YouSaid · the spoken record

Alkalaj

lines on the record: 185
first: 2008-12-09
most recent: 2023-06-12
sittings or episodes: 18
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cooperation with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has been stable and complete. We will continue that close collaboration towards our mutual goal of implementing our national strategy for the processing of war crimes, advancing investigations and prosecutions and clearing the existing backlog. We will neither falter nor tire, whether in our support for the Mechanism in completing its work or in our determination to deliver much-deserved justice for crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, on a personal note, as my term of duty comes to an end and as this is my final address to the Security Council in my present capacity, I would like to thank all Council members for their continuing contribution to ensuring peace, justice and prosperity for Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“In addition, the coordination by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the activities of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has improved the functionality of the Mechanism for the transfer of proceedings in accordance with strategic objective 3 of our revised strategy, contributing to a better dispersal of war-crime cases by levels of justice according to each case’s legal complexity. Further to the issue, we continue working on intensifying all our efforts in the search for the more than 6,000 persons who remain missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cooperation between institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of neighbouring countries in the exchange of information is equally critical.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“On 30 March, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina formed a supervisory body for monitoring the implementation of the revised national strategy for the processing of war crimes. A specific sublegal framework has been established, which will contribute to the implementation of the strategy’s goals by improving the efficiency and quality of the processing of war crimes. In that regard, the normative framework that established control over the management and influx of newly registered cases of war crimes has already resulted in a visible reduction in the number of unresolved cases of war crimes registered within the judicial system.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“The unavailability of suspects or accused persons not only undermines our courts’ general effectiveness in carrying out their heavy responsibility, but it also promotes impunity and hinders reconciliation processes in the region. For our part, we are committed to investigating, prosecuting and punishing all who are responsible for war crimes, regardless of the offenders’ nationality, ethnicity, religion or political or other affiliation. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the country’s lower-level prosecutor’s offices, are taking all necessary measures to investigate all war crimes that remain unresolved and to prosecute all potential perpetrators for their personal or command responsibility.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“About 3,000 suspected perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in the former Yugoslavia have yet to face justice. Of the total number of all unresolved cases, in Bosnia and Herzegovina alone more than 35 per cent concern persons unavailable to the domestic criminal prosecution authorities, and 63.3 per cent of those persons are located in Croatia, Montenegro or Serbia. The assistance from the Mechanism and the Office of the Prosecutor in that regard is critical, but the main responsibility for delivering meaningful justice now lies with national judicial institutions. Effective and open regional cooperation among prosecution offices is also crucial.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“General Djukic, who ordered the shelling of the Tuzla Gate area, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014 by the Bosnian State court. Shortly after, he escaped to Serbia. Today Djukic is a retired General of the Army of Republika Srpska. He is in Serbia, where he has been avoiding serving a well-deserved prison sentence ever since. That not only damages the fragile process of rebuilding trust and opening future-oriented relations between our countries, but it also perpetrates narratives that go against every civilized norm and the principles of humanity, justice and the rule of law. The day of reckoning is unavoidable. And maybe, just maybe, it will finally set the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia on a more honest path toward true reconciliation. Forgiveness can come only with atonement.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“And there is a special place in history, alongside the worst of humankind, for all those either committing war crimes or glorifying war criminals. They are much the same — the ugliest of diseases. But for so long as it is being tolerated without consequences, we become accomplices in renewed attacks on victims, never allowing wounds to heal. Moreover, as so bluntly demonstrated in the very words of Dario Kordic, it raises the very real risk of similar atrocities being committed again in the future. The day 25 May was once celebrated as the Relay of Youth. On that day in 1995, a shell fired from positions held by the Bosnian Serb army hit the Gate area of Tuzla, wiping out 71 young lives. The youngest was a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, called Sandro Kalesić.