Support to civil society organisation (CSO) engagement in the BiH justice and security sectors

Since February 2009, the UK Government has financed a second phase of support to help increase CSO engagement in the BiH Justice and Security Sectors. This project is funded from the Conflict Prevention Pool and is  being implemented by ATOS Consulting.

The Project has 4 components:
i)    Operationalising CSO engagement in the implementation of key strategic programmes in the MoS and MoJ Strategic Plans. Pilot projects developed during this phase have included:
-    CSO involvement in the development of volunteerism policy.
-    The delivery of training to journalists, asylum seekers and civil servants.
-    CSO involvement in monitoring standards in the BiH asylum reception centre
-    The development of a ‘how to’ manual for CSO engagement in the work of the MoS Sector for the Fight Against Organised Crime and Corruption.

A key focus of all these activities has been sustainability. Examples of effective civil society engagement are being captured and fed back into the knowledge base of each ministry.

ii)    Supporting the implementation of the Justice Sector Reform Strategy (JSRS)–by developing modalities for more active engagement of the civil society sector in monitoring the BiH justice sector 2008-2011. This includes recommendations for improving civil society monitoring of the State Court and State Detention Centre.

iii)    Strengthening Civil Society monitoring of JSRS implementation. Identifying CSO’s with the capacity and expertise to carry out effective monitoring. Working with CSO’s and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to develop a detailed memorandum of understanding and reporting templates to cover CSO monitoring of the JSRS in 2010.

iv)    Support to the MoJ Sector for Civil Society – this support has been delivered by sharing experiences with Croatian government bodies with similar responsibility for civil society development, support and engagement. Also through a tailor made capacity building programme for staff.  Available are the full report (pdf, 363 KB) on lessons learned from the Croatian experience of developing government: civil society co-operation and recommendations for their application in Bosnia and Herzegovina (local language version, pdf, 373 KB) and the summary (pdf, 219 KB) of the report (local language version, pdf, 231 KB).

The first phase of our engagement was finished in February 2009 during which a report (pdf, 1.04 MB) on the current status of civil society engagement in Ministry of Justice and Security was published (local language version, pdf, 624 KB). The report identified capability, barriers and opportunities for engagement and suggests practical ways to progress engagement between civil society organisations (CSOs) and each ministry.

BiH Research and Documentation Centre

 

British and Norwegian Governments jointly financed establishment of the first specialised Library focused on dealing with past, conflict prevention and peace building, which will provide service and assistance to NGOs, scholars, students, journalists and others who are researchin 1992-1995 war in BiH, as well as victims of the war. On 20th June 2007, the Research and Documentation Centre Library and Club were officially opened in Dubrovacka Street 2 in Sarajevo.

 

In the second phase of the project the Research and Documentation Centre will organise series of public debates, workshops and seminars in different BiH cities spreading the knowledge of conflict prevention and initiating dialogue about peace building.

 

Also, the Research and Documentation Centre will initiate and co-ordinate a network of NGOs and governmental bodies in the process of establishing confidence building coalition and creating conflict prevention strategy.

 

 

Support to the BiH Court and the Prosecutor’s Office

 

During the donor conference held in the Hague in November 2003, the UK pledged £2.6 million to support the the War Crime and Organised Crime Chambers within the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a Special Departments for War Crime and Organised Crime within the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina over period of five years. The original pledge has increased to £3.7 million, which demonstrates UK support for the newly established State institutions of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also demonstrates a commitment to see national justice dealing with war crimes trials as a part of the country’s coming to terms with the past.

 

The UK is the second largest donor. The money has gone towards the construction of 6 main courtrooms, including a high security courtroom, full witness protection facilities and technology for video links to remote parts of Bosnia or abroad and towards funding secondees to the War Crimes Chamber and the Registry project. The presence of internationals at the Court ensures high international standards are set, sensitive cases can be dealt with showing that noone is above the law, and contributes to capacity-building and national expertise at the State Court.

 

The War Crimes Chamber was officially inaugurated on March 9, 2005. The first indictees transferred from the ICTY in The Hague arrived at the end of 2005.

 

 

The BiH Beacon Scheme programme

 

The project aims to develop better public services in response to citizens’ needs. The scheme helps local authorities develop a practice of learning from one another through regular exchanges between municipalities on matters of common interest, as well as rewarding those municipalities that have developed efficient and innovative ways of working. Programme is based on the UK’s Beacon Council Scheme.

