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Collateral Damage of the Dayton Peace Agreement: Discrimination Against Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Twenty Years On

14 December 2015

The Dayton Peace Agreement, negotiated in November 1995 and formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995, is widely credited for bringing an end to the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. However, together with its precursor, the Washington Agreement, it is also responsible for setting in place a legal, political and constitutional framework that has served to entrench ethnic divisions.Furthermore, while the constitutional system grants special privileges to the three main ethnic groups, members of minority communities are heavily disenfranchised as a result of their ethnicity. This particularly affects the country’s Roma population, as well as many returnees and de facto minorities who find themselves in areas dominated by other ethnic groups. Collateral Damage of the Dayton Peace Agreement: Discrimination Against Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Twenty Years On highlights the continued marginalization facing minorities and the limited opportunities available for political participation in this discriminatory context. As a result, besides a lack of political representation, these communities struggle to access many basic human rights, including adequate housing, health care, education and employment.Though the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has affirmed that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) violates fundamental human rights, so far reforming its provisions has not been a high priority for the country’s political leaders. This briefing highlights the need for a substantive overhaul of the current legal, institutional and political framework to address the systematic discrimination of minority communities in BiH, bringing it in line with international standards and laying the foundations for a more meaningful and durable peace in the years to come.

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Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, sklopljen u novembru 1995. godine i zvanično potpisan u Parizu 14. decembra 1995. godine, izuzetno je zaslužan za prestanak rata u Bosni (1992-1995). Međutim, zajedno sa svojim prethodnikom, Vašingtonskim sporazumom, on je odgovoran i za uspostavljanje pravnog, političkog i ustavnog okvira koji je poslužio za učvršćivanje etničkih podjela.Osim toga, dok ustavni sistem daje posebne privilegije trima glavnim etničkim grupama, pripadnici manjinskih zajednica su u velikoj mjeri obespravljene zbog njihove etničke pripadnosti. Navedeno posebno pogađa romsku populaciju u zemlji, kao i mnoge povratnike i de facto manjine kada se nađu u područjima u kojima dominiraju druge etničke grupe. Kolateralna Šteta Dejtonskog Mirovnog Sporazuma: Diskriminacija Manjina u Bosni i Hercegovini, Dvadeset Godina Kasnije, ukazuje na nastavak marginalizacije sa kojom se suočavaju manjine i na ograničene mogućnosti koje stoje na raspolaganju za političku participaciju u kontekstu diskriminacije. Kao rezultat toga, osim nedostatka političkog zastupanja, ove zajednice se bore za pristup mnogim osnovnim ljudskim pravima, uključujući pristup adekvatnom stanovanju, zdravstvu, obrazovanju i zapošljavanju.Lako je Evropski sud za ljudska prava (ESLJP) potvrdio da Ustav Bosne i Hercegovine (BiH) krši osnovna ljudska prava, do sada reforma njegovih odredbi nije bila visoki prioritet za političke lidere u zemlji. Ovaj kratki izvještaj naglašava potrebu za sadržajnom i dubinskom analizom postojećeg zakonskog, institucionalnog i političkog okvira za rješavanje sistematske diskriminacije manjinskih zajednica u BiH, njegovo dovođenje u sklad sa međunarodnim standardima i postavljanjem temelja za konstruktivan i trajani mir u godinama koje dolaze.

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