prijava
SARAJEVO, January 23 (FENA) - The Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR) reminded today of the constitutional right of all constituent and other peoples living in BiH to name their language as they wish.
As noted in a statement for FENA, the OHR has, on number of occasions, reminded the authorities that the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH contains the versions of the Agreement in the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages, each of these being equally authentic.
Accordingly, the OHR emphasizes that the Dayton Peace Agreement recognizes three official languages in BiH - Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian.
“All competent authorities should take into consideration the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH that all constituent peoples and members of other nations living in BiH have the constitutional right to name their language as they wish, and that only such interpretation and application in practice is in accordance with the Constitution of BiH,” said the OHR.
The OHR also added that the entity, cantonal and municipal authorities throughout BiH need to take concrete steps to solve the problem and eliminate segregation of students or the creation of new divisions.
“The same rights that someone wants for themselves where they are minority, should be allowed to others where they are in majority. Those who does not respect other languages, in fact do not respect their own. Diversity is the strength of society and something that should be respected and revered,” it is said in the OHR’s statement.
Schools in Republika Srpska, under the instruction of their education ministry, refuse to put the Bosnian language in the report cards of Bosniak students and instead they continue to use “the language of the Bosniak people”.
Parents' struggle for their rights has been going on for several years now, and the latest example is with the Bosniak students who do not attend their classes in the Primary School "St. Sava" in Liplje near Zvornik.
Their parents are determined not to allow their children to go to school until the issue of the mother tongue is resolved, that is, until the Bosnian language begins to be treated equally and as it is guaranteed by the BiH Constitution.
(FENA) S. R.
