- Federation Laws Signed
- Special Relations draft reviewed
- HR on Property Laws
- BiH Coinage
- Martinovac Exhumations.
President of the Federation Ejup Ganic signed 2 laws: the Criminal Law of the Federation, and the Law on Criminal Procedure. This will harmonise all legislation in the Federation. Ganic said this was the result by two years of intensive work with lawyers from the European Union, the UN and the OHR. The laws have been passed in the Fed. instead of the RS. The laws do not include the death penalty.
1:15
The Fed. Govt. considered the draft agreement of special relations, stating that it incorporates the draft proposal made in December last year. They suggested that the President and Vice-President of the Fed. should make additions to clarify the details of the agreement, especially regarding the annexes and their lack of specification. The govt. complained that only one of the Fed. ministers, Minister without Portfolio Nedeljko Despotovic, had been included in the negotiations, and that the government was represented only symbolically. The most serious objections wee that the agreement involves issues which should lie exclusively within the competence of the Fed. Govt. and Cantons. The Govt. also complained of the ‘Symptomatic shortening of the title BiH Federation, to Federation’ in the text of the agreement. The agreement must now be given authorisation by the Fed. Parliament, before coming into force. TV BiH learned that the agreement will not be signed in Zagreb on 9 December, but on 19 November.
2:30
The statement issued by the HR on the Federation property laws was the next item. A facsimile of the local-language version was shown and the main points summarised. ‘The HR cannot accept the criteria passed by the Fed. government. They are against annex 7.
1:00
The presentation of the new BiH coinage, in a press conference at the Central bank was described: ‘We will actually beat the Euro out’ – said Central Bank Governor, Peter Nicholl. It was announced that the liquidation of the National Bank will be completed next week, and the proposal of Fed. PM Edhem Bicakcic, on returning the debt of 35 million marks, will help conclude the liquidation sucessfully.
1:30
Today two mass graves were exhumed at Martinovac, near Doboj, and 13 bodies found. David Scheffer, non-resident Ambassador for War Crimes Issues in the US State Department was present. The victims were killed in 1992, when they were used as a ‘living wall’ for the ‘White Wolf’ Serb unit.. The Tuzla-Podrinje Canton prosecutor and Amor Masovic described the manner of their deaths.
1:40
Foreign news: led by the explosion in Jerusalem which killed three, and was allegedly the work of Hamas. Head of OHR Mostar Richard Ellerkman met with Deputy Mayor and Mayor Safet Orucevic and Ivan Prskalo, on return topics – in particular the return of Croats to Bijelo Polje. Ivan Prskalo said: ‘I am convinced we will make a quality return plan…and that we will succeed in returning Croats to the…parts of the city where they lived before.’ Orucevic gave a description of the numbers of housing units evacuated and prepared for return.
1:00
The 10th meeting of the Bugojno-Prozorama inter-municipality commission took place, and analysed the results following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the parties. The top issues were double usage of housing units, and the facilitation of two-way return. Bugojno Mayor Dzevad Mlaco said approximately a hundred houses were ready for return, and around 2 hundred are undergoing reconstruction. He also said that 102 cases of double occupancy have been noted. Legal evictions are to start next Monday. OHR representatives who were present criticised the commission for its failure to respect the deadline for completing the list of double occupants, and demanded that this should be finalised as soon as possible.
1:30
In Travnik – a protocol was signed by the president of Municipality Travnik, for a reconstruction project for water supply. The SDA commission of the foundation for scholarships met in Sarajevo, and decided on allocating 800 scholarships. 200 further scholarships are planned.
1:00
The Association of demobilised soldiers of Tuzla Podrinska Canton met and discussed employment, and the involvement of soldiers in the privatisation process. They appealed to the IC to speed up DP returns to their homes, and complained about the use of Brcko as a means of bargaining with RS authorities.
1:00
The SDP BiH gave a conference on corruption: Sejfudin Tokic warned of the status of the borders of BiH. GDS (member of the KCD BH Coalition) president Ibrahim Spahic complained about the slow progress of the reconstitution of regional authorities following the elections.
1:00
The news was followed by a statement from Hanns Schumacher appealing for respect for and implementation of the election results.