Journalists and human rights defenders are under threat because of their work in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Corruption is widespread and access to justice inadequate. This is linked to an insufficient process of dealing with the past. In our collaborations we are dealing with these issues.
Read about the current human rights situation in our country report Human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Theoretical and practical insight into national media legislation and European standards in the field make law students better prepared to handle human rights issues in their future work as legal professionals. That is why Civil Rights Defenders, together with one of its long-term partners, the Press Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is conducting trainings for law students in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the end of the year, Civil Rights Defenders and Transparency International gathered human rights organisations for a workshop on how to encourage citizens in the fight against corruption. The workshop was attended by representatives of the Institution of Ombudsperson for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On 25 November, Civil Rights Defender’s partner, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, organised a protest against the discriminatory provision of the Bosnian constitution, implying that only members of the three main ethnic groups can hold high political offices. According to the European Court of Human Rights, this violates the right to free and fair elections and the prohibition of discrimination.
28-30 November, Civil Rights Defenders is organising a workshop on hate crimes and hate speech. The aim is to build the capacities of local human rights organisations to deal with hate crimes in a more consistent and comprehensive way. Another goal is to build a coalition that will monitor and report on hate speech and hate crimes.
Since its establishment in 2006 the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown to become a well-respected organisation. Today their network of youth activists is the longest running network of its kind and it is involved in all major human rights events, in the country. Civil Rights Defenders has worked with the YIHR BiH since the beginning. This video describes the work of achieving change in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Drastic deviations from European standards on freedom of expression and media exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A new report by Civil Rights Defenders, and local partners Press Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina and BH Journalists’ Association, reveals. The report is the first comprehensive analysis of the media scene in the country.
In reaction to the poor human rights situation in the penal-correctional institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Civil Rights Defenders and the Bosnian Helsinki Committee have conducted eight monitoring missions in the country. Their findings show a lack of basic hygiene conditions to detainees being subjected to ill treatment.
(Updated in August 2012) In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the implementation of ratified UN and international human rights conventions remains uneven and partial. The on-going political disputes are still directing attention away from major human rights issues. Up till now, BIH has not implemented the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the Case of Sejdic [...]
After two days of oral pleadings before a demanding panel of judges, the team “Vladimir Bayer” from the University of Zagreb, was declared winner of our regional Moot Court competition for the Western Balkans.
On April 20-22, we are organising the sixth moot court competition for law students in the Western Balkans. Since 2007, about 460 law students have gained practical knowledge on cases, rules and procedures of the European Court on Human Rights.
We are concerned about the new ordinance violating the right to access to information and substantially limiting the right to a fair and just trial. In a letter to the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina we urge the repeal of the ordinance.
We are concerned about the public debate in regard to the LGBT community and condemn the comments made by the representative of the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees and the religious communities.
Civil Rights Defenders is concerned about the recent threats and attacks against the Helsinki Committee in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We call upon the authorities to condemn the attacks and ensure the protection of human rights defenders.
Issues related to the rights of LGBT people are rarely a research subject in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The LGBT community seems to have ‘disappeared’ from the public discourse since the violent attacks against the organisers of the Queer festival in 2008.
Civil Rights Defenders is organising a two-day regional conference in cooperation with Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) on the theme “The role of civil society, citizens and media in the Western Balkans: Challenges as an opportunity“. The conference will be held in Sarajevo, November 22-23. Journalists, activists and civil society organisations from the [...]
On November 9 the Pravo Ljudski film festival opens with Civil Rights Defenders’ photo exhibition Our Rights at Kino Meeting Point in Sarajevo.
Civil Rights Defenders strongly condemns the attack on the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its staff. We urge the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take immediate action to ensure the safety and well being of those threatened.
The number of threats and attacks on journalists have increased in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past years. In 2009 Civil Rights Defenders and the Association of Journalists established a Free Media Help Line, which provides legal aid and counselling to people working in media organisations.
In 2009 Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted an anti-discrimination law. Civil Rights Defenders cooperate with the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) in Sarajevo to to facilitate better enforcement of the law, and to improve the understanding about discrimination among students and different stakeholders.
The overall objective of Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with Mediacentar in Sarajevo is to support the development of efficient mechanisms against discrimination. This will be done through education and information to raise public awareness of discrimination issues. We also train journalists to report on discrimination in society and follow the implementation of the Law against discrimination.
Weak professional standards in journalism and increased pressure on the media are two core issues in regard to freedom of expression in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with the Press Council aims at empowering people to claim their rights and to improve ethical standards in journalism.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina LGBT people are often attacked. The aim of Civil Rights Defenders collaboration with Sarajevo Open Society is to break the silence around LGBT issues, in order to reduce prejudices and discrimination against LGBT community.
The objective of Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with Mediacentar Sarajevo this year is to sustain and extend public discussion about the problem of hate speech in Bosnia-Herzegovina public space. We will publish five multimedia educational texts, which will treat different aspects of hate speech in Bosnia-Herzegovina media and its consequences.
The project aims to contribute the promotion of the BIH Law against Discrimination, through specialized trainings for law students as well as through street actions and public advocacy.
Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Civil Rights Defenders attempt to increase the awareness about the crime of genocide among the general public of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and also to foster conditions for further dealing with the recent past in the region of the former Yugoslavia. We do so by making “Srebrenica – Map of Genocide”.
On Sunday July 11th it is the 15th remembrance day of the genocide in Srebrenica. Together with our partners we have created an educational material that describes the crime.
A free media help line is envisaged to provide legal aid and counsel to media practitioners whose rights are violated or endangered. In addition, Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with BH Journalist Association aims to improve the knowledge on skilful and ethical reporting of journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thereby promote the highest professional standards in journalism.
Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with Press Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina is all about a continuous improvement of self regulation in print media. Our efforts are aimed at enhancing the ethical standards and the usage of the two defamation laws, in order to reduce the number of media outlets and journalists charged for compensation damages in defamation trials.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked among the most underdeveloped and corrupt countries in the world where reforms are slowly implemented (the same level with Zambia, Jamaica, Senegal and Dominican Republic). Citizens’ participation is a crucial component to a culture of tackling corruption, since integrity, accountability and transparency must take hold societal and systemically if it is to uproot corruption practices.
Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights Civil Rights Defenders have organised trainings on the burning issue of dealing with the past for Bosnian youth activists and high school students for the past three years.
Through Civil Rights Defenders partnership with the Helsinki Committee we monitor and report on fair trial standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the last couple of years we have also worked intensively on lobbying for an all inclusive Law against discrimination, in addition to the regular long-term activities of providing free legal aid to victims of human rights violations.
The European Court for Human Rights has ruled that Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminated against Jews and Roma by forbidding them to stand for key elected posts, including parliament and the presidency.
The journalist Bakir Hadziomerovic has received a death threat for his reporting on corruption and organised crime. We urge the authorities to investigate the case and bring those responsible to justice
On this day, a year ago, the first attempt to organise a Queer festival in Sarajevo ended in violence. The festival had to go underground since the security of the participants could not be guaranteed by the authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. To remind about everyone’s equal rights and everyone’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly and [...]
Natasha Jevtic Esbjörnson
Phone: +46 76 576 27 62
His burnt body was returned to the family in a plastic bag. The European Court has found Russia responsible for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, in more than one hundred cases, as a result of our work.
(Photo: Joanna Kurosz)
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