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Elections
In his capacity as Chairman of the Provisional Election Commission (PEC), Ambassador
Robert Frowick decided on 13 July to postpone the official start of the election campaign
in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 19 July, when the PEC will meet to ascertain whether all
political parties are in compliance with the Peace Agreement, the Electoral Code of
Conduct for Political Parties, Candidates and Election Workers, and the Rules and
Regulations approved by the PEC. Ambassador Frowick announced publicly that it was his
"unalterable position that any political parties who keep indicted war criminals in
office shall be ineligible to participate [in the elections]".
The Provisional Election Commission (PEC) decided on 9 July to extend the
deadline for voter registration for refugees living abroad from 24 July to 31
July. Approximately 1,4 million refugees from BH are spread over more than 35
countries. Refugee voting will be organised in most of these countries by
Country Representatives and Co-ordination Offices. The Host Country Governments,
Embassies of BH, Bosnian organisations, NGOs and UNHCR are all involved in the
process of informing refugees about the elections.
The OSCE's Election Appeals Sub-Commission has judged on 11 July the case
involving the attack on Haris Silajdzic, President of the Party for BH. On 15
June, SDA demonstrators in Donja Koprivna and Cazin disrupted campaign events of
the Party for BH, culminating in a violent rampage in Cazin in which Dr.
Silajdzic was injured. The Sub-Commission found that the SDA was responsible for
the violent and disruptive actions of its members that took place in
contravention of the Electoral Code of Conduct promulgated by the PEC in
implementation of the electoral provisions of the Dayton Agreement.
As a penalty for this reprehensible and illegal conduct, the Sub-Commission ordered that
the first seven names on the party list of the SDA for municipal elections in Cazin be
removed and their candidacies for public office terminated. The Sub-Commission also
decided tio advise the SDA Party at the national level that any repetition of this type of
behaviour will lead to even stronger and broader
penalties.
In reaching its decision, the Sub-Commission also agreed to censure the
Chief of Police of Cazin for the police's disgraceful failure to keep the peace.
Federation
The Federation Assembly on 10 July adopted by an overwhelming majority a
Federation Defence Law. The law foresees the complete integration of the
Bosnian Army and the HVO within three years. Before that, the units of both
armies shall be integrated at the Corps level. Operative decisions will be taken
jointly by the Minister of Defence and his Deputy. Recruits may choose whether
they will serve in the Bosnian Army or in the HVO. The question of the future
supreme command is not yet permanently resolved. For the interim period up to
the elections, the Army will be commanded by the Presidents of BH and of the
Federation. A permanent solution for the command structure will be found in the
form of a further law within the next three months.
Contact
Group
Officials from the Contact Group countries held a working meeting in London
on 10 July. The High Representative Carl Bildt, Head of the OSCE mission in BH,
Robert Frowick, and the EU Presidency also attended.
The meeting agreed on the importance of the elections taking place on
schedule, and with the participation of all the political parties in both the
Federation and the RS.
On Karadzic, it was agreed that responsibility for apprehending him and
handing him over to The Hague rests with the Parties and that the Contact Group
and the HR will continue to press the authorities of Serbia and RS on this
issue.
Brcko
Under the provisions of the Peace Agreement for BH, the Entities have
appointed one arbiter each for the binding arbitration on the disputed portion
of the Inter-Entity Boundary Line in the Brcko area. A third arbiter, to preside
over the tribunal, was to be selected by agreement of the Parties' arbiters. The
Peace Agreement envisaged that if no agreement was reached on the third arbiter
within the given deadline, which expired 14 July, the President of the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) would have authority to name an arbiter.
The Parties were informed through a letter from the President of the ICJ,
Mohammed Bedjaoui on 15 July, that Mr. Roberts Owen of Washington, D.C., had
been appointed to serve as the third arbiter.
