PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

TI BiH Filed a Complaint Against Narodna stranka Radom za boljitak

Press releases ● 12 September 2012

Banja Luka, 12^th September 2012 –

Federation Ministry of Agriculture has launched campaign ,,Buy Domestic’’, which is financed from the budget of FBiH and used to promote Jerko Ivankovic- Lijanovic  and political party which he belongs to, at the very beginning of the election campaign. Hereby, the Law on Financing of Political Parties in BiH, by which it is prohibited financing from the budget or state authorities, has clearly been violated.

This campaign is another example of the misuse of public institutions and the budget for party promotion and collecting votes.

TI BiH urges the Central Election Party to sharply punish such abuses and calls to liability the leaders of People’s Party Work for Progress, especially bearing in mind that ,according to the media reports , for this campaign has been spent 330,000 €. TI BiH reminds that such practice is becoming more common in BiH because of the fact that the parties and their representatives are not being punished for law violations.

Only 2,4% of Anti-Corruption Measures have been Fulfiled

Press releases ● 08 September 2012

Banja Luka, 8th September 2012.– Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina has published the forth periodic report on the monitoring of implementation of Anti-Corruption Strategy for BiH (2009-2014). Monitoring results show that after almoust three years from the Strategy adoption, out of the total  number of predicted measures (81), only 2 were fully implemented, 32  partly implemented, while 47 measures (nearly 60%) were not implemented at all.

The dynamic of the Strategy implementation, and the fact that the funds for the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and coordination of the fight against corruption were provided with a delay  of two years, show there was no true will for its implementation that since the adoption of the Strategy  . However, although the founds have been finally approved by the budget of BiH institutions for 2012, planned number of employees has been reduced from 45 to 29, and its staff training has not started yet. On the one hand, BiH has been burdened by its heavy civil service administration , which is one of the reasons of high corruption level, while on the other hand it skimps on human resource for the most important anti-corruption body.

Hindering the work of the Agency has blocked implementation of other activities envisaged by the Strategy, and other institutions responsible for implementation of the Strategy, including the Council of Ministers, showed no initiative in the implementation of the measures, such as the modernization of public administration, protection of whistleblowers, staff training, improving procedures of  confiscation of illegally acquired assets, improving investigation for more efficient prosecution of corruption, etc.

Although some institutions have adopted their own anti-corruption plans, as it is envisioned by the Strategy, it was done on their own initiative, not under strategic guidance of the Agency, which clearly describes the attitude and approach to implementation of this important document.

Once they have finally fulfilled conditions for the commencement of the work of the Agency for the Fight against Corruption, the following essential steps will be to ensuring its integrity and independence, and then taking immediate and decisive actions on the implementation of the Strategy. Therefore, TI BiH appeals to all BiH institutions responsible for the implementation of the Strategy, to ensure smooth operation of the Agency, in particular to the Council of ministers whose indolence resulted in losing two years of work and questioned the overall implementation of the Strategy.

Increasing Number of Reports on Corruption

Press releases ● 04 September 2012

Banja Luka, 4th September 2012 – During the period from the 1st January to the 30th June 2012 Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) of Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina has received 112 civil complaints on the work of state authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is 35% more than last year. The highest number of reported cases, during this period, is related to the public administration sector (12%), followed by property rights (10.7%), education and access to information (9%) conflict of interest, and construction ⁄ public works.

As well as in the past two years, most of the reports in all areas were related to the irregularities and abuses in employment, where the apparent bias in the selection of candidates for various positions was noticed. The highest number of reports, even ten, refers to irregularities in conduction of competition for civil servants at all levels of the government, and employment of the staff in public enterprises and institutions. Also, three reports on irregular undergoing of appointments at all levels were received.  On the other hand, there were cases where the conditions for competitions were adjusted to pre-selected candidates.

