Комиссар по правам человека

[24/04/07 13:30] Following meetings in Sarajevo from 20-21 April, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg stated that it would now be possible to reach a final agreement on complaints by Bosnian police officers who have argued that they had been unfairly dismissed by the UN International Police Task Force (IPTF).

After discussions in New York with Security Council members and the UN Secretariat (*), the Commissioner returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for discussions with the associations representing the complaining police officers as well as with members of the BiH government. It is now clear that a tentative proposal by the United Kingdom, presently chairing the Security Council, is fully acceptable to the police officers themselves and the Government.

The IPTF decisions would not be reviewed, but it would be possible for those who were decertified to apply again for positions in the police forces. Strict criteria would be in place during the recruitment procedures in order to guarantee that no one with a criminal or otherwise-unsuitable background would be able to return to the forces. However, those who felt that they had been unfairly banned by IPTF from police work for life would now have a chance to be rehabilitated.

The associations representing the complaining police officers would ideally have preferred an earlier proposal by the Council of Europe's Venice Commission for a review of the original decisions but as this was not possible, they accepted the new proposal without reservations and hope that it would be promptly implemented.

Commissioner Hammarberg held two meetings with the Minister for Human Rights and Refugees, Safet Halilovic, who accepted the proposed approach and presented some technical proposals for its implementation. The Commissioner also had a telephone conference with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nicola Spiric, who underlined his support for the approach of the British Security Council proposal.

(*) Link to press release n° 201 of 2 April 2007