PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Conference on’’ Integrity of Higher Education in BiH’’

Press releases ● 18 June 2013

The conference will be opened by the Federal Minister of Education and Science Damir Mašić and Executive Director of Transparency International BiH Srđan Blagovčanin.

With the aim of analyzing current situations and activities regarding promotion and prevention of corruption, the conference will focus on examination of all previous activities in this field, particularly those regarding drafting and adaption of integrity plans of higher education institutions. Also, it will be discussed about the application of the Code of Ethics and its improvement, as well as students’ participation in decision-making process and about their activation in the evaluation of the universities and prevention of corruption.

The conference speakers shall be representatives of Federal Ministry of Education and Science, rectos of public universities, representatives of the authorities in the region, the members of the Ethic Committees⁄ Councils of universities in BiH, representatives of students and NGOs.

The conference will be opened to the press.

The conference program in Mostar

Conference on

’’ Integrity of Higher Education in BiH’’

Mostar, 20^th June 2013. – the Students’ Hotel I.Krndelja Square

Program

Opening of the Exhibition ‘’Mitomania’’

Press releases ● 13 June 2013

This project represents a creative way of displaying consequences of corruption in BiH society. Accordingly, following successfully held exhibitions in Mostar and Sarajevo, TI BiH is organizing an exhibition under the name ’Mitomania’’ in Banja Luka, where the winning drawings and caricatures collected through the award contest announced by TI BiH will be displayed, along with the work of professional cartoonists who participated in the project.

The exhibition will be opened by representatives of the U.S. Embassy and TI BiH. The opening of the exhibition in Banja Luka will be held on 6^th June 2013. at six o’clock p.m. in Staklenac (Park Petar Kočić). The exhibition will remain open in the period from 14.6. to 23.06.2013. and will be open to all citizens.

Invitation to the Civil Society Organizations and Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Participate in the Public Consultation on Adoption of the Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information in BiH

Press releases ● 23 May 2013

On Friday, 31^st May 2013, the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina on its official web site published the Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information in BiH, leaving the possibility open for the public to submit their comments on the Draft Amendments to 31^st May 2013.

A number of Civil Society Organizations have analyzed the proposed Amendments and established that they detriment the right to access to information, make extremely restrictive provisions regarding information containing personal data, abolish the public interest test, and that the Law on Free Access to Information is actually turned into the Law on the Prohibition of Access to Information.

Considering the fact that this Law represents the basic mechanism for exercising the right to access the information, the Draft Amendments exceptionally limit these rights by introducing the principles of automatism, which, with a few exceptions,  prohibit access to information containing personal data. This action is completely different from the hitherto principles, which allow access to information with the exception in cases when a public interest test has to be conducted.

In this way, the Law will cut access to information and some additional ways will be opened to the corruption, which will be impossible to prove or to spot on the basis of specific documents and data, under the pretext of protecting the privacy of individuals.

Representatives of civil society, the academic and professional community were not invited or included in the working group who participated in the process of making the Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, we use this opportunity to express our opinion about unacceptability of such Draft, and to invite the Institutions to address the issue of an already familiar topic regarding legislation on free access to information in BiH, which so far has not been discussed in an appropriate manner, – inconsistent legislations at different government levels, admonishments of more severe penalties and establishing a supervisory body for the implementation of the Law.

We invite the representatives of civil society, as well as citizens-individuals to express their opinion on the Draft Amendments to the Ministry of Justice BiH until 31^st May 2013. Below is a sample letter that you can sign and submit on this email address: konsultacije@mpr.gov.ba.

With kind regards, yours:

–        Center for Informative Decontamination of Youth

–        Center for Investigative Reporting

–        Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina

–        Foundation Center for the Public Interest Advocacy

–        Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina

–        UG Why not, Sarajevo

Sample letter of Civil Society Organizations and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the public consultation on the Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of the Ministry of the Justice BiH

Ministry of Justice Bosnia and Herzegovina

Trg BiH 1.

71000 Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Commentary on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dear Sir/Madam,

In accordance with your invitation to participate the public consultations on the Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are submitting our comment:

• Current Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information call into question the right to obtain information as an integral part of the right to freedom of expression, proclaimed by the European Convention on Human Rights and BiH Constitution;

• In relation to the current Law, the Draft Amendments to the Law on an unacceptable manner determine the principles of access to information, inadequately define the terms of the Law and unnecessarily exclude a whole section that relates to personal data with the intent to protect the right to privacy and other private interests;

• The alleged aim of the Draft Amendments is to protect personal and right to privacy. According to the documents of the Council of Europe and the European Union, the protection of personal data apply to protection of processing of those data and in such documents there is nothing that suggests the need for automatic disabling free access to information.

