OHR Press Releases

The Special Auditor’s report into Elektroprivreda HZHB Mostar shows that "the ordinary citizens and small businesses of Herzegovina who paid their electricity bills were in fact providing free electricity and kick-backs to the HDZ’s privileged elite," High Representative Paddy Ashdown told journalists today. "This privileged elite got illegal hook- [...]

The Agencies engaged in the Property Law Implementation Plan (OHR, UNHCR, OSCE, CRPC) would like to clarify that completion of Property Law implementation does not equal completion of Annex 7. While property law implementation is the fundamental first step it is only one among many of the elements underpinning sustainable return.

The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Wednesday removed senior officials from the management of Elektroprivreda RS, which was severely criticised in a report by the Special Auditor issued this week. The High Representative also issued a Decision enacting a Law on Ministerial and Government Appointments, aimed at preventing the appointment and [...]

The Bulldozer Committee, initiated by the High Representative in November to help clear away pointless bureaucracy that prevents businesses from expanding and creating jobs, held its third plenary meeting today. The Committee, now composed of over twenty BiH business organisations, has held consultative meetings in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Mostar, Travni [...]

Speaking today about the new BiH identity cards, now being distributed under the CIPS project, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, called on BiH politicians to show leadership and responsibility, and not score political points at the expense of citizens and at the expense of this country’s future. The High Representative emphasised that the CIP [...]

The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, today issued a Decision setting in place the price-structure of the BiH ID card. The High Representative’s Decision maintains the existing price-structure (basic unit price of each card: 10 KM; plus administrative costs: 3.5 KM; plus banking charge: 1 KM). Thus, the final price paid by citizens for an ID card [...]

The International Community will take appropriate and effective steps to ensure that the systemic failure of control which produced the ORAO scandal is not permitted to happen again, High Representative Paddy Ashdown said today. “We need to assess the degree and the extent of political responsibility and the degree and extent of the systematic f [...]

Today, Friday 21 February 2003, in The Hague, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Judge Claude Jorda, and the OHR Senior Deputy High Representative and Head of the Rule of Law Pillar, Ambassador Bernard Fassier, signed Joint Conclusions on the development of war-crimes trial capacities in Bosnia and [...]