BOSNIA: COURT DECLARES ENTITY SYMBOLS MUST GO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000749

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE
(ENGLISH, FOOKS, MITCHELL, SAINZ),DRL/PHD (CLAYTON),NSC
FOR BRAUN, OSD FOR FLORY, USNIC FOR WEBER AND GREGORIAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: COURT DECLARES ENTITY SYMBOLS MUST GO


1. Summary: On March 30, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (BiH) issued a decision that the Federation
flag and coat of arms and the Republika Srpska (RS) coat of
arms and anthem are unconstitutional because the
ethnically-associated symbols they contain constitute a form
of racial/ethnic discrimination. (Note: The Dayton peace
accord created two constituent entities (the Federation and
the Republika Srpska (RS)) and the independent Brcko
District.) The Parliaments of both entities have been given
six months to develop new non-discriminatory versions.
Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats in the Federation
generally welcomed the decision; political leaders in the
Republika Srpska reacted strongly and negatively. The Court
will consider the RS flag and RS Law on Holidays separately,
but is likely to conclude that these too are
unconstitutional. End summary.

COURT RULES ETHNIC SYMBOLS UNCONSTITUTIONAL


2. On March 30, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BiH) issued its long-awaited decision on the
Federation flag and coat of arms and the RS coat of arms and
anthem, declaring all of them to be unconstitutional because
the ethnic symbols they contain discriminate against Bosnian
Serbs in the Federation and against Croats and Bosniaks in
the RS. The current RS flag (identical to the tricolor flag
of Serbia-Montenegro) and the RS Law on Holidays, which
designates Serb Orthodox religious holidays as official
holidays, will be considered separately by the Court. The
Court's decision, which is final and binding, gives the
entity Parliaments six months to replace the offending
symbols with non-discriminatory substitutes.
Non-implementation of the decision would constitute a
criminal act.

RS SYMBOLS LINKED TO SERBIA


3. The RS coat of arms has a white double-headed eagle and a
Cyrillic letter "S" (which resembles the Latin letter "C") in
each corner. The four S symbols stand for the nationalist
slogan "Only unity saves the Serbs." The RS anthem "Boze
pravde" is identical to the Serbian national anthem. The
lyrics, in part, are "God, our master; Guide and prosper the
Serbian crown and Serbian race." Both the coat of arms and
the anthem were introduced by the wartime government of
former RS President (and fugitive war crimes indictee)
Radovan Karadzic. Bosniaks and Croats, especially those who
are minority returnees to the RS, have long objected to the
use of these symbols and slogans. Non-Serbs in the RS
strongly associate these symbols with the wartime regime that
carried out genocidal acts against their communities during
the 1992-1995 conflict.

FEDERATION COMPROMISE DESIGN EXCLUDES SERBS


4. The Federation coat of arms and flag incorporate the
red-and-white checkerboard pattern associated with Croats,
the lily symbol associated with Bosniaks and the image from
the EU flag of yellow stars on a blue background. However,
there is no symbolic representation of the Serb people; for
that reason, the Court also found the Federation's symbols
unconstitutional. Federation political leaders generally
praised the Court's decision and agreed on the need to
develop a new flag.

STRONG REACTIONS FROM RS LEADERS


5. The Court's decision provoked a strong backlash from RS
political leaders. RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik pronounced
the decision "totally unacceptable," and, in a defiant mood,
challenged anyone who might try to remove the coat of arms
from his office. RS President Dragan Cavic, who is also
president of the nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS),
said that the Court's ruling is seen as another incident in a
series of attacks on the Serb people in BiH, and that it
would lead to increasing political radicalization. Both Cavic
and Dodik hinted that the ruling could have a negative impact
on the future course of police reform and constitutional
reform. In an April 4 meeting, the RS political leadership
called for the Court to reexamine its ruling. In their public
comments, RS political leaders ignored the fact that the
Court's decision will also force the Federation to create
public symbols that are inclusive of the Serb population.

DIVERSE PUBLIC REACTIONS


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6. While many politicians have commented on the decision,
public reaction in both entities has been muted to date. The
director of the Helsinki Committee of the RS, Branko
Todorovic, said that he believed the Court's ruling was
purely a political decision, and he questioned the
credibility of the President of the Constitutional Court,
Mate Tadic, who is currently on trial in State Court for
bribery and corruption charges. Todorovic observed that the
ruling would likely further radicalize political life in the
RS, and that he believed it would have a negative impact on
the overall reconciliation process. However, Bosniak returnee
and Speaker of the Municipal Assembly in Bratunac Refik Begic
had a completely different opinion about the Court's
decision. In his view, if implemented, the decision would
help Bosniaks and Croats in the RS to feel they are more
welcome in their prewar municipalities and that they are full
citizens with equal rights.

COMMENT


7. The Constitutional Court's decision declaring the
entities' symbols unconstitutional is a long-awaited step
toward the further integration of the Bosnian state. The
predictably negative reactions of RS political leaders are
another manifestation of their ongoing efforts to take the
public's attention away from the real issues that burden the
RS, including unemployment and poverty. RS leaders have also
conveniently overlooked that the Court's decision affects the
Federation as well, and will arguably bring positive
improvements in the status of Serbs in the Federation. As
pre-election campaigning heats up between now and October,
this may be a first signal that nationalist politics will
increasingly dominate the political scene in the RS. End
comment.

MCELHANEY