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Report by the Commisioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg, on his Visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Document number
1423
Date
2008
Title
Report by the Commisioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg, on his Visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Author/publisher
Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Summary
4. Taking into account the specificity of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country still recovering from the consequences of the 1992-1995 war, and the continued strong international community involvement in the country, the Commissioner decided to focus his attention on the rights of certain categories of people deemed particularly vulnerable in the Bosnian society. 5. This report begins with a brief assessment of the national system for human rights protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the role of the international community, followed by chapters on specific human rights concerns. The Commissioner is well aware of the ongoing reform efforts of the police, judiciary, the national human rights structures and other policy areas, such as education. He also recognises that reforms continue to be driven to a large extent by international actors present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the Commissioner strongly believes that the ultimate responsibility for progress in BiH, and for the protection and promotion of human rights, lies with the national authorities and the recommendations in this report are addressed to them. 6. This report is based on information gathered during the visit along with reports and statistics available from Government sources and civil society organisations. The reports prepared by human rights monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe, including those conducted under the “accession monitoring”, are an important source for this report, as are the reports of other international organisations, such as the UN and the OSCE. This assessment report reflects what the Commissioner considers to be among the priorities for improving the protection of human rights in the country and the quality of lives of ordinary Bosnians.
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