[11/06/07 17:30] Thomas Hammarberg has returned from an official assessment visit in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he focused on the situation of internally displaced people and returnees, the rights of the Roma community and other minorities, the rights of women, children and youth, as well as education.
"The complicated administrative structure presents an obstacle for the realization of the rights of individuals, and those who suffer the consequences are the ordinary people," the Commissioner said while presenting his initial conclusions ." A constitutional reform would therefore be welcome to change this situation, and not least to strengthen the protection of human rights", he underlined.
Mr Hammarberg met Nikola Spiric, Prime Minister of the BiH Council of Ministers, Zeljko Komsic, member of the BiH Presidency, members of the Parliament, state and entity-level government ministers and Ombudsmen, the president of the Constitutional Court, as well as the mayors of Sarajevo, and Banja Luka.
In addition, he held discussions with Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the High Representative and EU Special Representative, and other senior officials from the international community. As part of his programme, the Commissioner also met NGOs, religious leaders and journalists. He visited a refugee reception centre and met with groups of IDPs and refugees.
His report on Bosnia and Herzegovina will be made public in autumn 2007.