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“And now it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that a civil war never occurred, but it was a brutal aggression on my country, as independent and sovereign, by its neighbour. And while family members and the victims can never see their loved ones again, justice has prevailed. After that, it is a bit more difficult to deny the undeniable. It is difficult but apparently still very possible, as evidenced by the unimaginable that recently surfaced, which demonstrated cruelty, shamelessness and inhumanity. When asked if it was worth the jail time, war criminal Dario Kordic answered that every second was worth it and that he would do it all over again. Denials and efforts to rewrite history will continue to fail. Efforts to justify the unjustifiable will fail.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“More important, it contributes to an indisputable historical record — a crucial element in combating denial and revisionism. In the case Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović in particular, it finally spelled out what even the International Court of Justice elegantly skirted — the direct responsibility of Serbian State officials for the crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s and the existence of a joint criminal enterprise “shared by certain senior political, military and police leaders in Serbia for a common criminal purpose to forcibly and permanently remove, through ethnic cleansing, the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia”. It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that mass murder in Srebrenica was genocide.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“And so we were brutally attacked, from both outside and inside. For that precise reason, again in May 1993, by establishing the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Security Council made an unprecedented and historical contribution to justice, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the international level. Those developments were of consequential importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina and international criminal justice alike. As we marked the thirtieth anniversary of ICTY this past May and as we welcome the final verdict in the case Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, I find it opportune to acknowledge the role of the Tribunal in irreversibly changing the landscape of international humanitarian law through its precedent- setting decisions on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“I thank the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Ms. Graciela Gatti Santana, and Prosecutor Serge Brammertz for the briefings related to the progress report of the work of the International Residual Mechanism. We appreciate the detailed projection of the remaining tasks, pursuant to the requirements set out in resolution 2637 (2022). The continuation and proper completion of the work of the Mechanism remain essential in concluding this historical chapter in the history of international criminal justice. On that note, I wish to make the following remarks. In May 1992, we joined the family of nations with our restored independence — one that came at a high and bloody cost. We never allowed ourselves to be split in two or be attached to the “whatever greater”, which was the plan.”
2023-06-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9344 (2023) · source
“Cooperation between the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of neighbouring countries in the exchange of information is also critical, and we continue to search for, with a view to identifying, about 7,000 persons who still remain missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that regard, I would like to inform Council members that the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina exhumed the human remains of 93 persons in 2022. We remain committed to contributing actively to the Mechanism’s efforts to accomplish its mission. We would also like to reiterate our commitment to its work and call on all Member States to fulfil all obligations and make their financial contributions to provide for the uninterrupted work of the Mechanism. We are fully committed to continuing to strengthen the rule of law, human rights and economic development.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“I would like to extend our gratitude to the European Union for the fourth phase of the implementation of the project of improving work on war crime cases, which started in 2021. The European Union, in that phase, invested about €4 million, improving our human resources and other capacities needed for more efficient and timelier implementation of the revised strategy for processing of war crime cases. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains committed to investigating, prosecuting and punishing all persons responsible for war crimes, regardless of the offender’s nationality, ethnicity, religion or political or other affiliation. We would also like to emphasize that witness protection is of the utmost importance in the conduct and operations of all judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“In that vein, let me congratulate the Mechanism and its cooperation with the European Union and Switzerland on the implementation of the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities. It is significant that more than 100 high- school history teachers participated in five workshops organized by the Mechanism on using the archives of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Mechanism. Also, we would like to congratulate the President of IRMCT, Judge Gatti Santana, on her launch of the fourth cycle of the Programme’s video lecture series, entitled “International Law and Facts Established before the ICTY”, with the participation of postgraduate law students from 14 universities across the former Yugoslavia.