THE AUTHORITARIAN REGIME IN RS IS ON A DANGEROUS ROAD – THE CONTINUATION OF THE LEGALIZATION OF REPRESSION

Banja Luka, April 1, 2024 – The Government of the Republika Srpska established in complete secrecy the Proposal for the Law on the Special Register and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations and referred it for further adoption in the NSRS, once again violating the legislative rules and procedures. Namely, this information was confirmed to the media only after an inquiry, and conflicting information was communicated about the session at which the Proposal was allegedly determined.

In the end, the Government announced to the media that it was decision was made at the session held on March 21, 2024, right before the expiration of the 6-month deadline that the Government had to submit this law in the form of a proposal. However, in the announced agenda of said session the adoption of this Proposal is not mentioned, neither it is mentioned in the published information of the Government after the session ended, which casts doubt on the very method of determining the Proposal.

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all relevant international and domestic organizations, previously warned about the harm and consequences of the adoption of this Law, which directly targets associations that are financed from abroad, that is, those that are not under the control of local authorities and limits their field of action. Nevertheless, the Government of the RS completely ignored all warnings, and the Law, which drastically encroaches on basic human rights, is sent to the procedure only a few days after the European Union gave its consent to the opening of negotiations for BiH, emphasizing the freedom of action of civil society as one of the key priorities that BiH must fulfill in order to officially start negotiations with the EU. At the same time, NSRS hypocritically adopted formal conclusions that are calling for the “acceleration of the European path”, adopting laws that are in complete contradiction to that same European path at the same time.

TI BiH notes that the text of the Proposal itself is not yet available to the public, as well as the official record from the session where it was allegedly determined. With this, the authorities in the RS continue the trend of establishing complete control over freedom of speech and the activities of civil society, moving in the direction of stifling any form of criticism, proposing, and adopting legal solutions without any regard for public reactions, through fake procedures of public hearings and passing laws.

TI BiH calls on the representatives in the NSRS to use the last chance and reject this proposal by voting against the law, which is not only the result of problematic procedures and endangers the proclaimed “European path”, but, most importantly, directly violates the basic human rights and freedoms of citizens in the Republic of Srpska, which the regime in the RS continues to side itself among sinister repressive and authoritarian regimes that openly persecute dissenters.