CORRUPTION, ETHNICITY, AND POLITICAL FAVORITISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001294 SENSITIVE SIPDIS BELGRADE FOR REGIONAL PRM (MOORE); EUR/SCE FOR FOOKS, JUKIC, BRYANT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL KREF BK SUBJECT: CORRUPTION, ETHNICITY, AND POLITICAL FAVORITISM KILL RETURN PROCESS IN BOSNIA REF: SARAJEVO 804 SARAJEVO 00001294 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Several weeks ago, Bosnia's State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) launched an investigation into the work of the state-level Return Fund and the State Commission for Displaced Persons and Refugees (DPRE Commission),due to numerous reports of alleged irregularities and corruption in the work of these two institutions. According to these reports, decision makers (all from leading political parties) are believed to have mishandled millions of dollars of state and entity budget assistance, which was supposed to go to the neediest displaced persons and returnees in the country. Instead, the funds were largely used to support political election campaigns in the forthcoming 2010 general elections. Unwilling to further participate in this nationalistic and criminal diversion of funds, Assistant Minister of Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) Mario Nenadic recently resigned, after being verbally (and, we assess, falsely) attacked by the ethnic-Serb Secretary of MHRR for favoring the return process at the expense of local integration. Nenadic was a rare State official who was both capable and non-political (belonging to no party),and was one of Post,s reliable contacts for more than a decade. These most recent developments are likely to further slow the already-fragile return process in Bosnia. END SUMMARY. Politicians Devour Return Assistance -------------- ¶2. (SBU) SIPA recently launched an investigation into work of the Return Fund and DPRE Commission on the basis of numerous criminal reports on irregularities and corruption in the work of these two institutions. It is unclear who exactly submitted these reports, but some are believed to have come directly from the returnee associations in the field. One of the reports alleged that the Director of the Fund (which is a State-level operational institution responsible for payments for projects that have been already agreed upon by the DPRE Commission members) Mladjen Bozovic, used the Fund's money to pay for his studies in Serbia, to buy expensive gifts for colleagues, to buy a rotary cultivator for his brother, to pay USD 37,000 for an expensive SUV for the office, and so forth. Bozovic didn't deny these claims, but according to local press, said that "others were doing the same thing," and called such accusations "political manipulation at the time when he was up for re-election to director,s position of the Fund." Unfortunately, Bozovic isn't the only State level official responsible for Annex VII implementation who is alleged to have profited from funds intended for returnees who are in greatest need of assistance. ¶3. (SBU) Responsibility for implementation of Dayton's Annex VII was transferred from the Office of the High Representative (OHR),in coordination with OSCE and UNHCR, to Bosnia's state and entity governments in 2002, though OHR continues to monitor Annex VII issues periodically. NGO representatives and UNHCR told Post that the whole system of State level institutions responsible for Annex VII implementation in Bosnia has been in disarray for more than two years. HRR Minister Safet Halilovic (a Bosniak from SBiH),Deputy Minister Slavko Marin (a Croat from HDZ-BiH), and Secretary of the Ministry Dragomir Kovac (a Serb from SNSD) have established three parallel, strictly ethnic/party based decision making channels in one ministry, which has led to a disregard for all objective criteria determining assistance needs in the field. ¶4. (SBU) For example, for FY2009 (as in past years),the entity- and state-level governments have provided USD 27.8 million in joint funds to support the return process in more than 30 municipalities across Bosnia. Beneficiaries of assistance should have been selected on the basis of clearly-defined criteria, which stipulate that the municipalities with the largest number of displaced persons, returnees, and destroyed dwellings should take priority for projects. However, nine Commission members (three from each constituent people) have entirely disregarded these criteria and instead selected municipalities in which they feel they could score extra political points in the 2010 general elections (as the projects approved now are likely to be implemented just before the elections). Mosques, Chapels, and Churches -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Besides the use of the above-mentioned joint funds, Commission members have also agreed to add an additional USD SARAJEVO 00001294 002.2 OF 002 2.25 million annually as "intervention funds" to support sustainability of returnees in the most critical areas of the country. We have been provided documentation on the use of this intervention fund; more than half of 114 nominated projects on the list are intended to be used to repair or build religious objects, i.e. Catholic and Orthodox churches/chapels, mosques, and so forth. Unfortunately, we assess this was not done to facilitate the needs of the believers in these communities, but to please religious officials who will, in return, use the pulpit to promote given parties. Other listed projects have been directly proposed by municipal mayors, not returnee associations, or municipal return commissions. Some projects were even not intended to support minority returns, but "local integration" instead (that is, assistance to those who do not wish to return to their places of origin, something that has never been funded and should legally not have been funded through this system). Some returnee associations claim beneficiary lists for some municipalities were provided by the MHRR or DPRE Commission, while in principle the lists should be going from the municipalities to the Ministry and DPRE Commission. As a result of this, some associations have filed criminal reports to SIPA. "I'll Never Work Again for Bosnia,s Government" -------------- -- ¶6. (SBU) Irregularities in the work of the DPRE Commission and the Fund, and frustration in the work of addressing the needs of the remaining 130,000 displaced persons and refugees prompted MHRR Assistant Minister Mario Nenadic to resign after more than 16 years with the Ministry. Nenadic was a long-time Embassy contact and probably one of the most professional and hardworking individuals in Bosnia's state-level government. A State official with no party affiliation, he told us he could no longer stand the level of corruption and thievery that had become so obvious in the MHRR, the Fund, and the Commission. Nenadic also was the central author and engine pushing for adoption of the much-needed revised Annex VII strategy, a document that had clearly spelled out what remained to be done in order to close the Annex VII chapter in Bosnia. ¶7. (SBU) Nenadic was also the only person working on a regional approach to solving refugee issues, and had institutional knowledge about the whole process from the beginning. He was verbally attacked by the Secretary of the MHRR Dragomir Kovac, who told him that he was intentionally promoting returns only, while disregarding the right of persons to local integration (something the Serb parliamentarians used as a reason to kill the adoption of the Strategy in Parliament in June),an option widely advocated and preferred by RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik,s SNSD. As a result of this incident, and the mounting stress of his work, Nenadic suffered a mild heart attack. On his way to the hospital, he told us, he decided to submit his resignation, telling us he would never again work for a government institution. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Minority returnees in Bosnia struggling to survive, and those displaced persons and refugees who are still seeking reconstruction and return assistance, have once again been cheated by corrupt officials in the DPRE Commission and the Fund. With the collapse of the Annex VII implementation process, it is illusory to expect that any greater progress would be achieved in the months to come. We will continue to follow the SIPA investigation of the DPRE Commission and the Fund. However, it seems now that the chances of reforming the system to promote meaningful continuation of returns are quickly dwindling. Political recrimination for misuse of the Fund will likely follow, with political opportunists blaming competitors' parties and possibly the international community. ENGLISH