ANNUAL REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 5
II SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 8
III STATISTICS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA IN 2019 ................................................................................ 15
IV CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS .................................................................................... 17
4.1. Free access to information.................................................................................................. 18
4.1.1. Legislation.................................................................................................................... 18
4.1.2. Legislative amendment initiatives ............................................................................... 19
4.1.3. Complaints lodged to the Ombudsman ....................................................................... 20
4.1.4. Special report on experiences in implementation of the Law on Free Access to
Information in Bosnia and Herzegovina ................................................................................ 23
4.2. Property relations ............................................................................................................... 24
4.3. Police .................................................................................................................................. 26
4.4. Inspections .......................................................................................................................... 28
4.5. Governmental and ministerial appointments...................................................................... 29
4.6. Migrations and asylum ....................................................................................................... 31
4.7. Public documents ............................................................................................................... 33
4.8. Media and freedom of information .................................................................................... 34
4.9. Free legal aid ...................................................................................................................... 35
4.10. Freedom of assembly ....................................................................................................... 35
V JUDICIARY AND ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................. 38
5.1. Judiciary ............................................................................................................................. 39
5.1.1. Enforcement from public budgets ................................................................................ 40
5.2. High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina ............................... 42
5.3. Prosecutor's offices ............................................................................................................. 43
5.3.1. Actions of the Prosecutor's offices in cases of domestic violence ............................... 44
5.4. Administration .................................................................................................................... 45
5.4.1. The right to an efficient legal remedy .......................................................................... 47
VI ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS........................................................ 48
6.1. Labor relations.................................................................................................................... 49
6.1.1. Severance pay in the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
................................................................................................................................................ 52
6.2. Pensions .............................................................................................................................. 53
6.3. Utilities ............................................................................................................................... 54
6.4. Social protection ................................................................................................................. 55
6.5. Health care.......................................................................................................................... 56
6.6. Education ............................................................................................................................ 58
6.7. Ecology and environmental protection .............................................................................. 60
6.8. Public revenues .................................................................................................................. 61
VII RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED FORM LIBERTY ................................................ 63
7.1. Notion of torture and establishment of a preventive mechanism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
................................................................................................................................................... 63
7.2. Monitoring of the rights of persons deprived from liberty................................................. 64
7.2.1 Special report on the situation in detention facilities in some police administrations in
Bosnia and Herzegovina ........................................................................................................ 65
7.3. Rights of persons deprived of liberty ................................................................................. 66
7.3.1. Health care ................................................................................................................... 66
7.3.2. Accommodation conditions and prison staff ............................................................... 68
7.3.3. Benefits out of the establishments ............................................................................... 70
7.3.4. Prison labor .................................................................................................................. 72
3