OSCE promotes civil society and media in oversight of security matters

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the BiH Council of Ministers’ Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Security Policy and the Sarajevo-based Centre for Security Studies concluded a seminar on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security on Thursday, 18 December 2014 in Sarajevo. The seminar aimed to inform security sector officials and representatives of civil society and media about provisions of the Code of Conduct, which calls for democratic oversight of the security sector.

“Democratic oversight of defence and security goes beyond pure parliamentary oversight. Representatives of civil society and media also have a very important perspective to contribute and role to fulfill,” said John Martin, Director of the Department of Security Co-operation. “Media and civil society must be able to access information and voice their opinions on issues such as security sector reform.”

The Code of Conduct, adopted in 1994, provides guiding principles for all 57 OSCE participating States in politico-military matters. It provides criteria against which the security establishment of states can be measured in the process of oversight, through which areas for improvement in the democratic functioning of security systems of states can be identified.

The OSCE Mission to BiH works in co-operation with institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to plan, organize and conduct a series of annual and special thematic events dedicated to security policy matters, providing a forum for inter-governmental, interagency and cross-sectorial dialogue on pressing security issues.