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“I would like to inform Security Council members that representatives of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals visited Sarajevo and had a meeting with the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 November, at which regional cooperation and the transfer of a number cases to and from other countries in the Western Balkans region were discussed. I would like to highlight the good and improved cooperation between the Prosecutors in the region. A memorandum of understanding on support for witnesses and victims for their participation in criminal proceedings was signed by the chief Prosecutors of the relevant countries. I would like to emphasize the importance of education and the dissemination of judicial practice among the younger generations.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“Brammertz at the meeting; however, participants also recognized a lack of good cooperation with the judicial authorities of the Republic of Croatia. I would like to recall that the judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been awaiting a significant number of responses from the authorities of the Republic of Croatia for mutual legal assistance but have not received them. In that regard, we appeal to the judicial authorities of the Republic of Croatia to take action and positively respond to the requests of Bosnia and Herzegovina for mutual legal assistance.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“The judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina will work closely with Prosecutor Brammertz and those countries I just mentioned to make all suspected persons available to our judicial authorities. Allow me to emphasize once again that, as evidenced in their reports during the period under review, the cooperation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has been stable and complete. In that vein, we commend the regional meeting held on 10 and 11 October in Belgrade between Prosecutors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia with a delegation from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, led by Mr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the Mechanism. Good cooperation among those Prosecutors Offices was recognized in the compliments bestowed by Mr.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“Let me inform Council members that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has registered 362 suspected or accused persons who are inaccessible to the judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the available information, 63.3 per cent of those persons are located in the Republic of Croatia, Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia, while the other persons are located in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United States of America. The Prosecutor’s Office has already issued 50 warrants, and 62 additional warrants have been issued by different courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“According to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prosecutor’s offices at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina are working on 465 war crimes cases, involving more than 4,000 suspected persons. Also, courts at the different levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina are working on 220 unresolved war crime cases. During the reporting period, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed three indictments against seven persons, while 75 cases were delegated to the other, lower levels for prosecution. The Prosecutor’s Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still working on a total of 334 war crime investigation cases against 3,572 suspected persons. Assistance from the Office of the Prosecutor of the Mechanism remains essential for completing that work.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“In that vein, I would like to confirm that the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is working on the formation of that important body. The implementation of the strategy will send a strong message that impunity will not and must not be allowed, regardless of the nationality and ethnic identity of either the victims or the perpetrators. That is important for reconciliation and progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina and throughout the Western Balkans. I would also like to inform you, Madam President, that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the prosecutors’ offices at the other, lower levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are taking all the necessary measures to investigate all war crimes that are still unresolved and prosecute all potential perpetrators for their personal or command responsibility.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“We commend the Mechanism for having continued to make progress in its work during the reporting period. I would like to emphasize that the work of the Mechanism can be concluded only when all unfinished cases in The Hague and the region receive a rightful outcome. Therefore, the continuation of its work until such closure is achieved is of paramount importance. I would like to inform you, Madam President, that the judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are working tirelessly on the implementation of the revised strategy for processing war crime cases. One of the required steps in implementing that strategy and strengthening the rule of law is the formation of a supervisory body for the strategy.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Madam, on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month. I want to wish you every success in performing your duties and assure you of my delegation’s full support. I would also like to congratulate Ms. Graciela Gatti Santana on her appointment as President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). I wish her every success in her work, whose main goal is to achieve justice for all in the international community, especially victims of war crimes. And I thank her and Mr. Serge Brammertz, the Chief Prosecutor of the Mechanism, for their comprehensive briefings today. Let me also commend Mr. Carmel Agius, the former President of the Mechanism, for his tireless work and success in leading the Mechanism for the past three and a half years.”