Succession
Issues
During the month of July, Sir Arthur Watts, special negotiator for
succession issues met in Brussels with delegations from all five Republics to
continue discussions on succession issues. He will provide relevant experts from
Steering Board countries with an oral briefing on succession issues on July 16.
Economic
Reconstruction
Work under the Reconstruction Programme continues to gather pace and
disbursement of $ 320 million of World Bank funds,
including World
Bank-administered funds (notably funds from the Dutch Government and IFAD) has
now been approved. 213 civil works, goods and services contracts have been
signed for a total amount of $ 70 million, with a further 280 contracts valued
at $ 140 million expected to be signed by 30 September.
Work in progress includes:
- repair of the Bijela and Jasen bridges on the road from Sarajevo to Mostar
- repair of the Salakovac power station north of Mostar
- approval of loans for private enterprises totalling $ 1.7 million with a
further 55 projects in the pipeline valued at $ 8.5 million
- disbursement of $ 3.2 million of social security benefits to poor families
By the end of August, a further $ 200 million of World Bank funds will be
approved for projects including emergency land-mine clearance, housing repair,
emergency power rehabilitation, and public works and employment and the
transition assistance credit.
A World Bank economic mission visited BH from 25 June to 10 July to provide
policy advice to the authorities on institutional strengthening, and policies
for sustainable growth.
The mission met with representatives of key officials at both the State and
Entity levels, as well as representatives of banks, chambers of commerce and
enterprises. A report on their findings is to be published in October.
The European Commission last week signed accords with Bosnia and Herzegovina
to the value of 21.5 million ECUs for reconstruction work in the transport and
energy sectors. An "accord de siège", granting the Commission
diplomatic status, was also signed between Commissioner Hans van den Broek and
BH Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic in the course of Mr. Van den Broek's visit to
Sarajevo with the Irish Foreign Minister, Dick Spring, representing the EU
Presidency.
Refugee
And Humanitarian Affairs
A number of commemorations on the anniversary of the tragedy of Srebrenica
were organised in the Tuzla region last week. A number of international figures
and officials attended including EU Commissioner in charge of humanitarian aid,
Emma Bonino, Queen Noor of Jordan and US Ambassador to Vienna, Ms. Swanee Hunt.
On the occasion of the anniversary, the UNHCR issued a statement saying "the
tragedy of Srebrenica must be remembered not only because it represents one of
the most barbaric chapters in the Bosnian war, but also because those
responsible for it are still in charge. And sadly enough, they pursue the same
policy of ethnic hatred which had led to the massacre of Srebrenica". In
conclusion, the UNHCR statement called on the leadership of the Republika Srpska
to "reverse its policy of ethnic separation and respect the right of all
refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes of origin".
Human
Rights
OHR chaired a meeting of the Human Rights Task Force on 10 July in Sarajevo.
Attendees included representatives of the International
Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), the UNHCR, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Helsinki
Citizen's Assembly, the Federation Ombudsmen and the Council of Europe. The
meeting reviewed the work of the Human Rights Co-ordination Centre and the Task
Force Subcommittees
The Property Subcommittee remains the most active with weekly meetings to
devise strategies to address non-complying property laws and discriminatory
administrative practices. OHR reported on efforts within the Joint Civilian
Commission structure to revise property laws which are inconsistent with the
Peace Agreement.
At the same meeting, the ICRC reported on the work of the Working Group on
the missing which they chair. The ICRC is pursuing a number of mechanisms for
tackling and resolving missing persons cases. Through the Working Group, both
entities are encouraged to submit information on the fate of missing persons.
The ICRC also hopes to gather information on missing persons through its public
awareness campaign while also co-ordinating exhumation projects.
Looking Ahead
- 17 July:
Joint Civilian Commission (JCC) South, Ljubinje
- 1 August:
JCC North
- 7 August:
JCC West, Banja Luka
- 13 August:
JCC (at national level), Sarajevo
OHR Bulletin nr. 10, issued 16 July 1996.
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