Agreements of Dayton

The agreements of Dayton reflect fine with the inter-ethnic combat which devastated the Bosnia-Herzégovine.

Of November 1st with the November 21st 1995, in the air base of Wright-Patterson, close to Dayton, in the Ohio, with the the United States, were held negotiations aiming at putting an end to the war which had devastated for three years ex-Yugoslavia. The principal participants were the presidents Serb (Slobodan Milošević), Croatian (Franjo Tuđman) and Bosnian (Alija Izetbegović), as well as the American negotiator Richard Holbrooke assisted Christopher Hill. The agreements of Dayton about also envisaged a partition of Bosnia-Herzégovine between the Fédération of Bosnia and Herzégovine (croato-Bosnian) and the Serb République of Bosnia (Serb), as well as the deployment of a force of multinational peace, IFOR.

Although formally signed with Paris the December 14th 1995, these agreements made to the history under the name of agreements of Dayton.

A partition in two strong ethnic States

The agreements of Dayton 1995 constitute a kind of lame compromise between the belligerents Serbes, Croatian and Bosnian.

The agreements of Dayton caused to ratify the partition of the country in two States ethniquement strong within a weak unit State and almost symbolic system with like capital Sarajevo. The Republic of Bosnia-Herzégovine, i.e. the State, is now divided into two distinct political entities: the Serb Republic of Bosnia, and, in addition, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine.

Because the Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine gathers the Croatian and the Bosnian i.e. the Moslems, it is also called “the Federation” or the “croato-Moslem woman Federation”. As for the Serb Republic of Bosnia ( Republika Srpska ), it counts only the Serb orthodoxe ones.

Central institutions of the unit State

The agreements of Dayton envisaged institutions common to the croato-Moslem woman Federation and the Serb Republic. Executive power of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzégovine east ensured by a rotary collegial presidency of three members (in alternation: a Bosnian, a Croat and Serb) and the Council of Ministers charged to implement the policies and decisions of Bosnia-Herzégovine in the fields of its competence.

Legislative power

The legislative system is Bicaméral: he is exerted by the Chambre of the representatives of 42 members elected by the vote for all by each of the two entities, because of 28 representatives for the croato-Moslem woman Federation and of 14 representatives for the Serb Republic of Bosnia (Republika Sprska). The second room, the Room of the people, includes/understands 15 members named by the Assemblies of each entity: two thirds by the Federation (five Bosnians, five Croats) and a third by Republika Sprska (five Serb). The Bosnians, the Croats and the Serb ones are thus recognized in their capacity as “constituent people”. The official languages are the Bosnian , the Croatian and the Serbe.

Competences of the central institutions

The central institutions are qualified for the Foreign affairs, the international business and the customs, the monetary policy, the communications, the financing of the public operations and the legislation concerning the immigration and the right of asylum. All that is not explicitly reserved for the Central state falls within competences of the entities. That confers on each one of them considerable responsibilities such as justice, defense and the police force, finances, the language, health, etc On the financial plan, Bosnia-Herzégovine depends entirely on the contributions of each of the two entities (of the Federation, at a rate of two thirds, of the Serb Republic of Bosnia, at a rate of a third). This system of government resembles much that of old Yugoslavia (the second).

Lastly, the agreements envisaged the continuation of the war criminals by the International penal court for ex-Yugoslavia, created in February 1993 by UNO, the free return of the refugees and the organization of general elections, prerequisites to a durable re-establishment of peace.

A doubtful operation

However, it should be recognized that the central institutions, conceived deliberately at integrating ends, do not function very well. Their installation was hard, on the one hand, for reasons holding with the localization by rotation of the administrations, on the other hand, because of the obvious reserve of Serb and the Croato-Moslems to make live a State imposed by the agreements of Dayton and in which they do not believe. On a side, the Croats and the Bosnians do not manage to get along within the common institutions; other, the Serb ones only think of consolidating the entity which they tore off with blow of guns.

In fact, the solution of the Serb, Croatian and Bosnian protagonists would have been, according to the declarations at the time of the presidents signatories of Croatia (Franjo Tuđman) and of Serbia (Slobodan Milošević), “the division of Bosnia-Herzégovine between Serbes and Croatian, leaving a small Moslem State around Sarajevo”. Moreover, the president of Bosnia-Herzégovine (Alija Izetbegović), wrote itself, in a test written in 1970 (Declaration Islamic) but published in Turkey in 1990, qu ' there “could be neither peace nor coexistence between the Islamic religion and the political institutions and social nonIslamic”.