It was noticed that the authorities do not inform people who have not passed the competitive hiring process, so that they do not provide a legal remedy in statutory time limit, during which it is possible to realize legal protection of their rights, and it is impossible to find out the criteria by which an applicant was appointed to the civil service and whether the same can satisfy conditions of the competition. In one of these cases, after a month of requesting the information, TI BiH received a response from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management that the evaluation of the candidates in the interviews was carried out in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, which was not available anywhere and that “the score given by each individual member of the committee is a secret“, which certainly leaves space for arbitrary evaluation.

TI BiH has continued focusing on conflicts of interest at various levels of government. Apart from keeping track on the 7 cases launched in 2012, in the first half of 2012 two new allegations on conflict of interest were submitted and forwarded to the Central Election Commission.  However, after submitting these reports, it is very difficult to get information on the actions taken in determining the existence of conflicts of interest. Therefore, TI BiH filed a complaint for not allowing insight into the case and  for exclusion of information in the case of determining conflict of interest of Nermin Niksic, for whom TI BiH was the one who filed a complaint to the Central Election Commission of BiH because the Prime Minister of FBiH signed a decree about appointing his brother to the position of Acting Executive Director of the public company ’’Federation Highways’’.

In Republic of Srpska, acting on a complaint by Transparency International BiH, RS Supreme Court has established the existence of conflict of interest in the case of Zvornik Municipal Assembly member, and ordered the Republic Commission for determining conflict of interest in institutions of RS to reopen the procedure, determine the existence of conflict of interest and to impose corresponding sanctions. These sanctions have not been implemented towards the elected official.

Despite the increase in the number of complaints is noticeable, citizens requests are still being visibly ignored by the institutions, for which citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina address TI BiH, asking t for help in dealing with public institutions. An increasing number of received complaints indicates to the greater willingness of citizens to fight for their rights and oppose corruption, which is one of the main prerequisites for holding the government accountable to citizens, and TI BiH again invites all of those who were witnesses or victims of corruption to report all irregularities to the institutions or through the toll-free phone line 0800 55555.

Collegium of House of Representatives violated parliamentary procedures

Press releases ● 28 June 2012

By introducing the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of BiH (first reading) on the agenda of BiH Parliament House of Representatives and not disclosing its content or authorized proponent, the Members of the Collegium violated the procedure seriously and threatened to cause total legal uncertainty with immeasurable consequences.

Namely, the agenda that was submitted to the Representatives of BiH Parliament House of Representatives, under the item 5 mentioned discussion on the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of BiH (first reading), without disclosing the date and the number of the protocol, which is a common practice in parliamentary procedure.

BiH Parliament House of Representatives Collegium committed a serious violation of parliamentary procedure by putting non-exiting act up for discussion , which is unprecedented in democratic practice.

Once again, these actions clearly demonstrate that certain political parties are capable of violating the legal norms in institutions of BiH in order to achieve their own interest- in this case the complete abolition of conflict of interest in BiH.

Therefore, TI BiH invites the Legislative Committee and all representatives of the House of representatives to prevent such illegal act committed by the Collegium, and to return the whole process of making legislation to the legal and transparent procedures prescribed by the Rules of Procedures. The Representatives of BiH Parliament House of Representatives should immediately stop the tyranny and arbitrary interpretation of the regulations of the Collegium members, who have lately taken upon themselves a role that does not belong to them and which is often contrary to the procedural regulations.

Otherwise, there is concern of complete legal anarchy that could lead to a situation in which the contents of laawa, will be known only after adoption, even to the lawmakers in the highest legislative body, because adaption of laws in this  way becomes totally non-transparent and prevents access to the process of their adoption.

TI BiH has Appealed to the Constitutional Commission to Reject Amendments to the Law on Financing Political Parties

Press releases ● 01 June 2012

Banja Luka 01 June 2012 – Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has appealed to the Constitutional Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly to reject the amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Parties, considering the fact that by making changes to the Law in parliamentary procedure the rules for drafting legislation have been violated.

