Press releases

Significant ruling in favor of TI BiH – FBiH Banking Agency is a public body and has not proven why the salaries of its employees should not be published

Press releases ● 20 November 2020

TI BiH requested information from the Agency on employees’ salaries and related benefits. The agency refused to submit them, claiming that there was no public interest, and that they, as a self-financing body, were not obliged to apply the Freedom of Access to Information Act. (more…)

The parties spent at least 5.9 million KM on TV and billboards alone, an increase in the misuse of public resources

Press releases ● 12 November 2020

During the election campaign, political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina spent at least 5.9 million KM on advertising in electronic and print media and billboards, according to preliminary results of monitoring conducted by Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH). Out of that amount, advertising on television and in print media cost 2.2 million KM ¹ . In the 70 local communities covered by TI BIH through monitoring, the parties spent at least 3.7 million KM on billboard advertising.
SNSD (1.36 million KM), SDA and PDP (800 thousand KM each), SDS (about 600 thousand KM), United Srpska (over 370 thousand KM) and SDP (over 310) have spent the most money on this type of advertising so far. thousand). On the other hand, no party in BIH submitted, at the request of TI BIH, a plan of election campaign expenses that were reported in the amount of over 10 million KM for the last elections.
According to the estimates of the observed sample, the costs of outdoor advertising in other municipalities, internet advertising, production of advertising material, as well as the costs of pre-election rallies, which were held in large numbers despite the measures banning gatherings, should be added to the amount. bigger. TI BIH observers have so far watched 974 pre-election rallies, and parties have distributed gifts or other benefits to voters 140 times, such as free transportation for all citizens of Brcko during the Socialist Party’s campaign or free serological tests by SNSD Banja Luka.

2481 cases of use of public resources were recorded

In a little less than 3 months, TI BIH observers also recorded 2481 examples where public resources were used for the election promotion of parties and candidates. The largest number of abuses refers to the intensification of public works in the pre-election period, because a total of 983 cases were recorded in three months, of which 46% were recorded in the last month during the election campaign. The largest number of these works was recorded in Zenica, Banja Luka, Doboj and the municipalities of Stari Grad and Novi Grad in Sarajevo.
Also, a total of 21 examples of paid advertising of institutions promoting candidates were recorded, and the CEC imposed fines for premature campaigns in cases where Bijeljina and Banovici paid election promotions to current mayors from the budget. The last such case was recorded in Banja Luka, where a pre-election poster of the director of that company, who is also a candidate for councilor, appeared on a billboard leased by JP DEP-OT for a year. After the request of TI BIH, the billboard was removed, the company’s advertisement was returned and the case was reported to the CEC.
During the campaign, in 32 cases, the equipment of public companies and institutions was used to place party posters and organize pre-election rallies. In Bugojno, workers of the public utility company put up posters of SDA candidates, and workers of the electricity distribution in Bijeljina and Celinac put up posters of the SNSD.
TI BIH observers recorded 270 examples of the distribution of special incentives and subsidies, most often related to one-off payments timed for the pre-election period. For example, the Municipality of Ugljevik granted a one-time aid of 100 KM for 350 pensioners, the Municipality of Pale allocated 20,000 KM from the budget reserve for the most vulnerable pensioners, the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo distributed a one-time aid to war invalids of 50 KM, in Foča assistance to pensioners of 50 KM, and the parties regularly boasted about such allocations on their pages as part of the campaign. .
So far, TI BiH has submitted 94 reports to the CEC related to violations of the Election Law and the Law on Financing of Political Parties. According to the reports of TIBIH, the CEC has so far imposed 44 fines in the total amount of 45,000 KM due to the premature campaign, and the outcome of other reports is still pending. Applications related to the financing of the campaign with public funds will only be subsequently subject to revision by the CEC.