• From the proposed formulation of the Act 4 of the Draft Amendments to the Law it is evident that new principles have been introduced- non-disclosure of information in the case of request to access to information relating to the protection of privacy(Quotation, Paragraph 1 :’’ The competent authority acting in accordance with this Law pertinent to protection of personal data would restrict access to information or a piece of information if its disclosure threatens the  right to privacy and other legitimate private interests.’’) Current Law is based on opposed principle- disclosure of information is a rule and non-disclosure is an exception. The introduction of a new principle of non-disclosure of information, as well as the automatisms in the actions of the authorities, which are contrary to the fundamental purpose and the spirit of the Law on Free Access to Information in the world and even in our country, certainly opens the way for the authorities to abuse the Law and to introduce restrictions in all cases excluding those provided as an exception.

• The crucial mechanisms shall be limited by the same provision of the Draft Amendments- the public interest test. Namely, the definition of the restrictions provided in the Article 4 Paragraph 1 of the Draft Amendments, entirely excludes the Article 9 of the current Low on Freedom of Access to Information (‘’ The Public Interest Test’’). The Article 9 establishes the principle of resolving all claims on case-by-case basis, what is also contrary to the purposes and spirit of the Law on Free Access to Information.

• Referring to the annual report of the Ombudsman for Human Rights BiH, we want to remind you that problems related to the implementation of the Law have not been registered, and if requested information contained some personal data, which could compromise the privacy of the citizens, the public authority using the public interest test could make a decision on disclosure exception.

• Finally, instead of seeking the possibility to preserve the fundamental values of the Law on Free Access to Information and harmonize other laws with this one, these Draft Amendments include other proposed principles into the Law on Free Access to Information, what is an illegal practice (Quotation, Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the current Law: ‘’ Legislation adopted after this Law, whose purpose is not to change this Law, shall not limit the rights and obligations set out in this Law’’.)

To sum up, free access to information is conditio sine qua non of a democratic process and represents constitutional category that appears as an independent right, or as an integral part of the right to freedom of expression set by the European Convention and BiH Constitution. It is a fundamental democratic right of every citizen and highly important tool used for ensuring the rule of law and good governance. Access to information enables citizens to control their elected representatives and to protect them from abuse, also allows the participation of citizens in setting priorities of government and it is linked to the good government concept, which implies an open government that operates on the principles of efficiency, transparency and legality.

For these reasons, your Draft Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information is totally unacceptable to us, and we invite you to abandon the public consultation process and to organize broader professional and honest discussion which will lead to the real improvement of the legal framework on access to information.

Signature of the person authorized to represent the organization and signature of the citizen-individual, citing the official name of the organization or the names of the citizen.

Conference: Open Government Partnership Initiative

Press releases ● 15 May 2013

Considering the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina still hasn’t joined OGP initiative, nor have any activities been started, while taking into consideration that this initiative contributes to achieving the concept of an open government through defining concrete obligations in the process of preparation of an action plan for accomplishing the standards of government’s openness and citizens’ participation in the decision-making processes, TI BiH, CPI and numerous other civil society organizations deem that BiH joining OGP initiative would have multiple positive effects for country and citizens.

Aiming to animate broader public, especially responsible institutions and civil society representatives, TI BiH and CPI are organizing one-day conference which will introduce specifics of an open government partnership, its advantages and requirements for joining.

We have the pleasure to invite you to take part and participate in the conference.

Conference will be held on Friday, May 17 in the Europe hotel in Sarajevo, starting at 11.30 am. Representatives of BiH institutions, civil society organizations and media, along with panelists from region and abroad will be present.

Mild Laws and Inefficiency in the Sanctioning of Conflict of Interest

Press releases ● 29 April 2013

Banja Luka, 29th April 2013. – The prevention of conflict of interest has experienced a serious decline during the reporting period, mainly due to the lack of political will to improve the existing legislation and the implementation of the law at all levels.