TI BiH has already warned that the Interdepartmental Working Group for amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Parties has violated the Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which dictate that the amendments to legislation should not exceed half of the content of the Act. Namely, in the case of the Law on Financing Political Parties 16 out of 29 Acts of the currently applicable law has been amended, accounting for 60% of the content. In this way, the members of the Interdepartmental Working Group have not only circumvented the rules and procedures, they have also acted contrary to the mandate entrusted by the Parliamentary Assembly.

It should be remarked that the proposed amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Parties, which include raising the limit on donations to parties and legalization of certain revenue sources that have so far been restricted, while at the same time the recommendations of international institutions to increase transparency and control over the use of funds have not been followed, strive to enable the  additional benefit to political parties as well as influence of the donor on the parties’ activities.

Therefore, the TI BiH hopes that the Constitutional Committee will recognize clear violation of the procedures as well as the adversity of the proposed solutions, and during amendment review process (4^th July 2012.) will reject the amendments to the Law on Financing Political Parties. Otherwise, it will leave the possibility for abusing similar procedures in the future, which may result in a complete collapse of the legal framework.

[:bs]TI BiH na konsultacijama sa Evropskom komisijom ukazao na nazadovanje BiH u antikorupcijskim reformama

Press releases ● 25 May 2012

Inter-sectorial working group violated the Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting

Press releases ● 17 May 2012

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) referred to the Constitutional Commission of the House of People Parliamentary Assembly a reaction on the occasion of amendments to the Law on conflict of Interest in the BiH Institutions and the Law on Financing of Political Parties of BiH, which was compiled by the Interdepartmental Working Group.

In drafting of amendments to the aforementioned laws, members of the Inter-sectorial working group did not abide by the Uniform Rules of Legislative Drafting in BiH Institutions, which dictate that amendments to legislation must not exceed half the contents of the act. Namely, in the case of the Law on conflict of Interest and the Law on Financing of Political Parties of BiH these rules were not respected-in the Law on Conflict of Interest 16 out of 22 articles have been changed, which in general represent a change of 73 percent of the Law, and in the Law on Financing of Political Parties of BiH 16 out of currently existing 29 articles have been changed, representing 60 percent of the content of the Act.

By referring to the parliamentary procedure of the new legislative drafts under the auspice of the amendments, although it presents a change of nearly 80 percent of the applicable law provision, the Uniform Rules of Legislative Drafting are not only violated, also the members of the Interdepartmental Working Group acted contrary to the mandate entrusted to them by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

Since the adoption of such proposed amendments to the law presents a violation of basic law drafting procedures, TI BiH invited the Chairman and the members of the Legal Constitutional Committee of the House of People of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to abandon the established laws and to put the whole process back to the legitimate and legal framework of the Uniform Rules of Legislative Drafting.

Unscrupulous derogation of the Legal Framework for Prevention of Conflict of Interest has been Continued

Press releases ● 26 April 2012

Sarajevo, 26^th April 2012. – Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established at the session by Interdepartmental Working Group on Tuesday, 24^th April, have not only made that act completely irrelevant and pointless, but  they are definitely trying to legalize crime and corruption of elected and appointed officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On the earlier session at the beginning of April on Jahorina, members of the Interdepartmental Working Group under defined solutions voted for the provisions of the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of BiH that would fully exclude advisers, significantly reduce the number of close relatives of elected officials on whom these provisions will be implemented, terminate sanction of candidacy, although the court has ruled that it is not inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Civil Liberties, and have not been replaced by other appropriate sanction. Subsequently, new corrections have made the conflict of interest and its prevention completely ruined and pointless.

