniaks, 62 (0.9 percent) are Croats, and 58 (0.8 percent) are Others.

This national structure does not even remotely correspond to the constitutional obligation of proportional national representation in the institutions of the RS entity.

Article 97 of the RS Constitution specifies that constituent peoples and the group of Others will be proportionally represented in public institutions in the RS.

High Representative for the FBiH

As a constitutional principle, such proportional representation will be based on the 1991 census until Annex 7 is fully implemented, in accordance with the Law on Civil Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is clear that the 4.7 percent of Bosniaks currently employed in the RS Ministry of Interior is nowhere near their number from the 1991 census (450,000, or 29 percent), and it is even four times less than the 2013 census (171,000, or 14 percent).

The authorities of the RS entity are clearly violating the RS Constitution and show no intention of implementing the cited provision on proportional national representation.

Therefore, we ask you to, in accordance with the mandate and powers you have, make appropriate decisions that will enable an increase in the number of Bosniaks and Croats in the police structures of the RS entity, in accordance with the Constitution.

With your decisions, you must ensure an increase in the number of police officers of non-Serb nationality in returnee communities.

Also, it is particularly important that in communities where the number of returnees is significant, members of the Bosniak and/or Croat people are in leadership positions within local police structures.

In addition to finally ensuring the implementation of the RS Constitution, increasing the number of Bosniaks and Croats in the police, especially in leadership positions, would certainly contribute to reducing the number of incidents and, over time, lead to the return of trust in the police structures of the RS entity.

We remind you that your predecessor Paddy Ashdown initiated police reform, but it was never completed. It is high time that this reform be implemented.

Your decisions so far have mostly related to the Federation of BiH. You are aware of the objections from parts of the public that you are the 'High Representative for the Federation' and that Bosniaks are neglected by the international community.

We want to believe that you are not biased and that you are ready to implement your mandate throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. The intervention concerning the police in the RS entity, which we are asking of you, is an opportunity to prove it", the associations stated in the letter to Schmidt.

Along with the request for a meeting with the High Representative at the OHR or any other location to present all data on incidents and all other circumstances, they warned that the situation in which returnees live in the RS entity is becoming unbearable and requires Schmidt's urgent intervention.

"If you do nothing, we will consider you co-responsible", the aforementioned victim associations stated in the letter they sent to High Representative Christian Schmidt.