Clinton, Ashton Should Seek Reforms by Bosnia and Serbia and Kosovo

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High
Representative Catherine Ashton should emphasize the importance of improving
human rights records in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia and Kosovo
during their Western Balkan tour, Human Rights Watch said today. The visits are
scheduled from October 30 to November 2, 2012.

Clinton and Ashton will visit Serbia and Kosovo to push for implementation of
the Integrated Border Management agreement they reached in December 2011 in EU-mediated
talks. During their visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Clinton and Ashton will
express support for a single, united, and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ldquo;Secretary Clinton and High Representative Ashton should send a clear
signal to the Balkans that human rights progress remains a key element for
upgraded relations with Washington and the EU,” said Lydia Gall, Balkans and
Eastern Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “That means putting an end to
political discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina; securing the rights of Roma
and other minorities in Bosnia and Kosovo and Serbia; and protecting media
freedom across the region.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Kosovo have made little progress on
human rights in 2012, Human Rights Watch said. Roma experience persistent
discrimination across the region. The Bosnian government has yet to carry out
constitutional reforms to end discrimination against Roma, Jews, and other
national minorities in standing for public office, despite a binding ruling by
the European Court of Human Rights in 2009.

Media freedom remains under threat in Kosovo and Serbia, with journalists
experiencing threats and violence. Kosovo also still has a lot to do to improve
the situation for Roma forcibly returned from Western Europe despite the
adoption of two national strategies designed to address their integration, Human
Rights Watch said.

Like previous visits by Clinton and Ashton, this trip is expected to focus
largely on political and security issues. Clinton last visited the Western
Balkans in October 2010, when she urged Kosovo’s prime minister, Hashim Thaci,
to start talks with Serbia despite the political crisis at the time over the
Kosovo president’s resignation.

During Ashton’s visit to the Western Balkans in February 2010, she stressed
the importance of Bosnia’s move toward the EU, Serbia’s next steps toward EU
membership, and Kosovo’s fight against corruption and organized crime and
progress in strengthening of the rule of law. Ashton visited Kosovo in May 2011,
focusing on the future of Kosovo as part of the EU and issues of visa
liberalization, trade, the role of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in
Kosovo (EULEX), and the need to promote dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.

ldquo;It should be self-evident that peace and security in the Western
Balkans will not be secured without respect for human rights and the rule of law,”
Gall said. “It’s crucial for the EU and the US to press Sarajevo, Belgrade, and
Pristina to live up to their human rights obligations as well as their political
ones.”