ODIHR to train Ombudsmen for Bosnia-Herzegovina

WARSAW, 14 February 1995 - The newly appointed Ombudsmen of Bosnia-Herzegovina - one from each of the main ethnic groups (Serbs and others, Croats and Bosnians) - have arrived in Warsaw to attend an intensive training seminar organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Under a special article in the Constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the OSCE was entrusted with the appointment of the three Ombudsmen after consultation with the President and Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Apart from organizing their training, the OSCE is supporting the activities of the Ombudsmen by providing an annual grant and by establishing a special support Mission in Sarajevo.

From Tuesday 13 February until Friday 17 February, the three Ombudsmen, Mrs Vera Jovanovic (Serbs and others), Mrs Branka Raguz (Croats), Mr Esad Muhibic (Bosnians), will be trained by specialists on human rights from international organisations, as well as by invited ombudsmen from various countries.

The ODIHR is the main OSCE institution responsible for furthering human rights, democracy and the rule of law, with a broad spectrum of responsibilities including monitoring implementation of OSCE human rights commitments, organizing international and regional seminars on human dimension and rule-of-law topics, assisting democratic elections through international observers, seminars and exchange of experts, and assisting OSCE field missions.

Seminar participants include Mr Tadeusz Mazowiecki, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Mr Frank Orton, Swedish Ombudsman against ethnic discrimination and Mr Walter Dohr, Director-General of the Austrian Ombudsman Office.