Institutional violations of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Within the framework of a project “Contribution of the Academic Community to the Protection of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, a “Study on the Mapping of Institutional Violations of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, has been presented. The study is the result of a four-month survey conducted according to a project-defined methodology.

Primary focus of the Study is on the bodies and institutions of all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their identified cases of violations of the right to freedom of opinion and information, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the right to freedom to free movement.

When it comes to protecting these three human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there has been an inconsistency of domestic legislation with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. From the aspect of protection of these rights, the problem of applying the misdemeanor provisions of the police and courts has been evident, where it is necessary to change certain procedures and practices in order to ensure a greater degree of protection of the aforementioned human rights. Another problem is expressed through disproportion between the number of complaints against the police to the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman/Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the number of recommendations issued by this Institution.

The complete version of the “Study on the Mapping Institutional Violations of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is available on this link where you shall get additional information on the mapped cases of institutional violations of the above mentioned human rights, as well as conclusions and recommendations for improving human rights policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.