Elections
The PEC adopted on 19 July an amendment to its Rules and Regulations
stipulating that "no person who is under indictment by the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and who has failed to comply with an
order to appear before the Tribunal may stand as a candidate or hold any
appointive, elective or other public office in the territory of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
As long as any political party maintains such a person in a party position
or function, that party shall be deemed ineligible to participate in the
elections" .
HR Report
The High Representative (HR), Carl Bildt, submitted his second report to the
UN Security Council on 17 July. The report, which deals with developments in
the peace implementation process during the period from the beginning of March
1996 to the end of June 1996, covers a number of crucial issues, including
preparations for elections, economic reconstruction, freedom of movement, return
of refugees and co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
In his overall assessment of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the HR
said: "After six months of peace implementation, the record is a mixed one.
The progress in the daily lives of ordinary people is sometimes staggering, at
the same time the political tensions that caused and drove the war are still
very much in evidence. Peace as the continuation of war by other means is still
dominating over peace as genuine reconciliation after the years of war."
The HR reported that economic revival and long-term rebuilding of the
economy remain major preconditions for peace and political stability. Priority
tasks in this field include infrastructure revival, employment generation and
restart of production as well as institution building and strengthening of
implementation capabilities of government and its agencies.
On co-operation with the ICTY, the HR pointed out that "none of the
parties have so far co-operated fully in the handing over of persons
indicted. Reports indicate that of those so far indicted, 50 are likely to
be found on the territory of the RS, 15 on the territory of the Federation with
some of them alternating with the Republic of Croatia and three on the
territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."
A disproportionately small number of refugees have so far exercised their
right to return, the report states, and return is being obstructed by both
political blockages as well as by acute lack of housing space. Another negative
trend is that return has, so far, been nearly exclusively limited to areas of
own ethnic dominance.
The HR also reports his "serious concern with the fact that the Parties
are not implementing their commitments in respect of human rights. Of particular
concern is the pattern of either encouragement or tolerance of ethnic harassment.
This causes the country to continue to drift apart in a development that is
contrary to the declared aim of re-establishing a multi-ethnic society."
Refugee
And Humanitarian Affairs
The Expert Group on Exhumation and Missing Persons now has at its disposal a
resident team of experts to monitor and supervise exhumations undertaken by
local authorities. The purpose of such monitoring is to ensure that exhumations
are conducted according to international standards.
Brussels
The fourth meeting of the Main Implementation Agencies (MIA) was held on 15
July at the OHR offices in Brussels. Agencies represented included: Council of
Europe, ECMM, ICRC, ICTY, IOM, NATO, OSCE, UNHCR and the UN.
The participants reviewed the Peace Implementation Conference conclusions of
the 14 June. NATO reported progress in most areas to do with cantonment and
heavy weapons while some problems, of a political nature, continue to exist on
the subject of delineation.
On the return of the population, the UNHCR indicated that a list of "priority
target areas" for reconstruction had been produced but obstacles remain the
absence of co-operation from the RS, with continued evictions, assaults and
obstructions of bus services with "spontaneous demonstrations". Little
progress was reported on the pilot projects. Similar obstructions were
encountered and reported by the ICRC.
Other issues discussed included the Constitution, human rights, freedom of
movement and exhumations.
Joint Bodies
The second session of the Joint Civilian Commission (JCC) South took place
in Ljubinje, in the RS on 17 July, chaired by the Principal Deputy HR,
Ambassador Michael Steiner. Representatives of municipalities from both
Entities attended.
The return of refugees and displaced persons was discussed at length, with
the RS side advocating a more cautious approach and the Bosniac representatives
urging unimpeded return.
The participants were informed of the creation of the emergency fund which
allows for financial aid to be allocated with minimal legal procedure to smaller
projects with priority given to those of entity-binding character. The
participants were asked to come up with specific and concrete ideas and projects
addressing the needs and priorities of their regions.
The next JCC South is tentatively scheduled for 21 August.
Economic Assistance
The European Commission's Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office (CFAO) has
helped the Federation raise over DM 90 million in customs revenue since April.
The CFAO was set up in March 1996 to train and establish an effective
revenue-raising customs service for BH. Officers are mainly seconded from
European customs services and the money raised so far has been put into a
Federation bank account and is being used to fund public salaries as well as
various agricultural & reconstruction projects. The CFAO is now
establishing a second office in Banja Luka and will work towards creating a
customs union of the two Entities, with one customs border.
The CFAO also incorporates the International Customs Observer Mission
(ICOM), which is specifically charged with overseeing customs operations on the
border, ensuring fairness of treatment to incoming persons and goods, and to
ensure that all the collected revenue is deposited into the Federation account.
Media Development
At a meeting in the Brussels offices of the OHR on 19 July, funding was
completed for Phase One of the Open Broadcast Network (OBN) project. This will
enable TV-IN to start programming in time for the election campaign, and prepare
the ground for consolidating the network after the elections in the long-term
cause of media pluralism in Bosnia.
The main donors to the $10.8m project are the European Commission, the US
and the Soros Foundation, followed by Germany, Sweden, Japan, the UK and the
Netherlands. Ireland and Luxembourg have also contributed. The project managers
are NTL (UK), and the Steering Group in Sarajevo will be co-ordinated by the
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) who have prepared the founding
texts and guidelines in accordance with the highest professional standards.
The Brussels meeting followed a press conference in Sarajevo the previous
week led by the stations constituting TV-IN: TV Hayat, Studio 99, Zetel of
Zenica, TV Tuzla and RTV Mostar. Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ, also
attended. The stations are now working intensively on plans for joint
programming and election coverage. A group of journalists based in Banja Luka
will participate in the network, emphasising the cross-entity nature of the
project. The aim is to have the first common programmes ready at the end of this
month.
The Free Elections Radio Network (FERN) began broadcasting its eight-week
elections program on 15 July. The radio, formed by a ruling of the PEC on 22
April 1996, is a joint project of the OSCE Mission and the Swiss Federal
Department for Foreign Affairs. Presenting the political parties taking part in
the forthcoming elections, ensuring equitable access and time is the radio's
main task in addition to informing the listeners about the continuing
preparations for the elections, the voting mechanism and other technical
details. The radio relies on a network of correspondents from throughout BH and
covers a large part of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Looking Ahead
- 1 August:
JCC North
- 7 August:
JCC West, Banja Luka
- 13 August:
JCC (at national level), Sarajevo
OHR Bulletin nr. 11, issued 22 July 1996.
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