Bosnia and Herzegovina - Universal Periodic Review

UPR 34, November 13, 2019
Recommendations by Canada

Background

According to UPR Info, a non‑profit, non‑governmental organization that tracks the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in the first two cycles of the UPR, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) received 293 recommendations, of which 212 were accepted (an acceptance rate of 72%). Canada’s previous recommendations dealt with ethnic segregation in schools, intercultural understanding, and child, early and forced marriage.

According to independent reports, the laws of BiH are consistent with international human rights standards in most areas. The Republika Srpska amended its criminal law in 2018 to include an offence of public incitement to violence and hatred based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. However, some legal and constitutional issues still require close attention. Constitutional provisions continue to discriminate on ethnic grounds, and members of national minorities remained ineligible to stand for the presidency in the 2018 general elections.

Ethnic cleavages strongly affect the state of human rights and democracy in BiH. They have led to the promotion of acts of discrimination, the glorification of war criminals, and the denial of genocide. According to the OSCE, segmentation along ethnic lines characterized the 2018 general elections. Ethnic cleavages continue to play a role in the inability to form a government, a year later.

Journalists face threats and interference in their work, according to Human Rights Watch, and although some cases are investigated and handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office, convictions remain rare and take time. The OSCE Mission to BiH also underscored that it is necessary to put an end to negative rhetoric against media in order to prevent attacks on journalists.

Environmental factors are also impacting the enjoyment of the right to health by the population. At the beginning of 2018, the UN Environment Programme warned that BiH had dangerous levels of air pollution. Not addressing the issue of air pollution has a devastating impact on the health of Bosnians, especially of poor and marginalized populations who tend to live near busy roads and industrial sites, as well as elderly people and children. According to the World Health Organization, improving air quality is among the measures with the greatest potential impact on health equity, which is a supplementary reason to ask for immediate planning and action.

Recommendations

Thank you, Mr. President.

Canada welcomes the positive steps taken by Bosnia and Herzegovina since the last review. We were pleased to see the success of the country’s first Pride March in Sarajevo, although we are aware that much remains to be done to ensure the rights of LGBTI persons are respected in legislation as well as day-to-day life.

Canada recommends that Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. Fight ethnic cleavages, including by condemning the political rhetoric that emphasizes them.
2. Promote respect for freedom of the media by conducting timely investigations and prosecutions of suspected authors of attacks, intimidation, threat or other criminal acts against journalists, including gender-based or online.
3. Adopt and implement an overall strategy to fight air pollution, which affects enjoyment of the right to health, particularly of children and the elderly.

Canada continues to be concerned about ethnic segregation in schools, and to highlight the importance of promoting intercultural understanding in textbooks and curriculums, as raised during Bosnia and Herzegovina’s last UPR. We also observe that giving more space to civil society, including by removing obstacles to the work of NGOs, will facilitate progress on these recommendations.