Thread by @adicerimagic

High Representative #Inzko used his so-called Bonn Powers to amend the 🇧🇦 Criminal Code & introduce sanctions for “glorification of war criminals convicted by final and binding judgments and the denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

My thread🧵👇🏼1/18

Survivors & families of war victims, individuals & institutions active in human rights, remembering the past & reconciliation #welcomed #Inzko’s #decision. Most of them advocated for such legislative changes for years. Even Inzko promissed them many times to make it happen. (2)

As reported by the #Srebrenica #Memorial, denial & glorification of war crimes, incl.genocide, take place on regular & systematic basis in 🇧🇦 & the region =🇷🇸.
Ministries finance books on or by convicted war criminals, governments commission reports full of denial of facts.. (3)

Attempts were made in different parliaments in 🇧🇦 to introduce similar or wider legal changes.

Some were successful but most were not.

Many (not all!) Serb politicians are against such laws & denying the Srebrenica genocide themselves, they would be affected. (4)

#Inzko’s decision came just 10 days before the end of his 12-years mandate.

Many have asked why now? Why not last year (as he promised)? Or 5 years ago?

And what does it mean for the future of international involvement in BiH? (5)

Conventional wisdom says that international community decided to give up on these powers in order to let actors & institutions in 🇧🇦 take their responsibility. And in order to try out the #local #ownership these Bonn Powers were not used since March 2011. (6)

In reality, however, local ownership was never among main drivers for international community (members!) to discourage High Representative Inzko from using his Bonn powers.

It was rather the nature of these powers, as well as likelihood & resources needed to enforce them. (7)

It is a very simple, easy & quick exercise for the High Representative to use the Bonn Powers

All he needs is a computer, access to #OHR’s official website & email of the 🇧🇦’s Official Gazette.

His latest decision, for example, had 3.5 pages with amendments to the law. (8)

Once drafted he needs to post it on the #OHR’s website & email it to the Official Gazette (and if he wants, also to some 🇧🇦 politicians).

There is no need for any public or closed door consultations. His decisions cannot be changed or rejected by 🇧🇦 legislators or citizens. (9)

So for the Bonn Powers to change BiH’s reality, decisions need to be accepted & enforced.

Making sure that happens was always difficult.

It required a lot of diplomatic efforts, push, compromises, give and takes, coordination, and (sometimes) even military backing. (10)

At times their enforcement even proved impossible, while resources needed to try to enforce them - diplomatic, military… - were never with the High Representative. So he always relied on others. (11)

Most of those “others” were well established liberal democracies, members of the Council of Europe or the EU which over the time found it harder (or some even impossible) to justify their support & allocation of resources for such extraordinary powers. (12)

This might explain why in a lead up to Inzko’s decision “others” even openly opposed.

In late April, for example, a 🇺🇸 diplomat said his country had a different legal tradion & that “the antidote to genocide denial is not to declare it illegal. It is to tell the truth.” (13)

This might then explain why in the aftermath of Inzko’s decision the 🇺🇸 Embassy’s statement spoke about Inzko’s move as “demonstrating the gravity HE places on this issue.”

And why 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇩🇪 & 🇪🇺 - in their statements - avoided to endorse his decision directly or explicitly. (14)

Or why 🇦🇹 foreign minister felt obliged to reveal that ahead of Inzko’s decision he had to spend time communicating with outgoing & incoming HighReps, and several foreign ministers. Concluding that the aim should be not to use the Bonn Powers again. (15)

facebook.com/MVEP.hr/videos…

To use the Bonn Powers is easy. But for them to be enforced in BiH, it takes a lot of diplomatic efforts & resources, with frequent concessions made to actors inside & outside of BiH (🇭🇷 & 🇷🇸) (16)

This is probably why today the leader of the strongest Bosniak political party Izetbegović, while welcoming Inzko’s decision shared his expectation that the incoming High Representative Christian Schmidt will NOT be using his Bonn Powers for long time and hopefully never. (17)

For HR’s changes of the Criminal Code to make lasting improvements in the everyday life of BiH, as hoped by so many, more heavy-lifting by “others” will be required. Also, 🇧🇦’s judiciary and public prosecutions would need to take those amendments serious.

(18/18 END)