Presidents of all 12 parties of the Croat People's Assembly (HNS) of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a letter today to the public and relevant representatives of the international community, in which they point out that these days we are witnessing "extremely aggressive and deeply worrying rhetoric by the Bosniak political leadership regarding the announcements of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) on amendments to the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Election Law".
- We expect that the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina U 23/14 will be implemented, thereby stopping the gross violation of the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law. The system of parity and power-sharing among representatives of the constituent peoples and all other citizens under the Washington Agreement and the Dayton Agreement is the basis of the political stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We hold that freedom of speech is a fundamental human and democratic right of every individual. However, we are concerned about the alarming amount of extremism and hate speech spread by certain Bosniak political leaders, well-coordinated groups on social media, but unfortunately also by certain media representatives. Calls for violent protests and conflicts must not be tolerated. We express concern over possible violent protests, especially bearing in mind the increasingly frequent attacks on Croat returnees and their symbols in Central Bosnia and other mixed areas.
Militaristic statements are annulling the democracy promotion as well as peacebuilding and state-building process in Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved thus far in the interest of all its constituent peoples, minorities, and all citizens.
We have been facing various forms of threats and incidents for years. Therefore, we believe that the time has come to firmly condemn hate speech that members of the Croat constituent people and political officials have been exposed to over the past several weeks.
Namely, hate speech and existing threats are explicit and made public, as well as directed toward the international community, whose actions are obviously intended to be discouraged with the aim of continuing political domination by the representatives of the largest Bosniak constituent people to the detriment of less numerous and minority communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would ultimately abolish the plurinational diversity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We believe that you share with us the vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a successful country, a future member state of the European Union, a country of equal constituent peoples and all citizens, as per the example of modern European countries with federal arrangements. As in certain European countries, the principles of power-sharing and parity are instruments that guarantee unity, cohesion and the assumptions of unified action in the achievement of common goals and prosperity in the interest of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Unfortunately, such a vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina is clearly under threat today. By boycotting changes to the electoral legislation and threatening security, today more than ever, the public opinion is proving that the future, as well as political and civil rights of Croats as the least numerous constituent people, are at risk. The same applies to all minority communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are not allowed to equally participate in political life.
It is particularly concerning that parties and individuals who self-declaratively protect the so-called civic rights are also the loudest ones in the open call for violence and anti-constitutional behaviour on a daily basis. The impression that one gets is already proving itself to be true – their intention is to heist the seats that belong to the Croat constituent people and others in the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as determined by the constitution. This is modelled after the usurpations in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which threaten us now as well.
In contrast, we believe that all political systems should take into account the political demands of all nations and be an expression of general consensus in divided societies such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hegemony, hate speech and violence must have no place in daily politics.
Lastly, we believe that we can count on the cooperation with all key actors of the international community with the aim of reducing tensions, preventing violence, protecting against unconstitutional unitarist hegemony and militant nationalism that disrupts the public opinion, deepens inter-ethnic divisions, and threatens the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is concluded in a letter signed by the presidents of all parties that are members of the HNS.