Candidates attended free mammography examinations

In the past three months, 86 examples of providing free check-ups, medicines, travel and discounts on public services were recorded in 70 local communities. The current mayor of Doboj, Boris Jerinić, who is again a candidate for that position, along with five other candidates and officials of his party, attended the free mammography examinations organized at the Doboj Health Center. The same case was recorded in Bijeljina, where free mammography examinations were attended by Mayor Mićo Mićić and councilor candidate Igor Novaković. The Mayor of Centar, Nedžad Ajnadžić, handed out free tickets for the Trebević cable car to the users of the Center for Healthy Aging, and in Prijedor, a member of the Presidency of BiH, Milorad Dodik, handed out decisions on land legalization.
There were also 35 cases of mass employment in public institutions. We single out the example in Gacko, where during the campaign the municipality announced a competition for the admission of 18 trainees at the same time as the mayor in the pre-election debate officially announced that 30% of workers in the municipal administration are redundant.
In the past three months, TI BIH observers covered 945 public events organized by institutions and public companies, and 62% of these events were addressed by candidates in local elections, which clearly shows their purpose. Out of that number, 226 public events were organized on the occasion of the opening of infrastructure facilities, which speaks volumes about the scale of the use of public resources in the campaign and the increase in public spending for the purpose of pre-election promotion.
The data presented by TI BiH are preliminary estimates, and TI BIH will present a final report which, in addition to the above data, will include estimates of the costs of holding election rallies and other costs of the parties in the campaign. The data will be compared with the financial reports of political parties to determine whether the parties are reporting actual expenditures, and whether they have reported all sources of revenue.
TI BIH data again point to abuses of public resources without sanctions, because the legal framework did not clearly define measures to prevent such occurrences, and again show the need for urgent amendments to the Election Law and the Law on Financing of Political Parties, which would impose restrictions on misuse of public funds. in the campaign, and separated party and public functions.

¹ The monitoring includes 12 TV stations (BHT, FTV, RTRS, FACE TV, Hayat, TV BN, ATV, N1, NOVA BH, K3, ALFA TV, O KANAL) and 34 print media from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Press rls – 12.11.2020

TI BiH warns: Abuse of the name of the organization when reporting election irregularities

Press releases ● 10 November 2020

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) warns the public and all competent authorities about the misuse of the organization’s name and false representation. On September 30, 2020, unknown persons submitted a report from the e-mail address Transparency.International@europe.com to the Central Election Commission (CEC) against the candidate of the Independent List of Bosnia and Herzegovina for mayor of Zavidovići, Hashim Mujanović, falsely posing as “Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. (more…)

The Agency for Personal Data Protection claims that publishing the list for voting outside BiH was not necessary to prevent election fraud.

Press releases ● 30 October 2020

Since the publication of the list, TI BiH has received numerous reports from citizens who complain about the misuse of their data in the context of election fraud, so it appeals to the competent institutions to publish clear instructions to citizens who find themselves in this situation .

Banja Luka, 30. October 2020 — The BiH Agency for Personal Data Protection claims that publishing excerpts from the Central Voters’ List for voting outside BiH “was not a necessary measure in a democratic society to prevent electoral fraud.” This is stated in the Agency’s response to a letter recently sent by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), in which the Agency asks for the protection of citizens whose data have been misused to vote from abroad.

The Agency’s decision to order the Central Election Commission (CEC) to remove the list for voting outside BiH provoked numerous reactions, because its publication revealed numerous fictitious reports and mass misuse of data by BiH citizens. However, in response to TI BiH, the Agency claims that there are other “less intensive ways of processing personal data to prevent election fraud”, without stating exactly which one, does not want to raise the issue of abuse, and reminds that every citizen can request written access to the Central Voters Register.

The agency states in the letter that in 2012. discovered one case of misuse of personal data for voting from abroad, identified deficiencies in regulations that have not been changed to date and has not acted on citizens’ reports since then, but forwards them to prosecuting authorities.

