Press statement | 05.03.2020

Recommendation for “Justice for David” case

Ombudsmen for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina received several individual complaints from citizens of Banja Luka during 2018 and 2019, as well as members of the informal group Justice for David. The cases were registered with the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina as complaints: Ž-BL-05-12/19, Ž-BL-05-1032/18, Ž-BL-05-1034/18, Ž-BL-05 -7/19, F-BL-05-17/19, F-BL-05-19/19, F-BL-05-20/19, F-BL-05-21/19, F-BL-05 -32/19, F-BL-05-59/19, F-BL-05-70/19, F-BL-05-146/19, F-BL-05-1012/18, F-BL-05 -461/19 and Ž-BL-05-655 /19.

In the appeals in question, the complaints of citizens referred to "violation of the right to assembly, overuse of coercive means by police officers and obstruction of the performance of professional duties of journalists by police officers".

Following the investigation, the Ombudsmen sent Recommendation No. P-15/20 to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska on 5 February 2020. The said recommendation calls on the Ministry of the Interior to:

1. takes into account, in all future actions, international and domestic standards relating to the use of force when exercising police powers;

2. in all future cases, adhere to the opinion of the Ombudsman expressed in this recommendation, that is, when exercising their powers, police officers take care not to interfere with the performance of the professional duties of representatives of any media outlet;

3. Re-examines all decisions taken on public gatherings held on 26 and 30 December 2018;

4. organize, within the framework of their professional development programs for police officers, professional training of police officers in the field of public gathering and treatment of journalists, especially with regard to the importance of prosecuting crimes and offenses committed against journalists;

5. trainings and training should include the exchange of good practices and experiences, and where appropriate with the participation of representatives of international organizations, non-governmental organizations and journalists;

6. provide feedback within 30 days to the Ombudsman Institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the implementation of the recommendation.

A response to the recommendation by the time of this announcement has not been provided.

Useful Links

• Cooperation with NGO
• Office Days of the BiH Ombudsman
• Agreements of the Ombudsperson Institution of BiH with other ombudsman institutions
• Covid-19 and the human rights effect
• Freedom of Access to Information
• ​Marrakech Declaration, 12th October 2018
• Operational Strategy of the Institution of Human rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Period 2023 – 2028
• Medium-Term Plan 2024-2026
• Ombudsman Manual for handling discrimination cases
• Guidelines for filling in the complaints in the area of discrimination
• Application before European Court of Human Rights - Instruction
• The life of an application before the European Court of Human Rights
• News Archive

We are protecting rights of natural persons and legal entities in accordance with the Constitution of BiH and international human rights instruments...
Ombudsmen of BiH

Ombudsman's Activities

Sastanak ombudsmenke dr. Jasminke Džumhur s predstavnicima ambasade Kraljevine Nizozemske

Sastanak ombudsmena dr Nevenka Vranješa s predstavnicom Helsinškog parlamenta građana u Banjaluci

Ombudsmenke na sastanku Posebne grupe za reformu javne uprave

Ombudsmenke razgovarale sa Specijalnim izvjestiocem UN-a za prava na slobodu mirnog okupljanja i udruživanja

Ombudsmenka dr. Jasminka Džumhur na Info sesiji ENNHRI-a

Ombudsmenka dr Jasminka Džumhur na pripremnom sastanku Posebne grupe za reformu javne uprave između EU i BiH

Activities Archive