The complete and detailed answer to the draft of the National report is actually the report of Informal NGO Coalition for UPR which was sent to OHCHR in the beginning of September, and was distributed to all relevant stakeholders in B&H, including the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.

However, Human Rights House of Sarajevo and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in B&H have additionally commented the draft of the National report for the UPR, seeing it as a review of adopted laws, documents and legal acts, and not as a review of the human rights situation on the ground.

Mr. Srdjan Dizdarevic, HCHR and HRHSA

„The draft of the National report for UPR, which was made by the MHRR of Bosnia and Herzegovina, represents in its substance a simple review of ratified international instruments in the area of human rights, as well as list of laws and sub-legal acts which are adopted in B&H in the context of harmonization of national legal system with international standards. The draft of the National report lacks of critics in regards to the practice in the area of human rights and fundamental freedoms, that is in regards to the application of the adopted UN standards“, claims Srdjan Dizdarevic, the president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in B&H (HCHR) and president of the Board of the Human Rights House of Sarajevo (HRH Sarajevo).

The official comment of HRH Sarajevo and HCHR to MHRR, points out following issues as inconsistently covered in the draft of the National report:

  • The status of Roma minority;
  • Children rights;
  • Discrimination issue;
  • Gender inequality issue;
  • Status of refugees and displaced persons;
  • Quality of NGO and Governement’s cooperation.

Diana Sehic, Prava za sve

Having all this in mind, Diana Sehic, from Prava za sve, a  member organization of the Informal NGO Coalition for UPR formed by HRH Sarajevo, stated that she would not be in the shoes of those delegates who will present this kind of National report in Geneva, if it goes as such.

„It’s a simple catalogue of human rights, not a true image of the human rights situation in our country. So I honestly, wish luck to the delegates who will be presenting it in February, since questions in the Committee regarding what has been done in the area of human rights, that will be certainly raised by NGOs and UN delegates, can be very precise, direct and merciless.“, says Mrs. Sehic.

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