Representatives of the Sarajevo Open Centre last week actively participated on the public discussion regarding the BiH Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. Public debate was held in Sarajevo, and organized by OSCE Mission in BiH and BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.
At the discussion we pointed on several drawbacks related to the specific articles on proposed BiH Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. We invited Ministry to improve the amendments by:
- Amending Article 2 involving sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics as ground of prohibiting discrimination because the currently used terms “sexual expression or orientation” are not terminologically correct and they neither exist,
- Amending Article 3 in order to define direct and indirect discrimination so it would be aligned with definitions of indirect discrimination that arise from Directive 2000/43/EC and Directive 2000/78/EC and EU acquis,
- Amending Article 4 in order to add hate speech and any omission to provide disabled persons specific conditions as the specific forms of discrimination,
- Amending Article 5 in order to precisely define this Article with clear guidelines of EU acquis and
- Introduce new article 4a which defines severe forms of discrimination.
Draft proposal of the Sarajevo Open Centre in written form is also delivered to the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.
Sarajevo Open Centre will continue to follow this process and will work with members of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly regarding this issue.
Previous amendments drafted on BiH Law on Prohibition of Discrimination find on following link.