Therefore, on the session of the Interdepartmental Working Group a precedent has been made, and with later intervention, proposed by member Nermina Zaimović – Uzunović from SDP, from  already established Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of BiH it has been excluded provision on exemption of incompatibility of public office and elected appointed officials referring to the simultaneously conducting positions of Chairmen of public and other facilities. The proposal of the member Zaimović – Uzunović to introduce the provision which would provide amnesty to those who have already been sanctioned by prohibition of nomination because of conflict of interest, clearly indicates that the elected officials instead of fighting crime and corruption turned to their introduction in the legal institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If the Constitutional Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly accepts the Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in the Governmental Institutions of BiH, that Parliamentary body which should protect the Constitution of Bosnia and legality will be directed to their collapse. Considering that  the solutions determined by the Interdepartmental Working Group contain more than 50 percent of substantial changes to the current Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental  Institutions of BiH, in no case it can be seen as the work on amendments to the existing law, but represents making of entirely new piece of legislation which is not The Interdepartmental Working Group’s  mandate.

Therefore, if the Constitutional Committee gives a positive report and support the principles of established solutions, their members would with their vote suspend legality and constitutionality of the adoption of legislation by the Parliamentary Assembly. The same applies to the amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Parties  in BiH established by the Interdepartmental Working Group, which contain more than 75 percent of the valid modification of the legal act. These legal solutions established by the Interdepartmental Working Group are fully  in the service of the protection of elected and appointed officials from accountability and the fight to legalize such a situation.

Every Forth Student has had personal experience with corruption

Press releases ● 11 April 2012

Banja Luka, 11^th April 2012. –Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) has presented a study on the Corruption Perception Research in Higher Educationin BiH, as well as the familiarity of university personel with anti-corruption legislation in higher education. The aim of the research has been to gather attitudes about the the level of corruption in higher education in BiH, in which area it occurs, how it manifests, and ways of fighting against corruption and preventing it. The survey was conducted in all university centers throughout BiH, and has also included both private and public universities.

The study showed significant differences in attitudes between university professors and students. While most students see corruption as a widespread phenomenon, and even as the dominant characteristic of universities, university personnel deny or relativize the true extent of corruption.

The results indicate on a devastating fact that almost every forth student has got personal encounter with corruption- has paid for positive grades or it has been requested for him to somehow pay for it.  On the other side, students, as the most widespread forms of corruption at their universities, consider: giving/receiving positive grades for money or some other compensation (45%), conditioning exam taking by purchasing books (15%),  when teachers and other personnel  “push” their children through the study (they provide vertical mobility) (6%), every form of receiving undeserved grades (7%).

On the other side, the personnel have expressed more concern about the unmerited promotion of professors and violation of the prescribed rules in the educational process.

According to students’ conviction, these processes are most convenient for corruption to occur: taking exams in private (no witnesses), usually held in cabinets, oral examination, failure to follow scheduled test dates and informal gatherings of students with professors and professor assistants, and developing inappropriate relationships.

Both students and university personnel mainly consider that corruption is equally the fault of professors and students at the universities. However, for inefficiency in combating corruption, students blame the ministries of education and judicial authorities, while on the other side university personnel put greater responsibility  on the management structure of the university.

There are differences in attitudes on the damaging effects of corruption on knowledge quality and obtained diplomas. While the majority of students (36,6%) consider that knowledge quality is  jeopardized, and that most of diplomas are obtained without adequate knowledge, the majority of professors feel that corruption has no major impact on the level of knowledge and diplomas.

Particularly worrying is the readiness of students (46%) to resort to corruption when they do not have other way to pass the exam. At the same time, the willingness of professors and students to engage themselves in anti-corruption actions still mostly come down to the level of writing anonymous reports.

When it comes to anti-corruption measures, generally, students and personnel prefer taking strict, repressive measures and count on deterred effect of stricter penalties, passing stricter laws, as well as consistent and effective prosecution of offenders.

Research on awareness of employees at universities of anti-corruption legislation has demonstrated a high degree of ignorance of the specific regulations relating to corruption in higher education, and that vast majority of employees have not been familiar with whether the implementation of anti corruption measures are conducted at their universities or not, and on what degree is their application. According to the response of employees, the reasons for this situation is, the lack of interest in preventing corruption in academic area (8.2%), inefficient systems and resources to put into practice the application of regulations (5.1%), confusion due to unregulated legislation of relations between state and entity and canton (4.3%), general social crisis (3.9%) or the fact that university management does not perceive certain actions as corruption (2%).