At the same time, the letter does not specify what mechanisms will be provided to citizens to protect their rights. The agency states in the letter that it is not competent to determine specific decisions for the CEC, although according to the Law, in addition to the authority to ban data processing, it can also issue regulations and guidelines on how to process data. Therefore, in response to the Agency, TI BiH emphasized that this position of the Agency does not contribute to a constructive solution to the problem, and deviates from the provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection of BiH, which allows the right to personal data processing without the consent of the holder. if it is necessary in order to fulfill the public interest or if the protection of legal rights is necessary , one of which is certainly the right to vote.

Therefore, TI BiH called on the Agency, in cooperation with the Central Election Commission, to find a solution to this problem in order to determine the mechanisms for verifying and detecting identity theft in the election process. Since the publication of the list, TI BiH has received numerous reports from citizens who complain about the misuse of their data in the context of election fraud, so at the same time it appeals to the competent institutions to publish clear instructions to citizens who find themselves in this situation. .

Response of the ZZLP Agency

Press rls 10/30/2020

TI BiH response to the ZZLP Agency

TI BiH warns: The proposal of the Law on Conflict of Interest is meaningless with amendments

Press releases ● 14 October 2020

If the amendments to the proposal on the Law on Conflict of Interest are adopted, Bosnia and Herzegovina will get a worse law than the existing one, although its improvement is one of the main priorities on the European path.

(more…)

TI BiH presents monitoring results: Over 1,400 cases of misuse of public resources for the election campaign recorded in two months

Press releases ● 13 October 2020

At the press conference, TI BiH presented the mobile application Reflektor, which will now enable citizens to anonymously report all forms of election irregularities. (more…)

TI BIH wrote to the Agency for Personal Data Protection: Protect citizens whose data has been misused to vote from abroad

Press releases ● 10 October 2020

Publishing the list of voters registered to vote from abroad is in the public interest, as it revealed numerous irregularities and was the only way to identify abuses in the registration process, which the Agency apparently neglected when making the decision to ban its publication.

Banja Luka, 10 October 2020 – Transparency International in BIH (TI BIH) informed the Agency for Personal Data Protection of BIH that it has recently received numerous reports from citizens whose data have been misused to vote from abroad. After the CEC made public the list of voters registered for this type of voting for the first time, many citizens discovered that their data had been misused, in a way that they were registered to vote abroad without their knowledge, and the list helped the media discover numerous cases of mass abuse. The CEC data on over 3,500 complaints received in the first days after the publication of the list clearly shows that this is a mass phenomenon with the intention of manipulating the election process, so the Agency must investigate these cases and provide mechanisms to verify and detect identity theft.

The responsibility of this institution was further increased after the decision ordering the CEC to remove the Excerpt from the Central Voters’ List from abroad. Given that the publication of this list revealed numerous irregularities, and was the only way to determine abuses in the registration process, it is clear that the public of the list is in the public interest, which the Agency obviously did not appreciate when making this decision. Therefore, TI BiH calls on the Agency to urgently find mechanisms to protect citizens, and taking into account that there are only a little more than a month left until the local elections.

According to the reports that TI BIH has received so far through the Center for Free Legal Aid, it can be concluded that personal data of citizens are most often misused in the election process by individuals, who in the past collected data from citizens misleading them. in connection with the actual purpose of their processing.

The Election Law clearly states that the Central Voters’ List and excerpts from it are public documents. On the other hand, the goal of the BiH Law on Personal Data Protection is, among other things, to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which include the exercise of suffrage, which is serious for the misuse of citizens’ data questioned.

A new report from the European Commission calls for urgent measures for the judiciary – Vetting procedures are the only solution

Press releases ● 08 October 2020

TI BiH believes that it is high time to put the judiciary under special scrutiny with international support and to create an architecture for vetting procedures that will check all judges and prosecutors, their property, knowledge and competencies, and especially their links to corruption and organized crime. .

