BOSNIA: POLICE REFORM DIRECTORATE REPORT COMPLETE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 003271

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KCRM KJUS EUN BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: POLICE REFORM DIRECTORATE REPORT COMPLETE
- POLITICAL IMPASSE REMAINS

REF: A. SARAJEVO 2999


B. SARAJEVO 3188

Classified By: CDA Judith B. Cefkin: Reasons 1.4 (B),(D).


1. (C) Summary: The Police Reform Directorate (PRD) issued
its final report on December 22, but the process of political
approval and implementation remains at an impasse despite US
and EU warnings that without agreement Bosnia cannot sign a
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) until police
reform is resolved. The report failed to answer key
questions that will be left up to politicians during the
report approval process. Members of the Republika Srpska
(RS) government are calling for political talks on police
reform, while most Federation-based parties argue political
talks are unnecessary and that the government should simply
adopt the PRD report. OHR is, again, considering
facilitating political talks in January or February but
acknowledges that there is no indications the RS is prepared
to hammer out a police reform agreement meeting EC
requirements. We continue to press Dodik and the Serbs to
honor the 3 EC principles and encourage the Bosniak political
leadership to participate constructively in the OHR-planned
political talks, but we are not optimistic either side is
prepared to change their approach, at least in the near term.
End Summary

Key Questions Unanswered
--------------


2. (SBU) At its final meeting on December 22, the Police
Reform Directorate Steering Board (PRDSB) adopted a Proposed
Implementation Plan for Police Restructuring (Final Report).
All PRDSB members joined the consensus adopting the report
except for RS observer Uros Pena, who remained silent. After
28 meetings over the course of one year, the PRDSB's Final
Report proposed a unified state-level police structure along
with a description of individual agency competencies. The
Final Report recommends that laws relating to the police and
the yearly budget for police structures will be made by the
State-level Parliament with some regulations and a State
policing plan made by the Council of Ministers and
State-level Minister of Security. The Parliament and the
Council of Ministers could request reports and investigations
into the efficiency and effectiveness of police structures
but cannot interfere in the operational work of the police.
The Final Report places operational control over police
structures in the hands of a Board of Police Directors
consisting of the Directors of Police, State Border Service,
and State Investigation and Protection Agency. The report
did not answer certain key questions including the number and
demarcation of local police regions, whether any local police
regions would cross the Inter-Entity Boundary Line, and
whether the RS Ministry of Interior would continue to exist.
According to PRDSB chairman Himzo Selimovic, these questions
will be deferred for political resolution during the report
approval process. The PRDSB noted that the report fell short
of the specific criteria in the October 2005 Agreement but
that they produced the best possible product given the lack
of political support for their work. An English translation
of the Final Report including an organigram for police
structures will be sent to the EUR/SCE Desk.

Initial Reactions to the Report
--------------


3. (U) Initial reactions to the report were positive from the
international community, but mixed from domestic political
leaders. High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling
thanked the PRDSB for the report and claimed that the
document paves the way for successful police reform. He
asserted that the report fully met the requirements of the
October 2005 agreement, but that Bosnian politicians must now
carefully consider the unresolved questions and find
solutions that conform to the three EU principles. Dimitris
Kourkoulas, Head of the EC Delegation to Bosnia, told
reporters that the EC looks forward to concrete
implementation of the proposed reforms. Prime Minister Adnan
Terzic played down the deficiencies of the report saying that
the PRDSB's work of defining the organizational structure and
competencies of the a state level police structure is more
important than resolving the issue of local police regions.
Although RS Director of Police Uros Pena had previously said
the report was a good basis for further talks, the reaction
of RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik has been negative. Dodik
was quoted as characterizing the PRDSB as an illegal
organization that is inconsistent with the October 2005
agreement. Dodik added that the report is not binding on the
RS and would not be discussed by RS authorities.

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Report Approval Process
--------------


4. (U) According to the October 2005 Agreement, the report
must now be approved at multiple levels of government. After
Ministry of Security approval the report will be forwarded to
the Council of Ministers (CoM) for review. The CoM will have
the opportunity to endorse the report and convey it to
entity-level governments for consideration, and ratification
by Entity parliaments. The report will formally enter into
force after its adoption by both entity-level parliaments.
The October 2005 Agreement foresees adoption by entity-level
parliaments by March 2007. The EU has indicated that
parliamentary approval is a precondition for the signing of a
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

Political Parties Deadlocked
--------------


5. (C) Bosnian political parties fundamentally disagree over
the need for further political talks on police reform. RS
officials, most notably Milorad Dodik and his Alliance of
Independent Social Democrats (SNSD),insist that political
talks are required to resolve outstanding issues such as
budgetary competencies and the role of the RS Ministry of
Interior. The majority of Bosniak political parties oppose
political talks claiming that the October 2005 agreement is
binding and must not be revisited. Key Croat parties have
voiced a willingness to enter into comprehensive reform talks
in January, to include police reform issues. OHR is again
considering facilitating a round of political discussions in
January or early February using the report and "Terms" paper
to try to bridge gaps in the Report (Ref A) but is unsure
when Bosnian political parties may be ready to come to the
table. We have been utilizing every discussion with the
Federation and RS political leadership, including in the
Ambassador's recent rounds of talks with political leaders,
to encourage them to engage on this issue to reach a mutually
acceptable police reform agreement in line with the 3 EC
principles.

Comment:
--------------


6. (C) Completion of the PRDSB report failed to overcome the
long-standing political impasse on police reform. The RS
government and Serb political parties remain fundamentally
unwilling to make concessions to enact police reform in line
with the three principles. Rather, they continue to demand
that the report be reworked during political talks to meet
their demands, many of which run counter to the EC
principles. The Bosniak SDA and SBiH parties refused to
attend an interparty meeting on police reform on the margins
of the December PIC and, to date, remain unwilling to engage
in negotiations required to resolve outstanding political
issues. (Ref B) We have warned Federation-based parties that
their refusal to engage in political talks allows Dodik to
blame them for the failure of police reform. Silajdzic may
not care because he likely sees the impasse as more
ammunition for his case that OHR should extend its mandate
into 2008. Despite considerable expenditures of political
capital, OHR has been entirely unsuccessful in brokering any
form of political resolution on police reform. Completion of
the PRDSB report has not made the prospect of a breakthrough
any more likely, although we will continue to press Bosnian
political leaders to resolve this issue in line with the 3 EC
principles. End Comment
CEFKIN