Jovana Kisin Zagajac was photographed by Tajana Dedić Starovic in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July 2026, for the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photography series.
When did you realise you were a human rights defender?
I realised I was a human rights defender during a training session with Front Line Defenders. Until then, I had simply seen my work on human rights as part of my job. But when their representative explained what it actually means to be a human rights defender, I recognised myself in that definition.
At the same time, I was both proud and surprised that I hadn’t realised it myself earlier.
There was also that visual of an umbrella – a shield of those who stand in front of deprived people, protecting them so that they can enjoy their human rights. That was the moment when everything clicked and helped me realise that I really am a human rights defender.
By then, I had already been in many situations that included individuals and groups that had suffered discrimination, harassment and humiliation, in front of whom I stood so proudly and said, ” That’s enough, now you can’t oppress them anymore.”
What are the biggest challenges in your work?
The biggest challenge for me has been reconciling my work as a lawyer with my role as a human rights defender.
As a lawyer, my primary duty is to protect and represent my client’s interests, which do not always align with the protection of fundamental values and human rights. That has been my greatest challenge.
That is why, to this day, I truly enjoy working on human rights cases, as they are the ones that most closely align with my moral compass. At the same time, the legal profession is much broader than human rights work, and it inevitably brings situations that can be challenging.
What is the current human rights situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
I would highlight two particularly worrying issues. The first is police repression that goes unpunished, and the second is the complete passivity of the authorities in addressing hate speech and hate crimes.
When it comes to police repression, the situation is significantly worse in Republika Srpska than in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I can say without hesitation that Republika Srpska is moving towards becoming a police state.
Through political decisions and legislative changes, police officers are being granted broader powers and greater benefits, while at the same time, there is a complete lack of an objective system of accountability for officers who violate the law or abuse their authority.
As a result, there are hundreds of reported cases of police abuse involving serious bodily injuries that are never properly investigated or prosecuted. In fact, most of these cases never even reach the courts because investigations are discontinued at an early stage. I alone have represented more than one hundred such cases.
At the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the issue I consistently emphasise is the state’s failure to protect citizens from the incitement of religious and ethnic hatred, particularly those who belong to minority communities in the places where they have returned to live or where they currently reside. For example, when I submit complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina or other state institutions on behalf of members of national or religious minorities who have been harassed, intimidated, or insulted in ways that amount to the incitement of ethnic or religious hatred, I encounter complete institutional passivity and a failure by the state to fulfil its positive obligation to protect its citizens.
What kind of Bosnia and Herzegovina would you like to see in 30 years?
I would like to see a Bosnia and Herzegovina that has healed from the ethnic divisions and tensions created by the war and its aftermath, as these continue to have a direct impact on the enjoyment of human rights. I would also like to see a country that has overcome hatred and corruption. In my view, these are the two greatest drivers of human rights violations: greed and hatred.
What is your motto, and what motivates you to work in the field of human rights?
My motto is: “If no one else will, I will.”
Very often, people come to my office after they have been turned away even by their own lawyers or trade unions. These are most often employment-related cases involving discrimination. Everyone they have turned to has refused to provide legal assistance. Because of a lack of awareness and sensitivity to fundamental human rights, many legal professionals fail to recognise when someone has been deprived of their rights. Those cases eventually end up on my desk, and that is why I say: “If no one else will, I will.”
People are naturally uncertain about what is happening to them. They question themselves: “Am I imagining this? Was I wrong? Did I somehow provoke it?” It is only when an independent institution such as a court, whose authority is respected both in law and in practice, confirms in its judgment that their rights were violated that they truly feel validated. Our role is to help them reach that point.
Every new case requires us to start from the beginning. We have to explain that the accused is, in fact, an activist who stopped a truck not to block traffic, but to prevent it from entering a mine that is operating without a permit and destroying his village. That is what defending human rights often looks like in practice.
About Portraits of Strength
Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) work to protect and advance freedoms while facing discrimination and stereotypes about their role and participation in society.
HRHF’s “Portraits of Strength” photography series honours the vital role that women play in defending human rights, and portrays women human rights defenders from across the Network of Human Rights Houses.
The exhibition, now in its fourth edition, shares portraits taken by local women photographers and tells the stories from WHRDs working on a variety of issues, including the documentation of human rights violations and alleged war crimes, rule of law, women’s rights, political prisoners, freedom of expression, and more.
Find out more here.
