Bosnia- Herzegovina
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Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021 BOSNIA- BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA HERZEGOVINA RELIGIONS 2.7% Agnostics 48.1% 48.6% Muslims Population Area Christians 3,498,210 51,209 Km2 GDP per capita GINI INDEX* 11,714 US$ 33 0.6% *Economic Inequality Other arate in accordance with Article 14 of the 2004 “Law on LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION Freedom of the Religion and the Legal Position of the AND ACTUAL APPLICATION Churches and Religious Communities in Bosnia and Her- 5 In 1995, the General Framework Agreement for Peace in zegovina”. Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in Dayton (United The law provides for freedom of religion (Article 4, 1), en- States), after three years of war, establishing Bosnia and sures the legal status of Churches and religious commu- Herzegovina (BiH) as a de facto confederation between nities (Article 2, 3) and prohibits any form of discrimination the mostly Catholic and Muslim Federation of Bosnia and against any religious group (Article 2, 1). It also provides Herzegovina, in the western and central areas of the coun- the basis for the relationship between the state and reli- try, and the mostly Orthodox Serbian Republika Srpska, in gious groups (Chapter IV). the north and the east. The two main regions have their Article 16 (1) also requires that a register of all religious own president, government, parliament, and police. A third groups be kept at the Ministry of Justice, while the Ministry entity, the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, exists of Human Rights and Refugees is tasked with document- in north-eastern BiH, and is an administrative unit set up in ing violations of religious freedom. The law recognises 1999 run by the two other entities.1 four traditional religious communities and Churches: the The central government has a rotating three-member pres- Islamic Community, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Ro- 2 idency (Article V). Annex four of the Dayton Agreement man Catholic Church and the Jewish Community (Article 3 sets out the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 8, 2). Most BiH citizens self-identify with one of the country’s According to the law, any group of 300 adults may register three main ethnic groups: Catholic Croatians, Orthodox to be recognised as a new Church or religious community Serbs and Muslim Bosniaks. According to the last census by applying in writing to the Ministry of Justice (Article 18, (2013), Bosniaks represented 50.1% of the population, 1 and 2). The Ministry of Justice is to issue a decision with- 4 Serbs 30.8%, Croats 15.4%, Others 3.7%. in 30 days of the application, and an appeal may be made In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Church and state are sep- to the Council of Ministers. | ACN - Aid to the Church in Need BOSNIA–HERZEGOVINA 14 Religious Freedom in the World The law reaffirms the right of every citizen to religious ed- esteem, cooperation and freedom in the country. ucation. Official representatives of the various Churches Report 2021 and religious communities have responsibility for teach- ing Religious Studies in all public and private pre-schools, INCIDENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS primary schools, and higher-level educational establish- In a country where political and ethnic tensions remain ments (Article 4, 1). high, religious groups and members of the clergy have BOSNIA- The Basic Agreement between the Holy See and Bos- endured a certain level of violence. Hate crimes and acts nia and Herzegovina was signed on 19th April 2006 and of vandalism against religious sites and symbols have in- came into effect on 25th October 2007.6 The agreement creased, with no consequence for the perpetrators, as the BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA HERZEGOVINA recognises the public juridical personality of the Catholic authorities have proven unable to improve security mea- RELIGIONS Church (Article 2) and grants a number of rights, including sures. the right to establish schools (Article 14, 1) and charities 2.7% Several incidents have been recorded during the period Agnostics (Article 17, 1), providing religious education in all schools under review. They include a March 2019 attack against (Article 16, 1), and officially recognises the main Catholic 15 a Catholic church in Gradačac and another in June of feast days (Article 9, 1). The agreement also includes the the same year against the Saint Sava Orthodox Church in creation of a Mixed Commission to deal with