prijava
BANJA LUKA / SARAJEVO, June 23 (FENA) - The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) urgently needs to pass a law and strengthen the legal protection for those who report corruption (whistleblowers), Transparency International (TI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina said today on the occasion of the World Whistleblowing Day which is marked on June 23.
The organization calls on members of the FBiH Parliament and political leaders to pass the law as soon as possible.
“Currently, persons employed in the private or public sector in the FBiH who report corruption do not enjoy adequate legal protection in case that harmful actions are taken against them only because they have pointed out irregularities in the work. The global Transparency International movement reminds all governments around the world that it is necessary to provide special legal protection for whistleblowers so that they and their families do not suffer retaliation after they have decided to report corruption. Currently, only every tenth whistleblower in Bosnia and Herzegovina can use legal protection mechanisms because the current laws do not recognize them because they do not provide sufficiently broad and strong protection,” said Transparency International in a statement.
It is also necessary, in the opinion of this organization, to enact regulations at the level of the Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina in a way that broadens the definition of corruption, protects all persons who report irregularities related to corruption or threats to public health or environmental protection, and to make the process of eliminating harmful actions more efficient. Whistleblowers must be provided with timely protection, immediately upon filing a corruption complaint.
According to global data from Transparency International, in the first six months of this year alone, nearly 2,000 people in 60 countries sought legal support from TI legal aid centers because they reported corruption in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic increased the number of reports related to the health sector, and people usually complained about difficult access to health services and medical equipment, which was partly disrupted by the creation of corrupt networks that used the health crisis to illegally increase profits.
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