Transcript of the International Agencies’ Joint Press Conference

OHR, Oleg
Milisic

OSCE, Aida Besic

EUFOR, Tom Ryall

NATO, Dwight Mood

ICMP, Doune Porter

 


OHR


Must See Progress At Hutovo Blato


It is important that today’s talks among the leaders of the BiH and
Entity Institutions in Hutovo Blato show progress. The public is right
to demand progress on a reform that is central to BiH’s European future.


The conditions for EU membership are non-negotiable, and until BiH’s
politicians are prepared to make reforms which meet these conditions BiH’s path
to Europe will remain blocked. 


BiH’s government leaders must face up to the tough decisions required to take
this country forward. If BiH misses the opportunity this year, it will likely
enter into an election year without having reached an agreement on police reform
and so will not be in a position to meet the conditions to open SAA
negotiations. The tough political decisions will just get tougher, and BiH would
likely fall further and further behind its neighbours, some of whom
are already reaping the benefits of investment, job creation and the
softening of visa requirements.


The participants have much work ahead but the OHR believes that agreement in
certain specific areas, for example on a transitional implementation timeline,
the final location of the Police Administration Authority and the SIPA
HQ, training centres and uniforms is within reach.


OHR encourages the participants to continue  negotiations as long
as there is a possibility of agreement being reached in these and other
areas.


In

Brussels

 on 14 June the
High Representative and CoM Chair Terzic agreed with the EC’s Commissioner for
Expansion, Olli Rehn, on the joint ambition of bringing BiH to a
position where it can launch Stabilisation and Association
negotiations in time for the tenth Anniversary of Dayton.


If the representatives of the institutions succeed in agreeing a proposal it
will have to be  e ndorsed by the entity Parliaments, by mid
September.


When a political agreement that meets all three EU principles
is reached, both Entity parliaments must endorse the agreement
before the OHR could recommend to the EC that this last major condition for
the completion of the Feasibility Study has been met.


 


OSCE


OSCE and Reuters Foundation host three-day journalism writing
course


The OSCE Mission to
Bosnia and
Herzegovina

and the Reuters Foundation from

UK

, are hosting
a three-day practical journalism writing course “Professional Reporting on
Education”.


The course will take place in Mostar from 24 to 26 August, 2005 at the OSCE
Mission to BiH Regional Centre Mostar, conducted by veteran Reuters
reporters, Hugh Pain and Duncan Shiels. Hugh Pain was bureau chief in
Sarajevo during the early 1990s.
Duncan Shiels is currently bureau chief in
Budapest,
Hungary
.


The program will offer unique presentations, discussions and practical
writing exercises on the important topic of education and reform including a
possible site-visit to one of the areas ethnically divided schools. Each
training day stories will be assigned followed by detailed copy editing and
critiquing.


The Reuters motto is “Learning by Doing” and so the training rooms have been
turned into a live newsroom where participants can expect on-going and daily
reporting and writing assignments. 


Participants from all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina will attend the course. 


 


ICMP


Next Tuesday, August 30th, the BiH Council of Ministers and the
International Commission on Missing Persons will together launch the Missing
Persons Institute of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Missing Persons Institute, or MPI,
will become the State-level BiH institution that will be responsible for
addressing the missing persons issue in this country.


The current Federation Commission for Tracing Missing Persons and the RS
Office for Tracing Detained and Missing Persons will be merged into the MPI,
will take over the responsibilities, work, staff and budgets of the current
entity bodies.


This will mean that the investigations, exhumations and identifications of
the thousands of missing persons in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be addressed at the
State level. The MPI will search for missing citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
regardless of their ethnic, national or religious background. By creating a
sustainable, state-level structure, Bosnia-Herzegovina is taking an important
step forward in addressing the issue of the missing.


The MPI will collect, process and organize information on missing persons,
individual and mass graves. It will establish a central and unique database on
missing persons to keep records and notify families of missing
persons. This central database will help address the concerns of families
of the missing and their communities about the actual numbers of missing persons
and where they went missing.


