Bosnia and HerzegovinaSeptember 28, 1997 issue of the Sarajevo weekly Svijet brought an article by Drazena Peranic, dealing with the recent election of Velibor Ostojic, by many considered as a war criminal, as the head of the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The last session of the BiH Parliament has suddenly "surprised " the leaders of the SDA party. How did Velibor Ostojic of the SDS party find himself in the Human Rights commission ? Who chose him, whose trick was this, how was this 'overlooked' ? Then came the Solomonic solution - of course, its the opposition ! Why didn't it tell us who is in question ?
But, lets start from the beginning. A proposal to the BiH Parliament members found its way at the session of September 16, 1997, among which the named Velibor Ostojic was proposed as the president of the Commission for human rights, refugees and asylum. The Sarajevo media simply printed the names of the elected commission presidents, without deliberating on the fact who is who, and which commission are they heading. With one "glitch" - one paper (Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjenje"), published the statement of one official, that this decision has been "forced out" from the SDA. The avalanche started. The refugee associations reacted, then those of resettled persons, threatened nations, camp internees, NGO's, intellectuals, parties, individuals... So it seemed that Ostojic has simply "fallen from the sky" - into the Parliament, the Commission for human rights, and most of all into the chair of its president.
The published records have shown, though, that the representative of the UBSD party, Sejfudin Tokic, voted against this proposal, while four MP's abstained, of which none were from the SDA or the Party for BiH (Silajdzic), but from the oppositionary parties from Republika Srpska !
What is surprising is the attempt of the leaders of the SDA, particularly the lower chamber president Avdo Campara, to present the whole story as an accidental incident, or what the co-president of the Ministers council Haris Silajdzic said, "the mechanical raising of hands.? Of course, Velibor Ostojic did not fall from the sky into the Commission for Human Rights, but he was chosen into its ranks as far back as May of this year by the very same members of the same Parliament, and then again by the majority of votes - solely those of the SDS, HDZ and SDA, and with the objections of the opposition. The then entrance of Velibor Ostojic into this Commission only represented the continuation of the voting of the ruling parties for the proposals coming from any of these parties.
Ahead of the contended session of the Parliament, the proposals for the presidents of the commissions were also determined at the preparatory session. So, the proposal of Ostojic as the president of the of the Commission for Human Rights was sent ahead of the voting to the members, and it was established by Slobodan Bijelic, Ivo Lozancic and none other than - Avdo Campara !
Velibor Ostojic is the legal president of the Commission for Human Rights, Refugees and Asylum of this state. He was appointed to this position, through a previous proposal, the three ruling one-national parties and their coalition satellites. Who is the man whom they have designated as the protector of human rights is known by those whose rights were "protected" by Ostojic during the war, while according to some indications, maybe the Hague War Crimes Tribunal will deal with some of his doings. BiH public, until then, has the right to know how the three one-national parties are reaching agreements concerning their future, first in closed circles, and then with the mechanical rising of hands, based on the system "the way the party orders.? The Ostojic case is only a part of what has caused furor in the public, when the truth came out.
But, the attempt to cover up the truth from a public session of the Parliament, Automatically raises the question what has actually happened in the closed sessions of the SDS-HDZ -SDA in Lisbon, London, Geneva, Bonn, Vienna, New York, Washington, Dayton...
Source: Sarajevo weekly "Svijet", September 28, 1997
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