During the past 11 years since the Law on Conflict of Interest has been in force in the Governmental Institutions of BiH, four sets of Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest have been made and a circle of functions and persons to whom the Law applies has been constantly narrowing , which has weakened the effectiveness of this Law. The most drastic approach of the weakening of the Law has been presented in the new Amendments to the Law, adopted by the Council of Ministers, with the aim to politicize completely the decision-making process regarding the Conflict of Interest and liberalization of regulations. TI BiH responses and comments to the Institutions regarding this matter are available here.

At the level of the Federation of BiH, the activity on the harmonization of legislation in relation to the Laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also missing. At the level of the Republic of Srpska the changes to the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in the Governmental Institutions of the RS are in progress. Although some of the terms and regulations are better defined and clarified, crucial issues have not been adequately treated, especially in terms of compliance with the state law, and the sanctions are still not nearly in proportion to the damage which violators of the law can cause to the public resources and public interest.

The gap between  the sanctions and possible gain is evident in the example of the Central Election Commission, which has imposed, since the beginning of the application of the Law, 118 fines in the amount of 409.500,00KM, of which 88  were fully realized, while 10 of them have been paid consecutively, which altogether amounts to 267 380,00 KM.  In 2012, five of the sanctions were realized completely and three consecutively in the amount of 24.500 KM. Comparing budgetary inflows through payment of sanctions and damage caused by the conflict of interest of the public officials, often spoken of multi-million amounts in the media and other reports, disproportion in favor of those who are in the conflict of interest is more than evident. In 2012, Central Election Commission initiated only 13 procedures for determining conflict of interest. In six cases it was determined that there were no grounds for imposing sanctions and proceedings were terminated, while in seven cases the sanctions of ineligibility to stand for office of elected official, executive officeholder  or advisor for a period of four years were imposed. Out of seven imposed sanctions one or 14% was related to the official at the state level of government, one or 14% to the Cantonal level or 72% at the municipal level, which confirmed earlier findings that officials at lower levels of government are sanctioned mostly, while those at highest levels of government are protected.

At the level of Republic of Srpska, in 2012, out of 19 issued decisions, the Commission for determining Conflict of Interest enacted six decisions where conflict of interest was determined and 13 decisions of termination of the procedure.

Inefficiency in the law enforcement procedures at different levels of government, caused by vague and mild laws, that the legislators want to additionally derogate, characterize activities in prevention of conflict of interest in BiH. If the Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest at the state level are adopted in the emergency procedures, the conditions will worsen and conflict of interest will be legalised. Once again, TI BiH appeals to all relevant international and BiH institutions to prevent the complete destruction of the legal framework, and to put efforts into harmonization of the Law with applicable international standards and strengthening  the institutions that implement them.

TI BiH Condemns Censorship of the Parliamentary Assembly

Press releases ● 20 April 2013

Banja Luka, 20^th April 2013. – This action taken by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, to ban monitoring of their work to the civil society organizations, represents an extremely undemocratic act and direct censorship attempt.  The decision and explanation of the decision set the representatives at the Parliamentary Assembly above the citizens of BiH, and above the system of democratic monitoring of government, suffocating any attempt to criticize their (lack of) work.

Instead of solving the burning issues in this country and monitoring the work of executive bodies, the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH deal with censorship and suppression of democratic freedom, representing non-governmental organizations as enemies and traitors just because they indicate on their lack of work.

Transparency International BiH supports the Centers for Civic Initiatives in their efforts to bring closer the work of the institutions to the citizens of BiH and to indicate to which extent the representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly represent their interest.

TI BiH Calls on the Council of Ministers of BiH to reject the proposed Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest

Press releases ● 15 April 2013

Banja Luka, 15^th April 2013.- Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) calls on the Council of Ministers of BiH not to support the proposed Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in the Governmental Institutions of BiH, which is set for today’s session of the Council of Ministers.

TI BIH has already warned that proposed Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest presents a setback in the regulation and prevention of the conflict of interest, mainly because the creation of the new Commission for the Conflict of Interest, consisting of majority of parliamentary members and representatives of political parties, has been proposed. Such Commission structure allows direct influence of the political parties on its decisions and would imply that members of the Commission would identify conflict of interest in the cases of their party colleagues, which certainly brings into question their impartiality in decision-making process and provides even greater political control over determining conflict of interest among public officials.

