PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

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.

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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. .

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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

TI BiH filed a criminal complaint due to the procurement of the RS Institute of Public Health

Press releases ● 30 May 2020

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has filed a criminal complaint with the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office against the management of the RS Institute of Public Health over disputed procurement of medical equipment from unqualified bidders. (more…)

Criminal charges of TI BiH against Milorad Dodik for wiretapping the opposition

Press releases ● 21 May 2020

TI BiH notes that Milorad Dodik openly admitted that he was establishing elements of a totalitarian state by eavesdropping on his political opponents. In addition to allegations of unauthorized wiretapping of the opposition, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH must investigate allegations that paraintelligence structures have been created in BiH, headed by the entity Minister of Police Dragan Lukac. (more…)

Civil society organizations sent a reaction from the RS Ministry of the Interior due to the violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights

Press releases ● 20 May 2020

You can read the reaction of civil society organizations to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska below.

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Dear All,

Civil society organizations monitor all events related to the right to public assembly and freedom of expression, and from the media they are acquainted with the announcement of your Ministry from 13.05.2020. which states: “The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic reminds citizens that public gatherings of citizens must take place only in accordance with the Law on Public Assemblies, whether they are organized by citizens, citizens’ associations or political parties. In recent days, gatherings of activists of the political party “Movement of Justice” have been evident in the center of Banja Luka, and they have been warned that such gatherings can only be held in accordance with the existing law. “Political parties are obliged, like all other citizens, to report their public gatherings to the competent police station in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Public Assemblies, and all other public gatherings outside the legal procedures will be sanctioned.”

Also, some web portals published the answer of the spokesperson of the Police Administration of Banja Luka, Ms. Danijela Mučibabić, in which she, to the statement of journalists that members of the police tonight (13.05.2020) warned certain citizens who sat on public benches or stood on the promenade to could not be there, she replied that “these are not individual citizens who sat on public benches, but a public gathering that was not reported in accordance with the Law on Public Assembly, and that police officers noticed that members and activists of the political The “Justice Movement” parties gather in front of the Church of Christ the Savior at the same time every night, and it follows that this is a public gathering of political party activists, and not “sitting of citizens on public benches”.

Having in mind the announcement of your Ministry, the views of the spokesperson and chief of the Banja Luka Police Administration, and the activities carried out by police officers on the ground, one gets the impression that citizens who are members and sympathizers of political parties do not have the right to gather and stay in public. each of their public appearances and meetings with other persons must be planned in advance and notified to the competent authorities. At the same time, we are concerned about the views of the Banja Luka Police Department spokesperson, who distinguishes between citizens sitting on benches and members of the Justice Movement political party who also sit on benches, which means that “ordinary citizens” can sit on benches political parties “Movement of Justice” cannot do that without the approval of the competent body.

We remind you that Bosnia and Herzegovina has incorporated into its Constitution the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, according to which everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, including the right to form and join trade unions. interest. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights, other than those prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, to prevent disorder or crime, to protect health or morals, or to protect the rights and freedoms of others. International human rights standards say that even if unregistered gatherings take place, as long as the assembly is peaceful, its ban or interruption due to non-registration is a disproportionate interference with the exercise of the right to free assembly, even if there is no such provision for spontaneous gatherings in law.

The Constitution of the Republika Srpska in Article 10. prescribes that the citizens of the Republic are equal in freedoms, rights and duties, are equal before the law and enjoy the same legal protection regardless of race, sex, language, nationality, religion, social origin, birth, education, wealth, political and other beliefs , social status or other personal characteristics, while in Article 14. The Constitution states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Having in mind all the above, we demand that the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs stop discriminating against citizens who are members of the “Justice Movement” political party and violate their constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful assembly and organization.
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Signatories:

Transparency International BiH

Civil Right Defenders

Banjalučki centar za ljudska prava

Helsinški parlament građana Banja Luka

Oštra Nula Banja Luka

Centar za mlade Kvart Prijedor

Asocijacija za demokratske inicijative Sarajevo

Sarajevski otvoreni centar

Centar za životnu sredinu Banja Luka

Dopis za MUP-maj 2020