Bosnia asked to end discrimination of Roma, Jews

(SARAJEVO) - The head of the Council of Europe asked Bosnia on Monday to propose amendments to its constitution within a month to end the discrimination of its Jewish and Roma minority.

"We want to see a clear, concrete and formal proposal submitted to the Bosnian parliament" before the June 4 meeting of the Council of Europe's ministerial comittee, Thorbjorn Jagland told reporters during his visit to Sarajevo.

He said the draft must be "submitted in advance to Strasbourg to secure that this is a proposal that is in compliance with the judgement" of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Strasbourg-based court condemned Bosnia in December 2009 for barring Jews and Romas from running for high elected office.

The court ruled that the Balkan country was violating provisions of the convention prohibiting discrimination and upheld the right to free elections.

Two plaintiffs in the case, prominent public figures Dervo Sejdic who is of Roma origin and Jakob Finci who is Jewish, filed a suit in 2006 claiming discrimination and a breach of their human rights.

Bosnia's constitution makes a distinction between two categories of citizens: "constituent peoples" -- Bosniaks (Muslims), Croats and Serbs -- and "others" -- Jews, Roma and other minorities.

Posts in the Bosnian parliament and its tripartite presidency are reserved for the three so-called constituent nations under the rules which were intended to prevent ethnic strife in the wake of the 1992-1995 war.

"If new parliamentary elections in 2014 (in Bosnia) are being held on the basis of the current constitution there is no way that the international community recognizes these elections," Jagland warned.

The reform of the constitution is one of the main conditions for Bosnia to obtain EU candidacy status.