All of the above results indicate that there is still no systematic approach to the fight against corruption at universities, and that it is based on the will of individuals to cope with this phenomenon. This is the reason why the conducted research will be used as the base for further activities by TI BiH in the area of prevention of corruption in higher education. Above all, they present the knowledge which will be used in creation anti-corruption plans, which public universities committed to adopt.

Presentation of Research on Corruption in Higher Education

Announcements ● 09 April 2012

Banja Luka, 9th April 2012.- Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) is organising a press conference in order to present the results of Corruption Perception Research in Higher Educationin BiH, as well as the familiarity of university personel with anti-corruption legislation in higher education.

The aim of the research has been to gather attitudes about the extent of the level of corruption in higher education in BiH, in which areas does it occur, how it manifests, and ways of fighting against corruption and preventing it.

The conducted studies represent the base for further activities of TI BiH in the area of prevention of corruption in higher education.  Above all, they present the knowledge which will be used in creation of anti-corruption plans, which six public universities have committed to adopt.

The press conference, and the research presentation, will be held on Wednesday, 11^th April 2012. at 11.00 am in Banja Luka in the Hotel Bosna.

The Interdepartmental Working Group Virtually Abolished the Law on Conflict of Interest

Press releases ● 04 April 2012

Banja Luka, 4th April 2012. – The Proposal to the framework of the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to exempt advisers and to narrow the circle of close relatives of elected officials, to whom its provisions refer, is the crudest attempt to destroy legislation making it completely pointless.

Instead of introducing the principles of accountability to the elected officials these solutions want to ensure that in the future they would not be responsible for any violation of the Law , especially when it comes to their close relatives, even though in current practice of the Law has been determined that many officials were penalized because the officials used their close relatives for illegal self-enrichment.

At the same time, the amendment to the definition of the public companies has been proposed, considering by it only those which have more than 50% of the state capital, and the legal limit on contracts for personal services of public officials has been shifted from 5,000 to 20,000 KM per year, is an additional indication that public officials seek to expand opportunities for the acquisition of additional benefits through the abuse of public office in which they are located.

It is evident that the representatives of SNSD, HDZ and SDP BiH joined a coalition that aims at complete collapse of the conflict of interest and state institutions, putting the individual and party interests ahead of the interests of the public and the state, with the sole aim to provide an additional benefit for public officials and complete amnesty for the conflict of interest.

When we add the fact that representatives of SNSD, HDZ BiH, and SDP BiH with the support of the Chairman of  CEC BiH advocate not only the abolition of sanctions prohibiting candidacy, but also any possible idea relating to clear prescription of keeping the mandate of elected officials, and opposition to provisions that clearly define dismissal of appointed officials because of violations of the Law on Conflict in Governmental Institutions of BiH, it is clear that if this amendment is adopted the Law will lose its purpose completely, and on that grounds it could be set aside.

Due to the alarming amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Institutions in BiH that Interdepartmental Working Group adopted by the majority of vote of the representatives of political parties and Chairman of the CEC BiH, Transparency International BiH calls public, representatives of the media and civil society, the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Europe, especially Venice Commission and the Group of States against corruption (GRECO), as well as representatives of other international organizations and embassies, to immediately respond  and prevent adoption of controversial legislation in the parliament. If the public does not rebel against such open attempts to misuse and abuse the system of state institutions and budgets, it can expect the domination and complete arbitrariness of public officials causing huge damage to the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By Protecting the Interests of Political Parties Legislators Allow Abuse

Press releases ● 29 March 2012

Banja Luka, 29^th March 2012 – Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), in collaboration with the Open Society Fund, has published the Report on Monitoring the Financing of Political Parties in BiH for 2010 and 2011, which points to a number of deficiencies in the legal framework which regulates this area and its application, and to complete lack of willingness of legislators to improve the accountability and transparency of political parties.