A disguised protectorate

For all these reasons, the international community imposed on Bosnia-Herzégovine, since December 1997, a civil high representative (then Mr. Carlos Westendorp) charged to make “constraining decisions” and “temporary measures”. Already, this last imposed common number plates, a single passport, a currency (the “marka”) aligned on Deutsch Mark (the euro, now), a law on the citizenship, a new flag, without counting the revocations of the several elected local managers.

According to the observers, Bosnia-Herzégovine slips gradually towards a form of “disguised protectorate” which produces its perverse effects. Indeed, the local political officials (Serb, Croatian and Bosnian) tend more and more to give up finding compromises, because they know that in last authority the civil high representative will slice. Under these conditions, some estimate that it is not very probable that Bosnia-Herzégovine would survive at the beginning of the Westerners of the country.

Two ethnic States

Let us recall it, the Republic of Bosnia-Herzégovine - the State - account two distinct political entities: on the one hand, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine (whose capital is also Sarajevo) also called “the Federation” or the “croato-Moslem woman Federation”, on the other hand, the Serb République of Bosnia (of which the capital is Banja Luka) or “Serb Republic of Bosnia”. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine gathers the Croats and the Moslems, while Republika Srpska counts officially only the Serb orthodoxe ones.

Each of the two entities has of its own Constitution, its own police force and its own armed forces, and has “the right to establish special bilateral relations with the Neighboring states”, which favors the Croats and the Serb ones. Thus, in Bosnia, ethnic separation remains the rule. It is necessary well to include/understand these new political structures to note at which point those play a central role in the development of the linguistic policies.

The croato-Moslem woman Federation

The population of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine is estimated roughly at 2,3 million inhabitants. This croato-Moslem woman federation gathers the center of the country and all south-west, is 51% of the territory of the country. The croato-Moslem woman Federation, created in March 1994 by the agreements of Washington, made up of nine cantons (four Moslems, two Croatian, three mixed one), and is equipped with institutions associating of the Bosnian and Croatian representatives.

The Federation counts a Room of the representatives (140 members elected by the vote for all) and a Room of the people (60 elected officials to which 60 members named by the nine cantonal assemblies because of 30 Bosnians are added and 30 Croats). On the local plan, the nine cantons lay out each one of an elected assembly by the vote for all. Lastly, each of the 40 opstinas - the equivalent of the communes - elects a municipal assembly.

The Serb Republic of Bosnia (Republika Srpska)

The population of Republika Srpska (or republic of Srpska) is estimated at nearly 1,4 million inhabitants of which 95% would be of Serb ethnic origin and the others 5% would be primarily of Croatian and Bosnian origin. Republika Srpska has jurisdiction in all the north-western and south-eastern circumference of the country (see chart NO5: in green), that is to say 49% of the territory of the republic of Bosnia-Herzégovine.

The republic of Sprska chose a system monocaméral (only one room), in conformity with the homogeneity of its population, with an National Assembly of 140 members elected by the vote for all for two years with the poll proportional. It now remains to be seen how these structures will be reflected in the linguistic policies.

Constitutional provisions of the Central state

The Constitution of Bosnia-Herzégovine was adopted or rather imposed on February 1st 1995, following the agreements of Dayton. The Constitution integrates the protection of the human rights such as they were defined by the European Convention of safeguard of the human rights and fundamental freedoms and its protocols. The constitutional provisions concerning the language are very general and extremely mean. It correspond simply to the declarations of non-discrimination.

The preamble to the Constitution recognizes rights to the “people belonging to the national minorities or ethnic, religious or linguistic, in addition to other protections relating to the human rights”.

The paragraph 7-b of article 1 specifies that nobody private of the entity and the citizenship of Bosnia-Herzégovine or will be arbitrarily left for account with a statute of stateless person, whatever the sex, the race, the color, the language, the religion, the political or different ideas, the social or national origin, the membership of a national minority, the property, the birth or any other condition.

As for paragraph 4 of article 2, he recognizes that the protection of the rights and freedoms envisaged in the Constitution or the international agreements (enumerated with the appendix of this constitution) will be granted to whoever lives Bosnia-Herzégovine, and this, without discrimination of sex, race, color, language, religion, political or different ideas, social or national origin, membership of a national minority, property, birth or any other condition.

These constitutional provisions are those of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzégovine (the Central state). They are formulated in very general terms so that they are the constitutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzégovine and the republic of Srpska which, on the juridico-linguistics plan, will prevail. In the first case, Croatian and the Bosnian are the two official languages. In the second case, the Serb remainder the single official language. Let us note finally that the cantonal constitutions of the Federation and the statutes of the municipalities (or communes) of the two entities come to add specific measures.

External bond

complete Text of the agreements

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