Sixteen years have passed since the end of the Bosnian War, yet the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to discriminate against ethnic minorities.

 

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Jews, Roma (a.k.a. Gypsies) and other national minorities are prevented from running for president or one of two legislative chambers, the national house of peoples.

 

The basis of the discrimination is Bosnia’s 1995 Constitution, which mandates that only members of the nation’s three major ethnic groups—Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs—can hold these positions.

 

The human rights group also documented in a new report examples of housing, education, healthcare and employment discrimination against minorities.

 

In December 2009, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Bosnian constitution was discriminatory, but no action has been taken. Human Rights Watch called on the European Union and the United States, which helped develop Bosnia’s constitution, to urge the country’s leadership to amend the legal document.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Roma, Jews Face Political Discrimination (Human Rights Watch)