2022-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9217 (2022) · source
“I take this opportunity to emphasize that Bosnia and Herzegovina still supports the institution of the High Representative, in accordance with the mandate of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but that the activity of the current acting High Representative has become a problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible. That is why it is important to say once again that anyone who performs the duties of the High Representative cannot do unconstitutional things or work outside his authority, which is unfortunately the case now. That is why I hereby invite members of the Council to resolve that issue together and help Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the democratic path in the coming period.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“In addition, an appeal was submitted to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina because the High Representative’s decisions were clearly unconstitutional. Instead of waiting for the outcome of that court process, the High Representative put pressure on political actors, and even on judicial processes, to implement his decisions as soon as possible. That is absolutely unacceptable. For all those reasons, it has become more than obvious that the role of the current High Representative has become destabilizing, in favour of one of the neighbouring countries, as well as some of the High Representative’s international mentors, but to the detriment of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“By making those changes to the election rules immediately before and after the elections, the High Representative violated the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a number of international acts incorporated into the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is certainly not — and cannot be — his role. The High Representative deceived the voters by changing the election rules after the elections were held, an act that caused such a destabilization of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina that there were mass protests in front of the Office of the High Representative building in Sarajevo of by citizens who were dissatisfied and believed that apartheid had been introduced into their country.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“His second intention, based on the belief that we allegedly wanted to enable the unblocking of the Government formation process, involved interventions in the Constitution of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the electoral law of Bosnia and Herzegovina. To put it simply, that was not correct because the unblocking did not happen; at the same time, he introduced a significant asymmetry into the formation of the authorities in the two Bosnia and Herzegovina entities, whereas the two entities are supposed to respect the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not possible to have two different approaches to the formation of the Government in the two Bosnia and Herzegovina entities, which are obliged to respect the provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“In addition, the High Representative selectively implemented the judgments of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in that he did not implement the only judgment concerning the suppression of discrimination, namely, the judgment in the Komšić case, thereby committing another criminal offense by disobeying the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, I want to share a few important observations with the Council. The intention of the High Representative to enable fairer elections with his decisions was not realized. On the contrary, a number of confusing elements were introduced that made it difficult to carry out the election process.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“The fourth disputed element refers to the fact that the High Representative planned all of that in cooperation with the neighbouring Republic of Croatia, which the Government of the Republic of Croatia itself publicly announced, probably considering itself a guarantor of the Dayton Agreement — which it certainly is not. The High Representative therefore committed, among other things, what the criminal law of Bosnia and Herzegovina considers to be a criminal offense.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“In addition, annex 7 to the Dayton Peace Agreement mandates the return of all displaced persons to their pre-war homes and, until that process is completed, the 1991 census must be applied. The reason for that is very simple: it ensures that, in accordance with the judgments made at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, it will never be possible to legalize the results of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, through his decisions, the High Representative informally declared annex 7 ended, thereby formally accepting the results of ethnic cleansing, genocide and other most terrible war crimes. That is not the job of the High Representative, and it is very harmful to the Dayton Peace Agreement.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“The High Representative therefore fully and consciously kept the ethnic quota from 1991 because it corresponds to the wishes of neighbouring Croatia. On the other hand, by using the 2013 census to fill the upper house of our legislative body, the House of Peoples, he increased the quotas needed to make decisions in favour of those same HDZ-controlled ethnic Croats. That made Bosnia and Herzegovina the only country in the world that uses one census for the formation of the legislative bodies of the Government and another census for the formation of the executive bodies of the Government. By doing that, the High Representative placed all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a state of complete legal uncertainty.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“The third disputed element concerns the amendments that the High Representative imposed on the Constitution of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on two different censuses, one from 1991 and another from 2013. His decision shows his exact intention, in cooperation with the neighbouring Republic of Croatia, to ensure the unlimited participation in Government of one political party, the Croat Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ), which is a branch of the same political party in neighbouring Croatia. According to the 1991 census, there should be five ethnic Croat ministers under the control of the HDZ in the Government of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; however, according to the 2013 census, there should be two or three fewer.