Government secretly passes laws: Continuation of legalised repression in RS

(Patria) - The Government of Republika Srpska has, in complete secrecy, adopted the Proposal for the Law on the Special Register and Publicity of Work of Non-Profit Organisations and forwarded it for further adoption in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, once again violating the rules and procedures for law-making, warns Transparency International.

Namely, this information was confirmed to the media only after inquiries, and conflicting information was provided about which session the Proposal was allegedly adopted at.

In the end, the Government informed the media that it was adopted at a session held on 21.3.2024., just before the expiry of the 6-month deadline the Government had to submit this law in the form of a proposal. However, in the announced agenda of this session, as well as in the published information from the Government about the held session, the adoption of this Proposal is not mentioned anywhere, which casts doubt on the very manner in which the Proposal was adopted.

Transparency International in BiH, as well as all relevant international and domestic organisations, had previously warned about the harmfulness and consequences of adopting this Law, which directly targets associations financed from abroad, i.e., those not under the control of local authorities, and limits their field of activity. Nevertheless, the RS Government completely ignored all warnings and sent the Law, which drastically encroaches on fundamental human rights, into procedure just a few days after the European Union gave its consent for opening negotiations with BiH, emphasising the freedom of action of civil society as one of the key priorities that BiH must fulfil in order to officially begin negotiations with the EU. At the same time, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska hypocritically adopts conclusions calling for the “acceleration of the European path,” while simultaneously moving towards the adoption of laws that are in complete contradiction with that same European path.

TI BiH notes that the text of the Proposal itself is still not available to the public, nor is the minutes of the session at which it was allegedly adopted. With this, the authorities in the RS continue the trend of establishing complete control over freedom of speech and the action of civil society, towards suppressing any form of criticism, proposing and adopting legal solutions without any regard for public reactions, through sham procedures of public hearings and law-making.

TI BiH calls on representatives in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska to use the last chance and reject this Proposal by voting against a law that is not only the result of problematic procedures and threatens the proclaimed “European path,” but, most importantly, directly violates the fundamental human rights and freedoms of citizens in Republika Srpska, thereby continuing to place the regime in the RS among the ranks of ominous repressive and authoritarian regimes that openly persecute dissenters.