New Roma rights legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina: positive, negative or indifferent?

Abstract

On 31 March 2003, the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed minority rights legislation. This article reviews its main provisions and critically asks: To what extent does this law meet international and European standards? How effective will this law be in addressing the socio-economic and political crisis facing the Roma minority today? Apart from granting minority status to the Roma, a right they had enjoyed under the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, this article concludes that the new law offers little by way of additional protections beyond those already available, albeit unutilised, under the Dayton Peace Agreement and the State and Entity Constitutions. It further notes that the limited nature of minority rights legislation to cultural, linguistic and religious rights means that it fails to address many of the critical issues facing the Roma today, such as illiteracy, poverty, widespread discrimination and prejudice, and political disenfranchisement.

Notes

1. Roma Voluntary Corp, Fact-Finding Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, ‘Report on the Electoral Participation and General Situation of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina’, (May/June 2000), p.5.

2. UNHCR Report (M. Braham), ‘The Untouchables: A Survey of the Roma People of Central and Eastern Europe’ (1993), p.9.

3. OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, ‘Report on the Situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area’, The Hague, 10 March 2000, p.20.

4. Ibid. p.21.

5. V. Dimitrijevic, ‘Nationalities and Minorities in the Yugoslav Federation’, in Y. Dinstein (ed.), The Protection of Minorities and Human Rights (Dordrecht: Martinus Hijhoff Publishers 1992), p.419.

6. This number does not take account those who described themselves as ‘Yugoslavs’, ‘Muslims’ or ‘Others’.

7. UNHCR, ‘Update of UNHCR's Position on Categories of Persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Continued Need of International Protection’ (September 2001), para.88.

8. Ibid. para.89.

9. B.A. Fisher, ‘The Bosnian War: Religion, History and the Gypsies’, Wittier Law Review (1996), p.473.

10. Ibid. p.474.

11. UNHCR Statistics, 1 December 2003.

12. S.L. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy: Chaos and Dissolution After the Cold War (Washington DC: The Brookings Institution 1995), p.31.

13. Dimitrijević (note 5) p.423.

14. V. Pupavac, ‘Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Multiethnic Rights Approach and the Politicisation of Ethnicity’, Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 5, No.2 (2000), p.3.

15. G. Gilbert, ‘Autonomy and Minority Groups: A Right in International Law?’, Cornell Int'l L.J.,Vol.35 (Fall 2002), p.322.

16. J. Mertus, ‘Prospects for National Minorities under the Dayton Accords – Lessons from History: The Inter-War Minorities Scheme and the “Yugoslav Nations”’, Brooklyn J. Int'l L., Vol.23 (1998), p.806.

17. See, Constituent Peoples' Decision of the BIH Constitutional Court, 5/98, 30 June and 1 July 2000. See, for further information, International Crisis Group Balkans Report No. 128, ‘Implementing Equality: The “Constitutent Peoples” Decision in Bosnia and Herzegovina’, Sarajevo/Brussels, 16 April 2002.

18. UNHCR, ‘Update of UNHCR's Position on Categories of Persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Continued Need of International Protection’ (August 2000), p.18.

19. UNHCR Update (September 2001) (note 7) paras.88–90.

20. Art. 1 of Annex 6 on Human Rights.

21. GA resol. 2200 A (XXI), 16 December 1966; entry into force 23 March 1976.

22. GA resol. 2106 (XX), 21 December 1965; entry into force 4 January 1969.

23. GA resol. 2200 A (XXI), 16 December 1966; entry into force 3 January 1976.

24. BIH succeeded to the ICCPR on 1 September 1993, to the ICESCR on 3 March 1992, and to the CERD on 16 July 1993.

25. Art. 10 provides ‘Citizens of the Republika Srpska shall be equal in their freedoms, rights and duties; they shall be equal before the law and they shall enjoy equal legal protection irrespective of their race, sex, language, national origin, religion, social origin, birth, education, property status, political and other beliefs, social status and other personalized attributes’.

26. Art. 5 of the RS Constitution.

27. P. Thornberry, International Law and the Rights of Minorities (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1991), p.164.

28. F. Caportorti, ‘Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities’ (UN publication, 1979), reprinted as UN Human Rights Study Series No. 5, 1991.

29. J. Deschenes, ‘Promotion, Protection and Restoration of Human Rights at National, Regional and International Levels’, UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1985 (1985), para.181.

30. Greco-Bulgarian Communities Case, PCIJ, Ser.B., Nov. 17, 19, 21, 22, and 33.

31. HRC General Comment No. 23(50) on Article 27 (15th sess., 1994), UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.5, 1994, para.1.

32. Communication No. R.6/24 (Sandra Lovelace v Canada), 29 December 1977, para.16.

33. HRC General Comment No. 23(50) on Article 27 (note 31) para.6.2.

34. Art. 13(3) of the ICESCR.

35. Thornberry (note 27) p.197.

36. Thornberry (note 27) p.193.

37. Strasbourg, 1.II.1995 (ETS No. 157).

38. BIH acceded to the EFC on 24 February 2000. Their first report was due on 1 June 2001, although it has not yet been submitted. Source: List of State Reports, Council of Europe, as at 27 March 2003.

39. Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992 (ETS No. 148), entered into force on 1 March 1998.

40. Rome, 4.XI.1950 (ETS No. 005).

41. Art. 2 of the Law on National Minorities.

42. General Assembly resolution 47/135, 18 December 1992.

43. See, H. Klebes, ‘The Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities’, Human Rights Law Journal, Vol.16 (1995), pp.101–8, as cited in G. Gilbert, ‘The Council of Europe and Minority Rights’, HRQ,Vol.18 (1996), p.176.

44. Gilbert (note 43) p.176.

45. Translation provided by the OSCE Bosnia and Herzegovina.

46. Opinion on the Draft Law on Rights of National Minorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, prepared by the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BIH, 18 April 2001, on the basis of comments by Mr. G. Malinverni and Mr. P. Van Dijk, adopted at the Venice Commission at its 47th Plenary Meeting (Venice, 6–7 July 2001), Part 4.

47. Gilbert (note 43) p.165.

48. A. Eide, Chairperson of the Working Group on Minorities, ‘Commentary to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities’.

49. For example, the initial draft omitted the Sandjak Muslims living in BIH, who might otherwise meet the definition in the first limb.

50. Opinion on the Draft Law on Rights of National Minorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (note 46).

51. Eide (note 48) para. 9. See, also, Opinion on the Draft Law on Rights of National Minorities (note 46) Part 4.

52. P. Prettitore, ‘Exercise of Fundamental Rights by the Roma of BIH: Access to Personal Documents and the Right to Housing’ (undated, draft paper on file with the writer), p.3.

53. OSCE/ODIHR, Council of Europe, UNICEF, and OSCE Mission to BIH, ‘Report on Access of Roma to Education and Health Care Services in Tuzla Canton, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’ (December 2001–January 2002), p.6.

54. See, also, Art. 18 of the Law on National Minorities, which adds the use of the minority language in relation to financial and banking institutions and other public services, through payment receipts and forms, as well as in hospitals, elderly care facilities and other social institutions.

55. Art. 12(1).

56. S. Wheatley, ‘Current Trends: The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities’, EHRLR, Vol.6 (1996), p.586.

57. Art. 6, FBIH Constitution.

58. Art. 7, RS Constitution.

59. Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, CoE and OSCE Mission to BIH, ‘Round-Table on the Status of Roma and Implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: Recommendations’ (Sarajevo, 28–29 March 2001), Part VII, p.12.

60. Art. 14(2) of the Law on National Minorities.

61. Stability Pact Round-Table on the Status of Roma (note 59), Part VII.

62. Arts. 17(1) and 14(1) of the Law on National Minorities respectively.

63. Art. 17(2) of the Law on National Minorities.

64. Art. 17(3) of the Law on National Minorities.

65. Art. 1 of the Law on National Minorities.

66. Opinion on the Draft Law on Rights of National Minorities (note 46), Part 2 on General Comments.

67. See Art. 4(5) of the UN Declaration.

68. See Art. 5(1) of the UN Declaration. See further Art. 5(2) which provides that ‘Programmes of cooperation and assistance among States should be planned and implemented with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minorities’.

69. Opinion on the Draft Law on Rights of National Minorities (note 46), Part 19 on Discrimination.

70. Report of the UN Special Representative to the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Jose Cutileiro (UN doc. A/56/460, UN General Assembly, 11 October 2001), para. 14. The 2002 Report repeated the same sentiments (UN doc. E/Cn.4/2003/38, 21 January 2003).

71. Ibid. para. 14.

72. Internally Displaced Project: http://www.db.idpproject.org.

73. For further information see Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, OSCE-ODIHR and CoE, ‘Situation of Roma IDP's and Returnees in Tuzla Canton and Bijeljina Area in Bosnia and Herzegovina’ (M. Demirovski), November 2000; Amnesty International, ‘Waiting on the doorstep: minority returns to eastern Republika Srpska’, London, July 2000; European Roma Rights Centre – Budapest, Roma Rights Reports N.1, 2000; UNHCR Returnee Monitoring Framework Study in Tuzla Canton, January 2000.

74. See, Stability Pact Round-Table on the Status of the Roma (note 59), Part VI on Housing/Property Problems Facing Romani Communities.

75. OSCE Report on Access to Education and Health Care Services (note 53), at p. 6.

76. http://www.oscebih.org/human_rights/download/hrtf_priorities_2002_eng.pdf and statement by Minister Mirsad Kebo, MHRR, at the ‘Regional Conference on Roma Issues’, on 27 January 2003.

77. See, R.C. Slye, ‘The Dayton Peace Agreement: Constitutionalism and Ethnicity’, Yale J. of Int'l L. (Summer 1996), p.459, for an overview of the parliamentary system at the State and Entity levels.

78. Ibid. p.460.

79. See, Platform for Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Assembly Meeting of Romani Non-Governmental Organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hotel Park, Vogošća, 9–11 November 2001, Political Participation Recommendations.

80. Art. 19 of the Law on National Minorities.

81. Art. 20 of the Law on National Minorities.