Bosnia and Herzegovina’s selected troika of rapporteurs for the UPR hearing in February next year are Belgium, Nigeria and Slovenia. With that in mind, the Human Rights House of Sarajevo had a meeting yesterday with the Head of Belgian Embassy – Diplomatic Office in Sarajevo, Alex Lenaerts. The purpose of the meeting was to lobby the Belgian Embassy as one of the B&H’s Troika Rapporteurs, to focus in the up-coming review of B&H on critical human rights issues in the country. Representatives of the HRH in Sarajevo asked Belgium to raise these issues with the State prior to the inter-active dialogue, make concrete recommendations on the same issues, and reflect the key human rights concerns in the report on the review.

Three issues were pointed out by Srdjan Dizdarevic, the president of the Board of Human Rights House of Sarajevo:

  • Institution of Ombudsman for Human Rights in B&H – It is needed to provide all necessary legal and material support to B&H Ombudsman as a national institution for human rights. Strengthening institution of Ombudsman, as an independent body, as impartial and competent institution will be of enormous importance to the future of human rights in B&H.
  • Ethnic  issues within B&H – There is a need for mechanism of tolerance, elimination of racism, extreme nationalism etc. since discrimination is one of the most serious generators of violations of human rights in B&H.  Individuals are discriminated against on the grounds of their national, political and sexual orientation. Apart from women, sexual minorities, the subjects of discrimination are also persons with disabilities, national minorities, families of missing persons, victims of war, elderly people, children, returnees. Discrimination is demonstrated in some vital fields of life, such as employment,education, health and social care, pension rights.
  • Situation of human rights defenders :  In Bosnia and Herzegovina there is an escalation of assaults on human rights defenders and their situation can be assessed as alarming. This assessment is based on a series of cases of violence and death threats, intimidation and silencing attempts and other attacks against individuals and groups who are trying to protect rights of individuals and contribute to the improvement of human rights in the country. Assaults against especially, journalists and their families, attempts to silence journalists which seriously threatens freedom of expression, bringing into question the achieved level of development of democracy in B&H.

After getting familiarized with the above, Mr. Lenaerts expressed the readiness and willingness of Belgian Embassy in Sarajevo to act upon these issues and through its diplomatic lines, try to improve human rights in B&H and stregthen its civil society.

Belgium, along with Slovenia and Nigeria has been selected by the Human Rights Council by the drawing of lots, as one of the three Rapporteurs – the Rapporteur Troika for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s up-coming UPR session in February 2010. The role of Troika Rapporteurs is to facilitate each universal periodic review (UPR) of the country concerned, including the preparation of the report of the working group.

The UPR is a new mechanism of the Human Rights Council under which it reviews, on a regular basis, the fulfillment by all 192 UN Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments. The review process fully involves the State under review, National Human Rights Institutions of the country under review, and relevant stakeholders, such as NGOs.

Next meeting, HRH Sarajevo holds with the ambassador of Slovenian Embassy in BiH, His Excellency Andrej Grasselli.

More info:

UPR Project