Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SARAJEVO1906
2008-12-29 13:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Sarajevo
Cable title:
BOSNIA - HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMEN (FINALLY) TAKE
how-toVZCZCXRO6034 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHVJ #1906 3641337 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 291337Z DEC 08 FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9447 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/JCS WASHINGTON DC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001906
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
EUR/SCE FOR FOOKS, STINCHCOMB; NSC FOR HELGERSON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMEN (FINALLY) TAKE
OFFICE
REF: SARAJEVO 1231
UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001906
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
EUR/SCE FOR FOOKS, STINCHCOMB; NSC FOR HELGERSON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMEN (FINALLY) TAKE
OFFICE
REF: SARAJEVO 1231
1. (SBU) On December 4, after more than two years of
political wrangling, Bosnia and Herzegovina's three new
state-level ombudsmen for human rights issues finally took
office. The inaugural session of the ombudsman institution
took place December 15, with a formal hand-over of
responsibility from the previous incumbents, who had been
appointed in 2004 under a previous law, in which the
state-level ombudsman institution was one of three, alongside
a Federation ombudsman and an RS ombudsman. The new
ombudsman institution, constituted under the March 2006 Law
on Ombudsman for Human Rights in BiH, was supposed to have
been the sole institution resulting from the merger of the
entity- and state-level ombudsmen by December, 2006.
2. (SBU) As always, the devil is in the (politically-charged)
details. The RS National Assembly, unlike the Federation,
has not yet passed a law transferring authority, staff, or
funding to the new ombudsman institution. Instead, the RSNA
passed a law creating a different ombudsman for children's
issues, despite this area having been included in the
state-level law as within the purview of the state-level
institution. To date, no legislation has been formally
introduced to bring the RS into compliance with the state
law, and pass competency to the new ombudsman institution.
3. (SBU) Personnel is also a factor: in their first group
meeting with anyone from the international community, the
three ombudsmen advised us that both the Federation and RS
institutions (which they are expected to absorb) are bloated
bureaucracies, with more than half of the 70 staff members
carrying out purely administrative functions, unable to
address the now-backlogged case load they are inheriting.
Fully half the lawyers the Federation ombudsman employs must
be let go as lacking the skills to deal professionally with
human rights issues (though, they say, many can be let go by
simple attrition).
4. (SBU) Finally, facilities for the institution are a major
concern: the ombudsman institution, which by law is to be
headquartered in Banja Luka, will have branch offices in
several cities of BiH, including large offices in Sarajevo.
Currently, several offices which state- and entity-level
staff use are in unsuitable facilities, all rented. The
ombudsmen plan to produce a study of needs and hope to
identify transitional space while permanent facilities can be
acquired.
ENGLISH
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
EUR/SCE FOR FOOKS, STINCHCOMB; NSC FOR HELGERSON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMEN (FINALLY) TAKE
OFFICE
REF: SARAJEVO 1231
1. (SBU) On December 4, after more than two years of
political wrangling, Bosnia and Herzegovina's three new
state-level ombudsmen for human rights issues finally took
office. The inaugural session of the ombudsman institution
took place December 15, with a formal hand-over of
responsibility from the previous incumbents, who had been
appointed in 2004 under a previous law, in which the
state-level ombudsman institution was one of three, alongside
a Federation ombudsman and an RS ombudsman. The new
ombudsman institution, constituted under the March 2006 Law
on Ombudsman for Human Rights in BiH, was supposed to have
been the sole institution resulting from the merger of the
entity- and state-level ombudsmen by December, 2006.
2. (SBU) As always, the devil is in the (politically-charged)
details. The RS National Assembly, unlike the Federation,
has not yet passed a law transferring authority, staff, or
funding to the new ombudsman institution. Instead, the RSNA
passed a law creating a different ombudsman for children's
issues, despite this area having been included in the
state-level law as within the purview of the state-level
institution. To date, no legislation has been formally
introduced to bring the RS into compliance with the state
law, and pass competency to the new ombudsman institution.
3. (SBU) Personnel is also a factor: in their first group
meeting with anyone from the international community, the
three ombudsmen advised us that both the Federation and RS
institutions (which they are expected to absorb) are bloated
bureaucracies, with more than half of the 70 staff members
carrying out purely administrative functions, unable to
address the now-backlogged case load they are inheriting.
Fully half the lawyers the Federation ombudsman employs must
be let go as lacking the skills to deal professionally with
human rights issues (though, they say, many can be let go by
simple attrition).
4. (SBU) Finally, facilities for the institution are a major
concern: the ombudsman institution, which by law is to be
headquartered in Banja Luka, will have branch offices in
several cities of BiH, including large offices in Sarajevo.
Currently, several offices which state- and entity-level
staff use are in unsuitable facilities, all rented. The
ombudsmen plan to produce a study of needs and hope to
identify transitional space while permanent facilities can be
acquired.
ENGLISH