As the President of the Republic of Srpska and as the main target of Lord Paddy Ashdown’s emotional and venomous piece published by The Times on 12 April 2011, I feel compelled to respond to some of the most dangerous points voiced by Lord Ashdown.
It is quite appropriate that Lord Ashdown comment on the current crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. His actions and attitude as a former High Representative lie at the heart of the current crisis. In his capacity as High Representative he ignored the rule of law, violated the human and civil rights of our citizens, directly and illegally amended the Dayton Accords, reversed the will of our citizens as expressed in free and fair elections, and undermined our legitimate and democratic government, institutions, laws and constitution. Lord Ashdown’s tenure as High Representative was referred to by some international observers as the” European Raj”, taking account of his vice-regal style of governance. His actions fueled divisions between our citizens and effectively undermined reconciliation, stoking fear and compliance by stripping local leaders, elected officials and institutions of responsibility. He did all of this without legal authority aiming to eliminate the Constitutional protections for the Serb and Croat peoples established in the Dayton and Washington Agreements. His ultimate objective, as acknowledged in the recent Times article, was to establish a Bosniak/Muslim dominated, centralized state.
Ashdown used powers not granted to him, which he imposed upon the citizens and institutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina by threat and use of force. With his abuse of power, he stripped competencies and constitutional powers from the two Entities comprising Bosnia-Herzegovina and gave them to illegitimate centralized institutions. He did this with utter contempt for the law and with complete disregard for the will of our citizens. If elected and public officials refused to comply with his dictates, they were simply removed by new decrees and indefinitely banned from participating in public life. This was all done without a single moment spent in a court of law or without the possibility of appeal or legal remedy for his victims.
The actions and attitude of Lord Ashdown created a “house of cards” that lacked legality and legitimacy and therefore was not sustainable. We are seeing the result of that today, as the Office of the High Representative attempts to continue with these same unlawful actions and attitudes.
Lord Ashdown’s recipe for Bosnia’s current woes must be viewed against this backdrop of his own autocratic and brutal governance. Lord Ashdown is wrong. Bosnia is now confronted with its most serious crisis since 1995, not because too little has been done by external actors; they have done, and continue to do too much and too much of the wrong thing (as shown by the illegal acts of the current High Representative, Valentin Inzko).
Democracy cannot be imposed by international actors through autocratic and undemocratic actions that violate human rights and the rule of law, no matter how noble the intentions that drive them. A functioning state cannot be built without the will and active support of its citizens. If a joint state of Bosnia-Herzegovina is to survive then its elected leaders and peoples must be allowed to take responsibility for their own country and future.
A common Bosnian state cannot be founded on the fear, intolerance and threat of force underlying Lord Ashdown’s arguments and expressed in his reference to Serbs and Croats as “enemies” of the Bosniaks and his apparent call for Bosniaks to threaten, and perhaps resort to, the use of arms and violence.
I remain committed to a peaceful and negotiated settlement of all outstanding issues challenging our country and peoples. However, I also remain committed to my constitutional duty to defend the legitimate interests and rights of the Republic of Srpska and its citizens. Unlike Lord Ashdown, as an elected political leader, I must act lawfully and responsibly and will continue to be accountable to my citizens through democratic elections. It is my sincere wish that Lord Ashdown act responsibly in attempting to shape the debate over Bosnia. A step in that direction would be for him to take responsibility for his violations of our citizens’ human, political and civil rights and cooperate fully with those seeking to find an appropriate remedy for these injuries.
Signed,
Milorad Dodik
President of the Republic of Srpska
