BOSNIA - THE LONG, SAD SAGA OF BOSNIA'S HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001231

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE(FOOKS/STINCHCOMB) AND DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PHUM KDEM EAID BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - THE LONG, SAD SAGA OF BOSNIA'S HUMAN
RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN


1. (U) SUMMARY: The appointment of a single state-level
Ombudsman for human rights, a Stabilization and Association
Agreement (SAA) and Council of Europe post-accession
requirement, remains incomplete almost two years after the
Bosnian parliament adopted legislation mandating it. The
initial attempt to appoint the Ombudsman and his/her two
deputies collapsed in 2007 after the Republika Srpska
government insisted on an unsuitable Serb candidate. The
most recent effort unraveled in July 2008 when the House of
Representatives (HoR) and House of Peoples (HoP) abandoned
the merit-based selection process selection process in favor
of nominating what many in the human rights community
perceive as political cronies. The two legislative bodies
proposed different candidate slates for the three top slots
in the Office of the Ombudsman and because they have been
unable to resolve their differences no appointments have been
confirmed. Most experts predict the issue will remain
unresolved through the October municipal elections, and it is
possible the selection process will have to be repeated
again, delaying the Ombudsman's appointment into 2009. END
SUMMARY

Origins of the State-level Ombudsman
--------------


2. (U) In March 2006, Bosnia's parliament adopted an
amendment to the Law on Ombudsman for Human Rights in BiH,
which envisaged the full merger of the state and entity
Ombudsmen institutions by December 31, 2006. The creation of
a State Ombudsman was a Stabilization and Association
Agreement (SAA) requirement as well as a Council of Europe
(CoE) post-accession requirement for Bosnia. The EU and CoE,
with support from the OHR and others in the international
community, argued that a single state-level Ombudsman was of
crucial importance for a national system to protect human
rights of every individual, to promote the rule of law, and
to ensure proper conduct of public administration at all
levels of government in Bosnia. Though the merger of the
state and entity Ombudsmen Institutions was supposed to occur
in January 2007, it has still not taken place.

RS Backs an Unsuitable Candidate
--------------


3. (U) The first attempt to appoint the Ombudsman and his/her
two deputies -- in the fall of 2007 -- failed because the
Republika Srpska (RS) government, including RS PM Dodik,
backed a candidate widely criticized as unsuitable for the
role of state-level human rights watchdog. The RS-backed
candidate, Vitomir Popovic, had close links to the wartime RS
government and had publicly threatened to kill a Federation
TV journalist, whose reporting had made him unhappy. (Note:
The Ombudsman and his/her two deputies, once confirmed, would
serve six-year terms, with the position of Ombudsman rotating
among the three every two years. The three positions are to
be filled by a Bosniak, a Croat and a Serb. By law, all
three candidates must be appointed simultaneously. End Note)
This RS intransigence forced the government to repeat the
selection process in 2008.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Fail Again
--------------


4. (U) The second attempt to select the Ombudsmen went off
track on July 14 when the House of Representatives (HoR)
refused to accept the recommendations of an ad hoc commission
that had rank ordered the Bosniak, Croat and Serb candidates
based on their competence, experience, and moral integrity.
The wheels came off on July 23 when the House of Peoples
(HoP) refused to confirm the Bosniak and Croat candidates
selected by the HoR.

-- Bosniaks: The HoR nominated the sixth-ranked Bosniak
candidate Emina Halilovic, who is close to Bosniak member of
the Tri-Presidency Haris Silajdzic's Party for BiH (SBiH).
The Party for Democratic Action (SDA) dominated Bosniak
Caucus in the HoP rejected Halilovic, and instead nominated
the top-ranked Bosniak candidate, Jasminka Dzumhur. (Note: We
have heard that SDA's support for Dzumhur is merely tactical,
and that SDA would be prepared to abandon her if an SDA
rather than an SBIH candidate was appointed to another
government position. End Note)
-- Croats: The HoR nominated the fourth-ranked Croat
candidate, Mariofil Ljubic, the brother of HDZ-1990 leader
Bozo Ljubic. Unsurprisingly, the Croat Caucus in the HoP,
which is dominated by Bozo Ljubic's rivals, HDZ-BiH, rejected
Mariofil Ljubic and supported second-ranked Ivo Bradvica.

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(Note: The top-ranked Croat candidate, rejected by both
HDZ-BiH and HDZ-1990, is the current Federation Ombudsman,
Branka Raguz. End Note)
-- Serbs: Only with the Serb candidate was their agreement
between the HoR and HoP, which supported the second-ranked
Serb candidate, Ljubomir Sandic. Sandic is a close associate
of RS PM Dodik and member of Dodik's Alliance of Independent
Social Democrats (SNSD). The top-ranked Serb candidate, Rada
Kasedzic, was rejected because she lives in the Federation.
(Note: Only after OHR intervention did Dodik and the RS agree
not to back Popovic for a second time. End Note)

Collegium Meets to Strike a Deal, and Fails
--------------


5. (U) As a result of the deadlock, the Collegiums of the two
houses met on Wednesday, July 30 to try and harmonize the
positions of two houses, but were unable to do so. During
the session state-level PM Nikola Spiric appealed to all
parties to resolve their differences, arguing that the merger
of the Ombudsmen offices and the appointment of a state-level
Ombudsman was both a domestic legal and an EU/CoE
requirement. With the August holidays set to begin, Spiric
and members of parliament reportedly agreed to return to the
issue in September. If they fail to resolve the issue in the
Fall, the entire selection process will need to begin again.


Comment
--------------


6. (U) The ruling political parties handling of the Ombudsman
selection process thus far does not inspire confidence in
their commitment to it or its mission. Several close
contacts in the human rights community have commented to us
that the entire process is a "farce." The merger of the
state- and entity-level Ombudsmen remains incomplete almost
two years after the passage of the law mandating it. More
disconcertingly, the parties have blatantly abandoned the
merit-based selection process that was supposed to ensure the
new Ombudsman had the proper qualifications for the job, most
notably a strong, clear commitment to human rights. The
parties' preference for political allies suggests that the
new Ombudsman might be more concerned with protecting their
patrons than addressing legitimate human rights violations.
At a minimum, we suspect that this is how the Bosnian public
is likely to perceive the office in light of delays in and
nature of the selection process.
ENGLISH