The meeting of expert working group

Within the project “Contribution of the Academic Community to the Protection of Human Rights in BiH”, the meeting of the expert working group took place in East New Sarajevo, on October 23, 2021. The meeting was held with the aim of establishing and preparing a working group for negotiation sessions with institutions mapped by the Study on Mapping Institutional Violations of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The meeting was held by an expert working group consisting of PhD Dženeta Omerdić – Faculty of Law in Tuzla, PhD Elmedin Muratbegović – Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies in Sarajevo, PhD Enes Osmančević – Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla, Marko Divković – Association of BH Journalists, PhD Sead Turčalo – Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, PhD Goran Amidžić – Faculty of Security Studies in Banja Luka, PhD Dijana Gupta – Atlantic Council in BiH, Aleksandar Miladinović – International Center of Criminological Research and Expertise, Dejan Lučka – Banjaluka Center for Human Rights, PhD Aleksandar Ivanović – Faculty of Law in East New Sarajevo, Adnan Muratović – The Student Union of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina / Faculty of Law, University of Sarajevo and Filip Novaković – representative of student organizations from the Republic of Srpska.

During the meeting, the expert working group dealt with individual violations of the rights of citizens in BiH (freedom of opinion and information, freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of movement) in order to adequately access each of the mapped security institutions identified as violators of these human rights.

It was stated that numerous disturbing cases of violation of human rights of citizens have been mapped; that in BiH there is a totalitarian practice of performing public function; that there is no adequate reaction to violations of human rights; that there is no clear practice that is harmonized and consistent in the actions of security and judicial institutions that restrict guaranteed human rights; that there is no adequate reaction of the ombudsman for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.

Throughout the defined advocacy goals, a work plan of the expert working group has been made, which will work on drafting proposals, recommendations and concrete solutions that will be addressed to mapped institutions, including academic community, non-governmental organizations and student organizations as well as the media, in order to improve the position of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina faster and more efficiently.