(more…)

International Freedom of Access to Information Day: Epidemic slows down institutions, shifts in transparency insufficient

Press releases ● 28 September 2020

COVID-19 slowed down the work of institutions, so they waited for access to certain information for more than five months, while it was impossible to access information on the conditions under which donated medical care is stored. (more…)

TI BiH: Appointment of Nikola Špirić to the Commission for Selection and Monitoring of APIK is a slap in the face to the fight against corruption

Press releases ● 24 September 2020

By appointing Spiric, the legislature gives the politician, who is facing the most serious accusations of corruption, the opportunity to monitor, supervise and influence the work of the anti-corruption agency. (more…)

TI BiH: Numerous examples of misuse of public resources for campaigning

Press releases ● 17 September 2020

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) presented the first results of the monitoring of pre-election activities conducted in 68 local communities in BiH. In the past month, numerous forms of misuse of public resources for political promotion have been noticed, and some parties and candidates have already started with paid advertising, although this is explicitly prohibited outside the period of the official election campaign. (more…)

CORRUPTION AND COVID-19: Citizens report corruption the most in humanitarian aid, quarantine measures and the provision of health services

Press releases ● 14 September 2020

Since the beginning of the pandemic, mass violations of human and workers’ rights, illegal procurement of medical equipment, and abuses in the allocation of economic aid have been noticed in BiH. (more…)

After the report of TI BiH, the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Tuzla Canton was fined – he rented business premises to lawyers who represented the accused

Press releases ● 03 September 2020

In the end, a public reprimand was issued to the Chief Prosecutor, published in an anonymized form, so that the general public did not receive any information about this case. In this way, the practice of mild disciplinary policy towards judicial office holders continues. (more…)

Press conference of civil society organizations in front of the Ombudsman due to police repression

Press releases ● 08 July 2020

The undersigned civil society organizations condemn the new act of repression against members of the “Justice for David” group and representatives of the “Justice Movement” political organization, who were deprived of their liberty yesterday. (more…)

International Whistleblower Day: Adopt a law in the FBiH and strengthen the legal protection of all whistleblowers

Press releases ● 23 June 2020

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, full protection of whistleblowers has not yet been ensured, and since 2014. The Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption of BiH (APIK) granted the status of protected applicant to only eight persons, out of a total of 24 who requested protection.

Banja Luka, June 23, 2020 – In Bosnia and Herzegovina, full protection of whistleblowers has not yet been ensured, and since 2014. The Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption of BiH (APIK) granted the status of protected applicant to only eight persons, out of a total of 24 who requested protection. This data best shows how much citizens dare to report corruption, and the biggest problem, in addition to the decline in trust in institutions, is the fact that whistleblowers do not enjoy any legal protection in the Federation of BiH. That is why Transparency International in BiH, on the occasion of the International Whistleblower Day, appealed to the presidents of the clubs of the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH who have been blocking the adoption of the Law on Protection of Corruption Reporters for two years to finally adopt this law.

In the first six months of this year, seven whistleblowers turned to the TI BiH Center for Free Legal Aid, six of which came from the FBiH, where these individuals do not enjoy special legal protection. TI BiH calls for the law to be adopted as soon as possible, because the Federation of BiH is the only level of government in the country that has not legally protected whistleblowers. Resolving this problem is one of the 14 key priorities in the European Commission’s Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for membership in the European Union.

TI BiH also sent a proposal to the Ministry of Justice of the Republika Srpska to improve the Law on the Protection of Persons Reporting Corruption in the RS, because shortcomings in the protection of whistleblowers were noticed in the application of this law. TI BiH proposed extending the court deadlines for the lawsuit, extending the deadline for the revision and introducing an investigative principle that would strengthen the position of whistleblowers in court proceedings.

The protection of whistleblowers is one of the most important issues, as they have uncovered some of the biggest corruption scandals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yet many of these scandals have never received a judicial epilogue, and it is not uncommon for people who report corruption to be tried. One of the most obvious examples witnessed by the public in BiH is the so-called the “Horseshoe” affair, where the whistleblower-businessman Nermin Alešević, who discovered the affair with the recording, is now suspected of bribery and unauthorized recording of the president of the VSTS.

