prijava
SARAJEVO, December 16 (FENA) - BiH's suspension from the Council of Europe (CoE) for failing to amend discriminatory provisions of the Constitution would be the last measure, and CoE members would rather influence BiH to implement changes through pressure and persuasion, it was highlighted today at the panel organized by Human Rights Watch in Sarajevo.
Clive Baldwin, Senior Legal Advisor for Human Rights Watch and former lawyer for Jacob Finci, said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is capable of enforcing Sejdić and Finci v. BiH case and amending the constitution, which it promised to do when it became a member of the Council of Europe.
"In reality, implementation of the judgment would depend on pressures from outside, from European countries and the US, as well as from pressures from Bosnia and Herzegovina itself," Baldwin said.
He added that a deadline should be set before BiH, perhaps for the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement, when minor or major changes to the constitution should be made.
Azra Zornić recalled that even in her lawsuit against BiH, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the constitution had to be amended, but that there is no political will to make any changes in this matter.
She stressed that it is very simple to adopt an amendment to the Constitution in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, but that representatives from three ruling parties in the Parliament have no interest in the civil constitution.
(FENA) A. B.