 

The BiH Beacon Scheme is implemented jointly by the OSCE and the Council of Europe, with funding from the UK and Swiss Governments. Republika Srpska  and Federation Municipal Associations are their main local partner.

 

For the first round, three themes have been identified:

- Getting Closer to Citizens

- Effective Strategic Planning

- Promotion of Local Economic Development

 

The national launch of the BiH scheme took place on September 28, 2005 and by mid-October, 62 municipalities had submitted applications and applied for a total of 72 themes.

 

Award Ceremony was held in Sarajevo on April 05, 2006. The municipalities of Prnjavor, Tuzla, Sekovici, Istocno Novo Sarajevo, Zenica and Srebrenik were awarded with Beacon Status.

 

Second Round of the BiH Beacon Scheme was launched on September 21, 2006. Selected themes for second round are:

- Positive Youth Engagement in the Local Community and Democratic Processes

- Selective Waste Collection and Waste Disposal

- Service Delivery through Partnerships

 

Round Two attracted 56 applications from 44 municipalities - 23 for Positive Youth Engagement, 10 for Selective Waste Collection and Waste Disposal, and 23 for Service Delivery Through Partnership. Award ceremony will be organised in April 2007.

 

 

International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) – Government Relations Programme

 

ICMP endeavours to secure the co-operation of Governments and other authorities in locating and identifying persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, other hostilities or violations of human rights and to assist them in doing so. ICMP also supports the work of other organisations in their efforts, encourages public involvement in its activities and contributes to the development of appropriate expressions of commemoration and tribute to the missing.

 

Main purpose of the Governments Relations Programme is creating sustainable mechanisms to address the large numbers of missing persons in the region of the former Yugoslavia affected by the conflicts – Establishing of the state level institution responsible for Missing persons.

 

Expected outcome of the project:

-          State level Missing Persons Institute of BiH (MPI) fully functional and working on a non-discriminatory basis;

-          Functions of the entity commissions in BiH fully subsumed into MPI;

-          Bilateral protocols on missing persons implemented across region;

-          Domestic court processes supported through the work of the MPI and the Commission on Missing Persons in Serbia.

-          Law on Missing Persons effectively implemented throughout BiH;

-          Excavations and exhumations carried out professionally and on a non-discriminatory basis in co-ordination with the domestic court processes;

-          Increase in the number of missing persons identified in the region, with families informed and thus an improved chance of putting the past to rest.

 

On 4 June 2003, the BiH Members of the Presidency took the unanimous decision to invite the BiH Council of Ministers (CoM) to create a protocol that would allow the CoM to become a co-founder, along with ICMP of MPI

The Agreement on Assuming the Role of Co-founders of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Agreement) was signed by ICMP and the Council of Ministers on 30 August 2005, the International Day of the Missing.

 

 

BHTV1 – “Nerjesen slucaj”

 

This project brings the police and citizens in communities across BiH close together and will help create a new culture of greater civic responsibility to fight crime. Program “Nerjesen slucaj” is an effective tool where public by providing information supports efforts of police and prosecutors in fighting crime. Experiences from other countries where similar TV programs are aired have been extremely positive in helping solve crime cases.

 

The programme was first aired on October 5th 2005 on BHT 1 and with financial assistance from UK Embassy. “Nerijesen slucaj” is aired once a month (Wednesdays) on BHT 1.

 

On April 28, 2006, EUPM announced that first case solved thanks to a call from a citizen following the “Nerijesen slucaj” TV show.

Reacting upon the received information, the members of Doboj police station have arrested A.H. on 26 April in Kotorsko. A. H. is wanted by INTERPOL as a suspect in a murder case that happened in 1997 in Slovenia.

 

Phone number for Krimolovci is 080 020 505.

 

 

Bosnia Debating Competition: “Debating Without Frontiers”

 

For last two year UK Government is supporting Centre for Cultivating Dialogue to organise debating competitions among secondary schools BiH wide.  Winners of the State final competition will represent BiH at the International Debating Competition in Czech Republic 2007.

 

The activities of the Centre have helped schools and the wider education sector benefit from debate as a means of improving interethnic communication and co-operation. It has also acted as a non-political forum and framework for promoting increased dialogue and exchange of views amongst the youth of BiH. Students that have taken part in debate benefit by acquiring poise, self-confidence and skills in research, critical thinking, and communication.

 

Winner of the ‘2006 grand final’ selected to represent BiH at the International Debating Festival organised by International Debating Education Association (IDEA) in Romania in July 2006. BiH team won 2nd place.