The MPI will find and exhume graves, take part in the collection of surface
remains and participate in autopsies, anthropological examinations and
identifications. It will cooperate with relevant authorities, including judicial
bodies and other organisations and the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It will also store remains until handover of the
bodies to family members or burial and it will provide support to families of
the missing and their associations.  In short, the Institute will have all
the responsibilities currently held by the relevant entity bodies, and more. The
ICMP will assist in all aspects of the work of the MPI, as it currently assists
the two entity missing persons authorities.


On a practical level, for example, we foresee that by the beginning of next
year, exhumations that would have been the responsibility of the relevant entity
bodies will start to be replaced by the Missing Persons Institute. 


The Missing Persons Institute was originally established in the year 2000 and
ICMP has worked over the years to help to build the political will amongst all
sides and of the stakeholders in the missing persons issue to create this
State-level institution.


Next Tuesday morning, there will be a ceremony at the

Joint

Institutions

Building

,
during which Minister of Human Rights Mirsad Kebo, on behalf of the Council of
Ministers, and ICMP Chief of Staff Kathryne Bomberger will sign an agreement
that will establish the Council of Ministers as a co-founder of the State-level
Missing Persons Institute, along with ICMP.


There will be a media advisory nearer the time with more details  about
the signing ceremony at the
Joint
Institutions
Building

.


 


EUFOR


No statement.


 


NATO


No statement.


 


RTQs:


BH Radio: 


Oleg, one question: Yesterday the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
announced that during the previous month three judges and four prosecutors
handed in their resignations.  Does the OHR have any comments on that
issue?


OHR:


In any case that is a question for the High Judicial and Prosecutorial
Council which is, as you well know, not a part of the OHR but an independent
body responsible for monitoring the work of judges and
prosecutors.   


Reuters, Nedim Dervisbegovic:


There’s been another report, this time on the internet,
about alleged terrorist activities in
Bosnia


Just for the record can you tell us do you have any information about al-Qaeda
or any other terrorist group organization or individuals basically being active
in
Bosnia


Thank you.


Major Dwight Mood – NATO:


That’s a good question and we obviously look at every report very seriously,
as you know that’s one of our major tasks at NATO – terrorism activities. 
No we have no more information about this particular episode.


Mirela Ćosić, BH TV:


Yesterday it was announced that from the beginning of next year the OHR in

Tuzla

will be closed down and people
will be left without a job.  In the context of this transition, that is the
announced transition, is there possibly any other information in relation to
whether other offices of the High Representative will be closed down? 


OHR:


At the moment these are still only plans.  In any case the international
community and especially the OHR, which is only a temporary institution, must
plan ahead.  As

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

makes progress towards joining the
European Union, the OHR must be prepared for that.  However, as I have
already said, at the moment those are just plans.  This week the High
Representative is conducting fieldwork in

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

and is talking directly with
the people.  Following this, namely after receiving approval from the Peace
Implementation Council, since ultimately the proposal is subject to approval
from the PIC, we will be able to provide specific details.  At this moment
I wouldn’t like to say anything more about specific
details.      


Reuters, Nedim Dervisbegovic:


Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough.  Apart from this report do you have any
information about terrorist activities in

Bosnia

in the
last couple of years?


Major Dwight Mood – NATO:


We have no further information, but I would like to say that it’s interesting
timing because obviously the major focus for

Bosnia

now is
police reform and we don’t want to do anything to derail from those talks. 
Thank you.


IWPR, Hugh Griffits:


A question for Dwight Mood: General Schook has been quoted in the local media
over the last couple of days as being optimistic regarding the capture of
Radovan Karadžić and General Mladić.  Could you tell us anything more about
where those comments come
from?                              


Major Dwight Mood – NATO:


It has been very evident that the international community has stepped up the
pressure in the last year and General Schookhas stated repeatedly he’s been very
optimistic.  If you look at the last couple of weeks with the arrest in

Argentina

, with
the arrest of Milan Lukić, we can see that the international community now is
taking strides along with

Serbia

to arrest
and detain major ICTY PIFWICs.

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