According to the proposed Amendments, it has been predicted the establishment of the Office of the Commission, whose structure will be specifically determined by the Office Rules and Regulations, whereby the Office employees will be treated as public officials. Notwithstanding the explanation of the proposed Amendments that additional funds would not be required, it is obvious that the formation of a new office, as well as the Commission, would imply allocation of additional funds from the budget, which has already been burdened with heavy state administration. This sets the question of justification of the formation of the new body for the implementation of the Law on Conflict of Interest, when there is the existing body on which formation significant resources have been invested.

Moreover, in spite of the warnings of international institutions that the existing penalties for conflict of interest are exceptionally low and that they do not motivate his compliance, fines have not been significantly increased. At the same time the possibility has been left to the elected official, executive officeholders and advisors to eliminate conflict of interest, whereby the Commission may end the proceedings. This certainly leaves the possibility for “negotiation” with lawbreakers and does not represent an adequate attitude towards lawbreakers.

Also, instead of hitherto ineligibility to stand for election, the form of sanction “proposal for dismissal,” has been introduced, which the commission should submit to the same competent authority who have appointed the official. However, the formulation of sanctions as a “proposal” does not oblige the authorities to implement it, suggesting that the bodies of these may refuse these suggestions. Thereby elected official, executive officeholder or advisor could freely continue with holding their functions which puts them in situation of conflict of interest.

Considering all the above mentioned, TI BiH believes that the proposed Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental institutions of BiH do not improve any important issues regarding this area in comparison with existing situation, and they do not contribute to the prevention of corruption at all, instead, through the legalization of the influence of the political parties on the decision-making, they further encourage it.

Most of the Corruption Reports in Public Administration and Education

Press releases ● 25 March 2013

Banja Luka, 25^th March 2013. – During 2012 Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre byTransparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TIBiH), a project supported by the governments of Norway and Germany, as well as the Civil Right Defenders, received 972 calls through the open line for reporting corruption (0800 55555), and number of received reports in electronic forms, through the website www.ti-bih.org or by e-mail ,have been increasing. On the basis of these reports, TIBiH has initiated 208 cases to various institutions in BiH, in order to provide legal assistance to citizens in exercising their rights, and to indicate to individual cases of corruption.

The largest number of reports in 2012 referred to the public administration (19%), then (12%) to education, property rights (10%) and access to information (9%).

As well as in two previous years, most of the reports were related to the irregularities and to abuses in the recruitment process, where the partiality in the selection of candidates for different positions was noticed. The largest number of reports was related to irregular conduction of competitions for civil servants at all level of government, and to the recruitment of the staff in public enterprises and public institutions. Also, there were reports on irregular appointment procedures at all levels, or cases in which the conditions of competition were adjusted to preselected candidates.

During 2012 there have been 5 reports that referred to the irregularities in awarding of incentives for agriculture. It is necessary to emphasize that some of the incentives were awarded  by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to some non-farmers in order to obtain votes for the People’s Party Work for Progress (Narodna stranka Radom za boljitak), against which TIBiH submitted report on violation of the Law on financing of political parties to the Central Election Commission.

25 reports were related to corruption in education, which were 10 more reports than in 2011. It is interesting that 11 reports were related to higher education institutions, mostly because of non-transparency of competition procedures for selection of assistants and other teaching staff, and because of irregularities related to the projects that were being conducted at some universities etc.

On the basis of these reports TIBiH has contacted authorized institutions at all levels in BiH. However, the prosecution of corruption is still at unsatisfactory level because of the obstacles such are slow pace of administration and inadequate implementation of legislation on freedom of information at all levels.

Nevertheless, a noticeable increase in the number of reports in relation to the previous year, indicate to greater awareness of the citizens in the fight to their rights. TI BiH hopes that this practice will continue in the future and once again urges all who were witnesses or victims of corruption to report any irregularities to institutions through free phone line 0800 55555 or website www.ti-bih.org.

Opening of the Exhibition ‘’Mitomania’’

Press releases ● 18 March 2013

This project is creative way of displaying consequences of corruption in BiH society. Accordingly, the first in the series of the exhibitions under the name ’’Bribe Mania’’ is being organized in Mostar, where the winning drawings and caricatures collected through the award contest announced by TI BiH will be displayed, along with the work of professional cartoonists who participated in the project.