The legal framework itself leaves great opportunities for abuses by political parties:

–        Nothing prevents circulation of unaccounted money flows, because there are no provisions obliging the use of single bank accounts.

–        There is no obligation to publish financial reports of the parties, which reduces access to their financing.

–        The legal framework fails to show the full picture of the financial movements relating to the political parties, because it contains no rules or restrictions related to expenses of political parties.

–        The Central Election Commission has limited capacity and jurisdiction, and it is not responsible for the audit of costs, nor does it have enough human resources to implement effective audit.

–        Low fines do not motivate the enforcement of regulations and, in some cases, such as the financing of campaigns, it ‘’pays off’’ to break the law.

Although, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Parties has been formed, the activities in the field of the amendments to the law have been directed towards its weakening, and providing more opportunities for inappropriate influence on the activities of political parties, to which public has already been warned by TI BiH. On the other side, the lack of consensus within the Interdepartmental Working Group and suggestions of its members, have shown that their top priority is to preserve the interests of political parties, ignoring recommendations submitted by the TI BiH, the OSCE and Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), which would enable stronger supervision and greater transparency in financing of political parties. Even though international institutions have warned that the funding of the political parties must be done more transparently, and that there must be control over the funds received from the budget, the proposals have been ignored by the Working Group while trying to increase the limits on donations to parties, and legalize certain sources of income, which have been illegal until now.

This weak legal framework, as well as numerous abuses, which have been pointed out in the Monitoring results, that remained unpunished, suggest that the present legislation, having in mind that it does not motivate at all the political parties to comply by the Law and be liable for funds which are at their disposal, lose their meaning and only exist in order to satisfy the form. Unless we do not adopt international standards to strengthen the supervision of financing of political parties, and do not use opportunity to improve the legal framework, the political parties will have full legitimacy in the evasion of the Law, which would in that case be redundant.

[:bs]Neodgovornost i netransparentnost u izmjenama Izbornog zakona

Press releases ● 27 March 2012

Corruption in employment is still the most common

Press releases ● 20 March 2012

Banja Luka, 20. March 2012 – During 2011 the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre of Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina  (TI BiH) received 1097 calls through an open free line for reporting the cases of corruption (0800 55555), as well as by post or electronically. Based on these reports, TI BiH has initiated 197 cases towards various institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, seeking to secure citizen rights, and to point on individual cases of corruption.

Comparing the different sectors, the largest number of complaints was related to irregularities in the field of public administration (17%), followed by judiciary (13%), property rights (8%), the field of civil engineering and urban planning (7%) and a large number of complaints (11%) relates to the denial of access to information by public institutions.

Analyzing the nature of cases in these areas, it is evident that most complaints, both in government sector and in other sectors, were related to the employment process, where citizens commonly reported irregularly conducted vacancies for civil servants at all levels of government and also irregular appointments for various functions. This practice escalated in cases of nepotism at the highest levels of government and an open distribution of the most responsible positions in institutions through inter-party agreements, which suggest that nepotism and clientelism are key mechanisms for advancement and the most common way to obtain a position in BiH institutions.

When it comes to judiciary, citizens are most commonly complaining about long processes at courts, but here there were also reports related to corruption in judiciary, and to violation of procedures by judges. On the other hand, TI BiH also received 6 files related to the prosecutors’ offices, mostly complaining that the prosecutor’s offices did not react upon citizens’ reports.

Based on the above mentioned repots, TI BiH acted towards relevant institutions on various levels of government in BiH. However, the prosecution of corruption cases is on a very unsatisfactory level in BiH, and more importantly judiciary is sometimes clearly ignoring corruption cases, while there are increasing pressures on the work of judiciary, which was also shown through the initiative to abolish judiciary institutions at the state level.

On the other hand, public institutions refuse to undertake measures for determining responsibility in their own ranks, and a further obstacle is the slow administration, as well as the trend of ignoring or disrespecting verdicts, even by state institutions. For this reason citizens need sometimes to wait several years in order to see epilogues of their cases.

