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SARAJEVO, February 12 (FENA) - The Ombudspersons of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ljubinko Mitrović, Jasminka Džumhur and Nives Jukić welcomed the adoption of amendments to the Law on Road Transport of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which will allow specialized taxi vehicles for persons with disabilities.
Undertaking this activity means the implementation of the recommendation issued by the Ombudsman Institution on 9 December 2019, submitted to the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the FBiH Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton and the Ministry of Transport of the Sarajevo Canton to take concrete measures to ensure the accessibility of public transport to all persons with disabilities, as well as to provide an adequate number public transport vehicles, that is, an adequate number of licenses for carrying out taxi transportation for persons with disabilities, and to include in the process of amending the relevant legislation to bring persons with disabilities into the consultation process, with the aim of better understanding the problems and potential solutions that will, to the greatest extent possible, contribute to improving the position of persons with disabilities.
Acting on the Ombudsman's recommendation is an indication of the commitment of the authorities to cooperate with this Institution, with the aim of preventing human rights violations, strengthening the rule of law, and ensuring the implementation of international human rights standards.
The Ombudsman Institution recalls that the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its Final Considerations since from 2017 expressed concern, inter alia, that: “…there is no comprehensive accessibility strategy or laws with effective sanctions that would be harmonized at all levels, and that most public buildings and institutions, with particular reference to those providing free legal aid, and/or, in particular, services for persons with disabilities, as well as public transport, are not accessible…”
The Ombudspersons point out that, by adopting the aforementioned amendments to the legislation, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will allow accessibility to roads and transportation for persons with disabilities, which is guaranteed by Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, stated the BiH Ombudsman Institution.
(FENA) S. R.