The exhibition will be opened by the Ambassador of the United States of America, His Excellency Patrick S. Moon and Emir Đikić, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI BiH. The opening will be held in the Youth Culture Centre  Abrašević (Alekse Šantića , No 25) on March 20 2013. at 18.00 p.. The exhibition will remain open in the period from 20^th March to 30^th March 2013., and then it will be moved to Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

Conference on Regional Experiences in the Financing of Political Parties

Press releases ● 22 February 2013

Besides TIBiH, the conference will be attended by the representatives of the chapters of Transparency International in Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, who have conducted regional research and project about transparency of financing of political parties. Considering that similar studies have been conducted in BiH, the main purpose of this conference is to compare the situation and identify positive solutions in order to improve transparency in this area. The conference will be also attended by representatives of BiH institutions, civil society, political parties and the media.

The conference will be held on 28 February 2013. commencing at 10.00 am in the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo.

Agenda bellow.

Transparency International turns 20

Press releases ● 20 February 2013

Twenty years ago foreign bribes were a legal tax write-off for multinational corporations in too many countries, there was no way to measure corruption on a global scale and few leaders of countries lost their jobs for being corrupt.

International organisations did not focus on promoting transparency and anti-corruption, nor was there a single global agreement among countries aimed at stopping bribery or corruption.

Fast forward to 2013 and corruption has gone from a taboo topic to the most-talked about social challenge in the world. Those seeking to eliminate the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery have torn down graft-riddled governments from Egypt to Peru.

Not one, but two global agreements between governments around the world seek to stop the scourge of foreign bribery and corruption. Corruption does not stop at international borders, making the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the United Nations Convention against Corruption important crime-fighting tools.

Transparency International played an integral role in all of these changes. Our work has taken us many places, including into the corridors of power where we push and lobby for laws that, for example, open up government books so the people know where the money is coming from, how it is spent and who is spending it. It takes us to a small legal advice office in rural India where a father wants help fending off the request for a 500 rupee (US$9) bribe from a school official in order to secure his daughter’s diploma.

Transparency International has helped save citizens’ lives and billions of dollars by stopping secret deals, shedding light on crooked contracts and making bidding and other public processes more open to the public.

It all began in 1993 when Peter Eigen launched Transparency International. A former World Bank senior official, Eigen had waged a campaign inside the institution and across the development aid community to build understanding of how corruption was wrecking anti-poverty projects in many of the world’s poorest countries. He won encouragement on a personal level from an array of senior officials, but the institutions refused to budge. Their leaders said corruption was just too hot to handle. Eigen decided it was time to act.

In February 1993, Eigen and a group of some 20 allies from a dozen countries met in The Hague to approve the charter document that established Transparency International. In May a conference was held in Berlin and the organisation commenced the long struggle against secret dealings, bribery and the abuse of power.

With the first two decades under our belt, now is the time to look ahead and ask ourselves where will we be in the next 20 years and what will we need to do to get there.

An important clue to the future lies in the events of the last two years when citizens from Tahrir Square to Wall Street decided to say “Enough is enough”, toppling corrupt regimes and demanding corporations who bring too much risk to the global economy be removed.

The battle against corruption can no longer only take place within the halls of government, it must now be waged from a broad public base and engage new constituencies like the business community and other non-governmental organisations or football fans.

As we saw in Cairo and within the Occupy Wall Street movement, technology will increasingly be used to bring people together quickly to challenge the status quo.

Looking ahead, Transparency International will create a succinct, clear and accessible statement of people-centred principles outlining what people all over the world can do to stand up and successfully resist corruption.

Carousel image credit: Flickr/a.Andres

Roundtable on Legislative Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest

Announcements ● 08 February 2013

Considering that the Amendments on both Laws have been sent to the Institutions for their adoption procedures, this will be an opportunity to present those Amendments to the public, and to launch a public debate on quality of provided solutions and their consequences for the Institute of Conflict of Interest in BiH. This opportunity will be also used for establishing of the dialogue between the proponents of the Law, the Institutions that implement the Laws on Conflict of Interest, and civil society in order to improve transparency of creating the legislative framework, and to create the highest quality legal solutions.

The roundtable will be attended by the representatives of the Central Election Commission, the Commission for Determining Conflict of Interest in Institutions of the Republic of Srpska, the legislative and executive state authorities, international institutions, civil society and the media.

