The politics of intimidation and narrowing the space for the work and activities of civil society in the Republic of Srpska continues. Less than 24 hours have passed since yesterday’s announcement by the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, that “the law on non-governmental organizations will be adopted in the RS by March at the latest”, and the Ministry of Justice of RS has published on its website the Draft Law on a Special Register and Transparency of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations.
As in the case of the lack of transparency of the previous draft [1] there is no information about who, when and how participated in the creation of this draft, except that it was prepared this month.
The proposed draft does not differ significantly from previous texts, which civil society organizations have repeatedly pointed out as restrictive and an attack on the independence and autonomy of associations, and ultimately an attempt to completely shut down non-government organizations that monitor and point out government failures.
As a reminder, this is not the first time that the Republic of Srpska authorities have announced these controversial laws.
The government sent the Draft Law on a Special Register and Transparency of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations to the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska in strict secrecy and at dawn at the end of March 2024, just a few days before the legal deadline, but it was later abandoned, without any specific explanation.
We reiterate that the proposed draft law is redundant, that the work of associations and foundations is already regulated by numerous other laws in the Republic of Srpska and BiH, that it is in contradiction with several international conventions to which Bosnia and Herzegovina is a member, that it is contrary to civilizational and democratic achievements and principles, and that its potential adoption could have lasting harmful consequences for civil society not only in the Republic of Srpska, but throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In addition to this controversial draft, other statements by Milorad Dodik, such as the one made at a press conference on Thursday (January 23), that “Republic of Srpska, guided by the practice of large developed countries, will compile its own list of enemies of Republic of Srpska and publish it publicly”, contribute to the policy of intimidation.
With justified concern, we ask the question of who and according to what regulations will identify someone as an enemy, and we believe that such an authoritarian and undemocratic list will target some citizens, activists, human rights defenders, and all those whom the government deems “unsuitable”.
[1] We would like to remind you that the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka and Transparency International in BiH reacted to the lack of transparency in the work of the Government of Republic of Srpska, and that they received rulings in their favor. Namely, the District Court in Banja Luka ruled that the General Secretariat of the Government of Republic of Srpska violated the right to access information. Read more about this ruling at the links: https://hcabl.org/presuda-u-korist-hpg-a-generalni-sekretarijat-vlade-republike-srpske-prekrsio-pravo-na-pristup-informacijama/ i https://ti-bih.org/vlada-rs-nezakonito-krila-zapisnike-sa-sjednica/.