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“That is another indicator of the High Representative’s violation of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other international norms. As an example, as an ethnic Jew from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I will have no equal rights, opportunities or chances to adequately participate in the electoral process in the new electoral system imposed by the High Representative. It is obvious that someone is trying to create an environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the premise of “equal but separate”, incorporating the racial and ethnic discrimination rejected decades ago along with all the elements of apartheid, and unfortunately, through the interventions of the High Representative, to impose a political and social system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is absolutely unacceptable.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“How can any country claim to value its people — living human beings — and yet give them a higher or lower personal coefficient that determines whether they have a higher or lower level of human rights? The answer is very simple. There is no country that can do that. It is particularly worrisome that the High Representative has completely destroyed the principle of the rule of law, which implies the equality of all before the law without exception. In contrast, he has created a system in which all citizens, persons, and individuals are not equal before the election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the High Representative has not respected a single judgment of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to the existence of systemic discrimination, the rejection of which is a constitutional obligation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“That means that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who form part of an ethnic minority in certain parts of the country may have a coefficient of, for example, 0.5, while citizens of the same ethnicity in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina may have a coefficient of 1.5, giving them greater rights and chances in the electoral process. That is the ultimate form of ethnic discrimination and it is prohibited by such agreements as the United Nations Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, among others. I want to remind Council members that those international instruments are an integral part of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they have direct application.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“In a similar vein, we have the opinion of the Venice Commission — the highest legal authority in Europe — which clearly states that election rules must not be changed too often and never within one year of an election, for the reason that all citizens and actors in the elections must have enough time to become familiar with the new election rules. That opinion was not respected by the High Representative either. The second disputed element is as follows. The High Representative made changes to the election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina whereby the evaluation of living citizens is carried out through a mathematical formula and their coefficient for participation in the election process is determined in accordance with their ethnicity.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“Likewise, in the United States, the Supreme Court has invalidated changes made to election rules immediately before an election or when those rules prevented certain ethnic groups defined by skin colour from exercising their civil rights, as in the cases of Purcell v. Gonzales and Merrill v. Milligan. All of this means that any change to election rules immediately before or after an election in any country can be considered a direct attack on democracy. The High Representative apparently did not take that into account.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“Are we supposed to think that Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens are not good enough for complete democracy? I would like to remind the Council that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not part of the civilian aspect of the Dayton Agreement, which means that it cannot be interpreted by the High Representative. That is the duty of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina alone. I am taking this opportunity to remind the Council that in some European countries, such as Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, whether through domestic or international courts, there have been judicial invalidations of all changes to electoral rules made immediately before or after elections, as the judicial authorities consider such changes to be a direct attack on democracy.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“With that, the High Representative deceived every voter in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because they would certainly have voted differently if they had been familiar with the new election rules. At the same time, the High Representative deceived all the actors in the elections — more specifically, all the political parties and independent candidates, who would certainly have offered different electoral lists and programmes that would have accorded with the new electoral rules. How can Bosnia and Herzegovina implement its own constitutional principle as a democratic country if the election rules are changed after the elections? That cannot be done, and yet it was the High Representative who made it possible to do so, despite the fact that his position gives him no right to do anything contrary to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“To make all of this as clear as possible, I will share with the Council some elements that make it easy to comprehend how the High Representative has taken actions contrary to annex 10 to the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina in a state of destabilization and unable to continue its path towards joining the European Union and an alliance with NATO. The first disputed element is as follows. Bosnia and Herzegovina by its Constitution is intended to be a democratic country that operates under the rule of law and free and democratic elections. That constitutional principle was violated by the High Representative when he imposed changes to the election rules after the elections were over.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“In that second intervention, the Office of the High Representative imposed completely new rules for assigning delegates to the Upper House of the legislative body of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, the High Representative made amendments to the Constitution of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, although that is not part of the civilian aspects of the Dayton Agreement that falls under its jurisdiction as enshrined in annex 10.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“We are experiencing difficulties with the counting of election results, a number of irregularities have been identified and we have even seen the appearance of falsified ballots. It is clear that the changes made to the election rules only two months before the election made it impossible for the Central Election Commission to organize everything adequately and on time. The party responsible for that is none other than the Office of the High Representative. The second intervention occurred on the day of the election, 2 October, after the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina had concluded their voting.