Roundtable on Legislative Amendments to the Laws on Conflict of Interest will be held on Monday 11^th February 2013. , starting at 11.00 am in the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo.

High Risk of Corruption in BiH Defense Sector

Press releases ● 29 January 2013

London, 29^th January 2013- Transparency International UK, within the Programme for Defense and Security, has released the Government Defense Anti-Corruption Index, which analyses what 82 countries do to reduce corruption risks. Countries included in the Study accounted for 94% of the global military expenditure in 2011, equivalent to $1.6 trillion. Each country is scored in bands from very low risks of corruption (A) critical risk (F), according to detailed assessment across 77 indicators that cover five prominent risk areas in the sector: politics, finance, personnel, operations, and procurement.

According to the first ever index measuring how governments prevent corruption in the defense sector indicates that 70% of countries leave the door open to waste and security threats as they lack the tools to prevent corruption in the defense sector. Countries with poor controls include two-thirds of the largest arms importers and half of the biggest arms exporters in the world. Germany and Australia are the only countries that have strong anti-corruption mechanisms, which include a robust parliamentary oversight, very strict standards for the companies in the defense sector and responsible intelligence agencies. On the other side, there are nine countries- Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen- which exhibit critical risk of corruption thanks to lack of basic control and accountability mechanisms. In the Appendix 1 there is a general overwiev of the raitings for all the countries included in the study.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been marked with a band D, which implies high risk of coruption. Comparing with the political risks,even though regulations for the control of formal policy of the defense and security exist there is no transparency in the decision making process or effective supervision over the defese and security budget.

When it comes to financial risks, control over the distribution of property has yet to be established, while at the same time media reports have been pointing to an illegal sale of assets and weapons. Although, the audit reports have been delivered to the Parliament the percentage of the defense and security budget allocated to the ‘’secret items’’ is unavailable to the public. In terms of personnel, there are no laws which would protect whistleblowers and facilitate reporting irregularities. Even though the formal system for appointing and promoting of the personnel exists, in practice some irregularities have been identified. Although corruption is not recognized as a strategic issue in military doctrine, within the category of operational risks, the personnel has been subjected to training on corruption, including corruption in the procurement process. When it comes to procurement area, there is lack of oversight mechanism in the legal framework. Bidders are not subjected to the special demands to compliance with the provision of the law and codes and, also there is lack of sanctions for collusion among bidders. Ratings for individual indicators for Bosnia and Herzegovina are located in Appendix 2.

Transparency International calls on governments to make this traditionally secretive sector, which involves large public contracts, more open to the public. Defense establishments should increase citizens’ access to information about defense budgets and procurement. Legislators should have stronger controls and oversight of the sector, as well as the will to prevent corruption.

Appendix 1. General Overwiev

A-Very low risk of corruption (2 countries): AUSTRALIA, GERMANY

B-Low risk (7 Countries): AUSTRIA, NORWAY, SOUTH KOREA, SWEDEN, TAIWAN, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES

C-Moderate risk (16 countries): ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, BULGARIA, CHILE, COLOMBIA, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, FRANCE, GREECE, HUNGARY, ITALY, JAPAN, LATVIA, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, SPAIN

D- High level (30 countries):

D+ BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, CYPRUS, INDIA, ISRAEL, KENYA, KUWAIT,L EBANON, MEXICO, NEPAL, SERBIA, SINGAPORE, SOUTH AFRICA, THAILAND,UKRAINE, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE)

D== BANGLADESH, BELARUS, CHINA, ETHIOPIA, GEORGIA, GHANA, JORDAN,

KAZAKHSTAN, MALAYSIA, PAKISTAN, PALESTINE, RUSSIA, RWANDA,

TANZANIA, TURKEY

E- Very high level (18 countries): AFGHANISTAN, BAHRAIN, COTE D’IVOIRE, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, MOROCCO,NIGERIA, OMAN, PHILIPPINES, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, SRI LANKA, TUNISIA,UGANDA, UZBEKISTAN, VENEZUELA, ZIMBABWE

F- Critical level (9 countries): ALGERIA, ANGOLA, CAMEROON, DRC, EGYPT, ERITREA, LIBYA,

SYRIA, YEMEN

Appendix 2 Ratings for individual indicators

The Collaboration between the University of Sarajevo and Transparency International BiH

Press releases ● 18 January 2013

at which it was discussed about activities of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Sarajevo and Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH). The meeting was attended by representatives of Transparency International BiH: Mr. Emir Đikić, Chairman of the Board of Directors,  Ms. Ivana Korajlić, head of the program, and members of the management of the University: PH.D.Muharem Avdispahić, rector and PH.D. Ugo Vlaisavljević, and provosts, PH.D. Faruk Mekić and Ph.D.Dženan Đonlagić.