The fact that the number of reports of corruption in the Prosecutor’s Offices throughout BiH is decreasing every year is also worrying, and in four years the number of reports submitted by citizens and competent police agencies has decreased by 20%. The principles of the global TI movement include the establishment of safe and different channels of reporting, but also the adoption of special legal regulations that will guarantee stronger legal protection to all persons who report corruption and therefore suffer harmful consequences.

Press rls – 23.6.2020.

TI BiH sent an open letter to the Council of Ministers of BiH – to stop obstructions to the adoption of the new Law on Conflict of Interest

Press releases ● 19 June 2020

According to the conclusions of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, the BiH Council of Ministers did not meet the deadline within which the draft Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Government Institutions should have been sent to the procedure. The 90-day deadline expired in April, and Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an open letter to the Ministry of Justice and the BiH Council of Ministers.

Banja Luka, 19. June 2020 – According to the conclusions of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, the BiH Council of Ministers did not meet the deadline within which the draft Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Government Institutions should have been sent to the procedure. The 90-day deadline expired in April, and Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an open letter to the Ministry of Justice and the BiH Council of Ministers.

The draft law, in the drafting of which TI BiH also participated, and which was supported by international organizations, including the EU and the OSCE, was before the deputies of the House of Representatives 16. January this year, but instead of declaring the Proposal, the House of Representatives instructed the Council of Ministers to draft its own draft law, which has not happened to date. Due to all this, it seems that the competent institutions are obstructing the adoption of this Law, which is one of the key mechanisms for the prevention of corruption.

The existing legal solution does not contain all the necessary mechanisms for the prevention of conflicts of interest, is not in line with international standards, and is not applied at all because the new convocation of the Commission for deciding on conflicts of interest since 2018. he has not been appointed, so there has been no one to solve numerous applications for two years.

We remind you that the latest report of the Group of Countries against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) clearly states that there is no credible and independent mechanism in BiH that deals with conflicts of interest, and that urgent changes are needed in this area. Also, the improvement of this law is one of the 14 key priorities in the European Commission’s Opinion on BiH’s application for EU membership.

With an open letter, TI BIH again submitted proposals to the address of the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers of BIH, with which all relevant international institutions agreed, which also earlier appealed for the adoption of the Law. Among other things, it is proposed to expand the circle of persons to whom the law will be applied, to prevent the misuse of public resources for political promotion, as well as to establish an independent commission that would decide on conflicts of interest. That commission would be elected on the basis of a public competition, while according to the current law, the majority of members of the Commission are representatives of both houses of the PSBiH and decide on conflicts of interest of their party colleagues. Also, one of the key proposals is the establishment of a mechanism for checking property records and the introduction of sanctions for providing false information.

Having in mind the lack of will to improve the Law on Conflict of Interest, TI BiH appealed to the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers to finally start the law drafting procedure, guided by international standards and recommendations, to open the process to the public, enable public debate and include all relevant domestic and international organizations in order to reach the best possible solution that will improve anti-corruption mechanisms.

However, it is evident that the prevention of conflicts of interest is obstructed at all levels of government in BiH, which opens space for numerous abuses and corruption, and leads to numerous officials performing two or more incompatible functions without any consequences. In the Federation of BiH, the Law on Conflict of Interest has not been applied since 2013. because no amendments to the regulations that would define who determines the conflict of interest have been adopted. In the Republika Srpska, the law is applied, but it contains numerous shortcomings, so most public officials perform several incompatible functions, hiding behind the long-term mandates of the acting president. Republika Srpska envisaged its improvement in the Anti-Corruption Strategy, in charge of the Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government as the proposer of the changes, but it was publicly announced from this ministry that it does not plan to do that in the near future.

Press rls – 19.6.2020.

Ministry of Justice of BiH_Open letter

Council of Ministers of BiH_Open letter