An encouraging fact is that citizens are more and more willing to report corruption, and that among these reports the number of whistleblowers or persons who reported irregularities in the institutions in which they are themselves employed, is increasing steadily. However, there still remains a lack of mechanisms to protect whistleblowers, which discourages citizens to report corruption, as they fear for possible consequences. At the same time, another encouraging fact is the increased interest of media for corruption, where journalists often turn to TI BiH for legal advice in the field of free access of information. Through this collaboration, TI BiH, in cooperation with the media, managed to obtain and publish very important documents and contracts related to the expenditure of public funds and public – private partnership, which certainly helps in strengthening the oversight of the government.

TI BiH hopes that this practice will continue in the future and once again calls upon all who were witnesses or victims of corruption to report any irregularities to institutions or through the free line 0800 55555.

Glas Srpske demonstrated that they do not care for court decisions, nor for the truth

Press releases ● 16 March 2012

Banja Luka, 16. March 2012 – After the Glas Srpske published in June 2008 a series of articles that directly attempted to discredit the work of Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina, accusing the representatives of this organization that they were involved in crime and racketeering businessmen, TI BiH has filed a lawsuit against this newspaper for defamation.
The lawsuit resulted in the first instance judgment of the Municipal Court in Banja Luka, which clearly stated that the allegations of Glas Srpske were untrue and without any evidence. The court also stated that the false allegations of Glas Srpske may affect public opinion and distort the reputation of the employees of TI BiH.

Only seven days after the judgment, Glas Srpske again made the same allegations, clearly not caring for any decision of the Court, nor for the veracity of the information given to the public. Specifically, in the issue from 15.03.2012, in the article “Suicide of the owner of the gas stations Parma trend”, Glas Srpske again makes statement about TI BIH as a group of racketeers who were blackmailing the owner of Parma trend. This time, Glas Srpske went even further, considering that they are unscrupulously using a family tragedy to attack and discredit an organization that invests all its efforts in the fight against corruption.

The editorial policy of Glas Srpske is a clear indicator that in the Republika Srpska there is still no respect of the principles of objective journalism, nor for the Press Codex, while at the same time these reports violate basic human rights through organized campaigns against individuals and organizations. Given the fact that Nezavisne Novine also published the allegations from Glas Srpske, TI BIH is afraid of the same campaign which led in 2008 to a public lynch of this organization, which forced TI BIH to close its office for a while, fearing for the safety of its employees.

In the judgment of the Municipal Court it is stated that by spreading information which have no evidence and which are indicating someone as a criminal group, “mass media cannot take the role of courts”. The management and the editors of Glas Srpske obviously decided to be above courts, and to judge others, without allowing to be judged.

Political parties in power openly violate laws

Press releases ● 13 January 2012

Banja Luka, January 13, 2012- Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) believes that the arrangements and the distribution of positions in state agencies on party lines is illegal, and that institutions should be independent and not to be apportioned between the political parties themselves.

The media published news that political parties have already divided the key functions among themselves in institutions such as the Central Election Commission, the Agency for corruption prevention and the fight against corruption, Agency for Higher Education and Quality Assurance, Audit, Procurement review body etc.

TI BiH reminds that among the above mentioned agencies are institutions which are implementing key anti-corruption laws, which means that they must be totally free from political control, and that their independence is guaranteed by law.

Although it is now clear that many of these institutions are under the political control of parties in power, such public distribution of functions is clearly showing that parties primarily do not want to enable their unobstructed functioning, while on the other side they do not care about the laws that they are making. Such behavior of political parties destroys the democratic system and prevents the supervision of the government, given the fact that the institutions responsible for it are put under party control. What represents a serious issue of concern is that laws are violated publicly and openly, while at the same time there is an absence of reaction by the institutions and the public.

TI BiH, therefore, appeals to the Parliament, as well as to the representatives from the above mentioned institutions to try to prevent this open attack on the institutional system, and to enable a transparent selection of heads of institutions in the manner which is proscribed by law.