Memorandum of Understanding between University of Sarajevo and Transparency International BiH was signed on 22^nd September 2011. The Memorandum defines the mechanisms and modes of collaboration in the field of prevention and fight against corruption and assurance of the integrity and quality in higher education. On 27^thDecember 2012. the Senate of the University of Sarajevo at the session held adopted document of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science under the name ‘’ Program of Measures for Prevention of Corruption in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’’. Also, Transparency International took part in the drafting of this document.

At the meeting, it was also discussed about the next steps of cooperation in proposing and adopting of the acts relating to the prevention of corruption and principals of the work of ethics committees at public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Decline of Transparency in Public Procurement in BiH

Press releases ● 26 December 2012

Banja Luka, 26^th December 2012. – Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has issued a report on Monitoring of the Implementation of the Law on Public Procurement, within the activities of monitoring the implementation of Anti-Corruption Reforms in BiH conducted in collaboration with the Open Society Fund (OSF).

The Monitoring findings have indicated the lack of transparency in public procurement because open participation in the overall procurement fell from about 91% in 2008, to 37% in 2011. This is primarily due to amendments to the Law on Public Procurement in 2009 which has raised the limit for direct agreements and led to a reduction of the number of public procurement conducted in open bidding procedures.

The abuses in the implementation of the Law have been caused by the arbitrary interpretation of regulations, poor coordination between the institutions at all levels, and lack of accountability of individuals in all major segments of corruption prevention in this area. The price of tender documentation or the way of its acquiring from the very start discourage some providers of goods, services or work, while during the preparation of the documentation some specific criteria have been defined  which favor certain bidders.

Adequate supervision of the public procurement process has not been established yet by the Public Procurement Agency and the Procurement Review Body, and there are no consequences for non-transparent and illegal procurement. Termination of proceedings for almost 80% of decisions on complaints of bidder does not end in their favor, but they are ended mostly by irregular canceling of procurement by contraction authorities. So far a single bidder has not been reimbursed.

There is no an adequate response from the judiciary – delay in passing judgments makes them irrelevant, because it is impossible to correct an irregular procurement process after two or three years, and numerous reports of the Audit  Services indicating irregularities in the implementation of public procurement procedures have not resulted in adequate investigations.

On top of all the above, instead of adopting a new law on public procurement, which would enhance oversight and allow more effective control, political parties, have sent to the Council of Ministers a proposal to increase taxes for appeals (from the 500KM to a whopping 25,000KM, depending on the value of procurement). Such proposed costs of the appeal would represent tremendous disincentive discrimination of aggrieved bidders in procurement process, and would send a dangerous message to the business world and to the citizens that any attempt to combat irregularities and corruption in public procurement and countering financial oligarchs, who often receive and supply contracts, is a losing battle.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Captured by the Interests of Six Individuals

Press releases ● 14 December 2012

The act of amending very important laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as the Election Law, the Law on Conflict of Interest, the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the Law on Civil Service etc. by the agreement of just six people, under urgent amendment procedure and without any public debate, represents dictatorial and undemocratic act of the ruling parties.

Political parties in power, and their six leaders, hereby try and officially confirm that they have absolute control over all processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, positioning themselves above the legislation, and by the amendments to the Law on Civil Service and the Law on Conflict of Interests they additionally verify their power as well as the complete immunity to sanctions for violating the law.

Such behavior of the political parties, and the fact that none of the authorized institutions on which the implementation of these laws would have devastating effects have not reacted, show  that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a democratic country, but the state captured by the six individuals.

In the next few days, signatories of the statement shall send their open letter regarding the amendments to the laws to the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of their efforts to hide the amendments to the laws from public insight. At the same time, we are taking the opportunity to invite all other civil society groups to oppose the destruction of the legal framework and parliamentary democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Signatories of the statement:

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina

Centers for Civic Initiatives

Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina

UG Why not?

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights RS

Center for the Promotion of Civil Society

The European Research Center