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“The Office of the High Representative amended certain paragraphs in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s election law in an attempt to improve the integrity and transparency of the election process, although it was already known by then that in early May of 2022 the competent authority — the Central Election Commission — had announced the holding of elections for 2 October 2022. Knowing that elections had been announced in accordance with the existing rules, the High Representative therefore made a first amendment to those rules, claiming that he was trying to improve the integrity of the election process. However, the body that conducts elections, the Central Election Commission, had only two months to organize that part of the election process in accordance with those new rules, and that was not enough time. The result is what we are seeing today.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“Given that today’s topic of discussion is the latest six-month report of the High Representative (see S/2022/806), I want to take this opportunity to remind the Council that the High Representative’s competence is established by annex 10 to the Dayton Agreement, with a mandate to supervise the implementation of the civilian aspect, which, among other things, includes the holding of fair and free elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Guided by that premise, in the previous reporting period the Office of the High Representative imposed two decisions concerning the election law on Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as amendments to the Constitution of one of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entities. The first intervention happened at the end of July.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“According to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the task of monitoring the implementation of the military aspect was assigned to NATO and EUFOR, as equal legal successors of the former Stabilization Force, while the task of monitoring the implementation of the civilian aspect was to be carried out by the Office of the High Representative, with the help of the Peace Implementation Council. It is very important to point that out, because in the previous reporting period we saw a significant violation of those provisions of the Dayton Agreement not only by neighbouring countries but unfortunately also by the Office of the High Representative itself.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“Such claims are incorrect and ill-intentioned, because the Dayton Agreement does not identify anyone as a guarantor of the Agreement. By incorrectly claiming that they are guarantors of the Dayton Agreement, those neighbours are trying to create a misleading environment in which they have the right to intervene in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political, economic and social systems. Simply put, that constitutes an attack on the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is one of the most significant factors in the destabilization of the entire region.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“Before I provide the Council with that overview, allow me to emphasize on this occasion that the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the signatories of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, better known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, along with two other neighbouring countries and six witnesses, which include five countries and the European Union. It is well known that peace agreements are always signed by the participants in the war in question. From that point of view of international law, the signing of the Dayton Agreement therefore ended the inter-State armed conflict, as determined by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. I underscore that because occasionally in the public space we hear neighbouring countries claim that they are guarantors of the Dayton Agreement.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“I would like to underline that the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been stable and secure for a long time, and we are ready to take responsibility for the development of the country. This statement on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a sovereign and independent State, mostly focuses on the situation in the country over the past six months, with a special emphasis on the general elections held on 2 October. That period was relatively peaceful and largely dedicated to the holding of those general elections. We could even say that the election campaign was more peaceful than previous ones, although there were sporadic outbursts of secessionist and nationalist rhetoric.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November and wish you and your delegation every success. We welcome the Security Council’s unanimous adoption of resolution 2658 (2022), which extends the mandate of the European Union Military Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR-Althea), which has been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for many years, and I am grateful for Ireland’s leadership role. It is important to emphasize that Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a host country, has enjoyed respectable and fruitful cooperation with Operation Althea, particularly in the areas of capacity-building and cooperation with the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9179 (2022) · source
“I would also like to inform the Council that the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide has been signed between the State Prosecutor’s Office of Montenegro and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Protocol will help facilitate the exchange of information and evidence between two countries. We are fully committed to continuing to strengthen the rule of law, human rights and economic development. We will continue to work to strengthen the justice system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stability, progress, mutual trust and cooperation cannot be achieved without full justice.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9062 (2022) · source
“Cooperation with the judicial authorities of the Republic of Croatia could and should be improved with regard to positive responses from the Croatian authorities to the requests for mutual legal assistance sent to them by Bosnia and Herzegovina. But they have not responded so far. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has finished a couple of investigations, but it is not possible to file indictments without questioning the suspected persons residing in Croatia. In that regard, we urge the Government of Croatia to change its attitude and start complying with our requests. We need that if we are to improve the fight against impunity and reconciliation in the Western Balkans.”
2022-06-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9062 (2022) · source