BOSNIA: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS APPOINTS HEADS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000297 SIPDIS EUR/SCE (HYLAND, FOOKS); INL (CARROLL); NSC FOR HELGERSON; OSD FOR BEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019 TAGS: REL PGOV PINR KDEM KCRM KJUS BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS APPOINTS HEADS TO THREE NEW POLICE AGENCIES REF: A. SARAJEVO 234 ¶B. SARAJEVO 101 ¶C. 08 SARAJEVO 714 Classified By: CDA Judith B. Cefkin, Reasons 1.4(b),(d) ¶1. (U) After a long delay the Council of Minister February 26 made several appointments to leading positions for three new state-level police support agencies created as part of two April 2008 reform laws. Although the Ministry of Security had held interviews for the positions of Director and Deputy Director for the Institute for Forensics, the Institute for Establishment and Professional Upgrading of Personnel (Education),and the Police Support Agency in June 2008, the CoM only now selected the final nominees from a ranked list of all interviewees ranked as per their interview scores (based on a scale from one to ten). Post had been lobbying (Ref A) the CoM to make nominations in order to be able to include these new agencies into our law enforcement capacity building program. Although these new agencies have not been given binding authority over entity and cantonal police structures, they can, if properly staffed, serve to promote inter-entity cooperation, especially in the fields of forensics and education. ¶2. (C) The position of Director of the Institute for Forensics went to Ljiljana Trisic (Serb) and the Deputy Director is Damir Vejo (Bosniak). The position of Director for the Police Support Agency went to Rahmija Hodzic (Bosniak) and the Deputy Director is Dragan Slipac (Croat). The position of Deputy Director of the Institute for Education went to Milan Krulj (Serb). The CoM ordered a new competition for the position of Director of the Institute for Education, allegedly because the position they feel the position needed to go to an ethnic Croat and there were no other Croat candidates on the list other than Assistant Security Minister Vjekoslav Vukovic, who is currently suspended following his indictment in Croatia on charges relating to weapons trafficking (Ref B). The CoM also decided that the headquarters of the Police Support Agency should be in Sarajevo, the Institute for Education in Mostar, and the Institute for Forensics in East Sarajevo. While, the fact that the CoM was finally able to make a decision to move the ball forward is positive, unfortunately most of the �00A;candidates are not well known figures and lack the qualifications and experience one would expect for the leadership of these fledgling state-level agencies. Agencies created as Part of SAA Process -------------- ¶3. (U) The CoM decision comes in partial fulfillment of the terms of two police reform laws, passed by Parliament April 2008 in order to fulfill a major prerequisite for Bosnia to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU (Ref C). The two laws called for the creation of seven new state-level police support structures, while postponing local police reform until sometime after the completion of constitutional reform. The new institutions are to be the 1) Directorate for Coordination of Police, 2) Institute for Forensics, 3) Institute for Establishment and Professional Upgrading of Personnel (Training),4) Police Support Agency, 5) Independent Candidate Selection Board, 6) Citizen Complaint Board, and 7) Police Officials Complaint Board. Three down, Four to go -------------- ¶4. (U) Now that the Council of Ministers has appointed most of the senior leadership for three of the agencies, Parliament must overcome a deadlock to make appointment for the other four. Specifically Parliament must agree on names for the Independent Candidate Selection Board, which will then recommend names for leading positions in the Directorate for Coordination of Police. We have been told that the issue is now held up in the state-level House of Peoples due to the objections of one Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) delegate. We will continue to consult with all parties involved to help expedite the creation of these agencies. Disappointing Selections -------------- SARAJEVO 00000297 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Aside from the new Deputy Director for the Institute for Forensics Damir Vejo, a solid performer in the Ministry of Security who attended an International Visitors Program in late 2006, the majority of appointments went to lackluster candidates. In at least the case of the Director for the Police Support Agency, we are told that pressure from the Minister of Security Tarik Sadovic caused the CoM to pass over a better qualified Bosniak candidate who had scored almost one full point higher (on a ten point scale) than Sadovic's favored candidate. Rahmija Hodzic, Sadovic's favored candidate, is himself two years away from mandatory retirement. Such politically motivated appointments, made with more consideration to ethnic background than relevant experience, will make it harder for these new state-level institutions to forge out relevant roles in the convoluted police structures of BiH. We will nevertheless provide whatever we can to steer them in a positive direction. Short biographic sketches of the new candidates follow: Ljiljana Trisic (Serb): Before her appointment as Director of the state-level Institute for Forensics, Ms. Trisic served as Assistant Security Minister in charge of the Sector for Analytics, Assessment and Strategic Analysis, a sector reputed to have at best lackluster results. Before the 1992-1995 she was employed with the Yugoslav State Security Service. She is 45 years-old, unmarried and has no apparent experience in the field of forensics. Damir Vejo (Bosniak): Before being appointment Deputy Director of the state-level Institute for Forensics, Mr. Vejo served as Head of Section for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption. Mr. Vejo graduated from a police high school before receiving higher degrees in Criminology in Sarajevo and Italy. He has also worked in the Border Police and was a 2006 attendee of an International Visitor Program. He is married, has three children, and speaks several foreign languages, including English. Rahmija Hodzic (Bosniak): Originally from Kupres, the new Director of the Police Support Agency came to Sarajevo and worked in the Federation Police, where he led the section for education. He holds a degree from the traffic faculty. Mr. Hodzic is close to mandatory retirement age and has a reputation of being affiliated with the conservative faction of SDA. Dragan Slipac (Croat): Before being appointed as Deputy Director for the Police Support Agency, Mr. Slipac served in the Ministry of Security as Head of Section for Analytics and Strategic Analysis. Slipac completed a degree in machine engineering and worked before the war at a military hardware factory in Novi Travnik. We are told that he served in the Croat Intelligence Service during the war and is rumored to be very close to the political party HDZ-1990. Milan Krulj (Serb): Before his appointment as Deputy Director for the Institute for Establishment and Professional Upgrading of Personnel (Training),Mr. Krulj worked in the Border Police as Deputy Director for Support. He was born in 1956 and completed a degree in political science in Sarajevo and later worked in the police forces. He is married with two children, and has no apparent relevant experience in the field of education. CEFKIN