Press statement | 16.10.2019

The right to language is a basic human right

The Ombudsmen for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina received a complaint from the applicant in which the Public Enterprise Sarajevo International Airport was designated as the responsible party.

The complaint was registered under number: Ž-SA-06-47/19 and was considered under the Anti-Discrimination Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The complainant alleges that for an extended period of time the employer has been exposed to discrimination on the basis of language, harassment and mobbing caused by discrimination.

During the investigation procedure, the Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina found that the complainant was not prevented from using her native (Croatian) language and that the problem arises in external communication, where the question arises as to whether priority is given to the use of the native tongue by the person authorized for communication or priority has the use of the native tongue of the Management Board of the Company, that is, the Director and the President of the Management Board. This situation seems to neglect the interest of citizens, ie the public, which raises the question of the criteria that are decisive in deciding in which language the information will be published.

Human Rights Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina point out that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not contain a provision explicitly regulating the issue of the use of official languages, i.e., the official letter in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the other hand, the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides that the official languages of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian, while the official letters are Cyrillic and Latin. All persons in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the right to use one of the official languages, that is, the official letter, whereby the term "use" cannot be narrowly construed and as such is not guaranteed. not only does the citizen have the right to speak and write in one of the three official languages and letters, but also includes the right to receive information from public authorities in their native language, to have official documents, forms available in all three language variants ..., or to use their native tongue in all aspects of life.

Following the investigation procedure, the Human Rights Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted to the designated responsible authority recommendation P-205/19, which recommended that they adopt a legal framework to ensure equal use of all three official languages - Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian, or both letters - Latin and Cyrillic in external communication to citizens.

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