further is- 16 Blažuj, on the outskirts of the capital, Sarajevo. sues. (Article 18, 2) 48.1% 48.6% Muslims Population Area In August 2019, Orthodox clergymen reported receiving Christians On 6th January 2010, the Islamic Community submitted a 17 3,498,210 51,209 Km2 death threats in Mostar, but since no investigation fol- draft proposal for an agreement with the state. In 2015 the GDP per capita GINI INDEX* lowed it is impossible to know if it was religiously motivat- draft proposal was approved by the Council of Ministers ed. 0.6% 11,714 US$ 33 *Economic Inequality and sent to the Presidency for final approval, but the final Other text has not yet been implemented.7 Although the major Mosques have also been targeted; for example, an- objections to the agreement have never been made pub- ti-Muslim graffiti appeared on the Atik mosque in Bijeljina 18 lic, it is believed that the Presidency cannot agree whether in June 2019, whilst the Riječanska mosque in Zvornik 19 to use the term “respect” or “guarantee” within certain arti- was stoned in July 2019. Muslim gravestones were also 20 cles of the agreement.8 Talks are still ongoing.9 vandalised in July 2019. Early in 2020, windows of the Čaršijska mosque in Bosanska Dubica were broken, and In April 2010, the Holy See and the BiH government signed 21 not for the first time. another agreement for Catholic members in the BiH Armed Forces.10 (On 3rd December 2007, BiH authorities signed On 1st October 2019, the European Court of Human a similar agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church but Rights (ECHR) ordered BiH authorities to remove a Ser- it has not yet been implemented.)11 bian Orthodox church built on land owned by a 77-year- old Muslim woman, Fata Orlović, after she and her family Under communist rule, the state seized assets owned were forced to flee from their village in eastern Bosnia and and operated by Churches and religious communities. 22 Herzegovina during the civil war. The Law on Freedom of Religion (Article 12, 3) acknowl- edges this, recognising the right of religious communities In January 2020, the Catholic Veresika cemetery was van- 23 to restitution of expropriated religious properties. Unlike dalised in Tuzla. other former Yugoslav republics, the BiH parliament has Islamism is a major challenge for Bosnia and Herzegovi- not yet legislated in the matter. So far, very little has been na. The BiH Council of Muftis has tried to incorporate un- returned to the various communities. 12 In March 2020, registered Salafi-led groups, so-called para-jamaats, that Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Archbishop of Vrhbosna, said that operate outside the jurisdiction of the official Islamic Com- religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina expect munity. Some 21 such groups existed in 2019, down from a law on restitution to be adopted, especially since assets 64 in 2016.24 were either destroyed or wrongfully seized by the state.13 Hundreds of Bosniaks joined the Islamic State (IS) group The foundation of an Interreligious Council in 1997 was a in Iraq and Syria after 2012.25 In December 2019, a group turning point in the religious history of the country. Still ac- of 25 were repatriated, including six women and 12 chil- tive today it aims to provide an authentic basis for mutual dren.26 According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021 | Herzegovina, all the men would be prosecuted on terror- er left. They tend to be Wahhabi, very conservative, and ism charges. The women and children underwent medical receive funding from Saudi charitable foundations.35 This and security checks.27 For Bosnia and Herzegovina, the has led to disputes and clashes between more moderate, lack of a de-radicalisation program is a serious security local Muslims and the outsiders with more radical views issue.28 of Islam. A dispute broke out between the Catholic Church and The return of Bosnian fighters who joined the Islamic State the Islamic Community over the ruins of the Saint Mary’s group to BiH is also a source of concern. In January 2020, Church and Saint Luke’s Bell Tower in Jajce.29 After the the State Presidency decided to allow its citizens to return Ottoman conquest of Bosnia, the church was turned into home.36 At the same time, under a law that made partici- BOSNIA–HERZEGOVINA a mosque, but after several fires, it was left in ruins in the pating in foreign wars a criminal offence, local courts tried mid-19th century. Classified as a national monument,30 and convicted up to 26 Bosnian IS fighters as of January both Catholics and Muslims claim the site.31 2020.37 Bosnia and Herzegovina also faces a problem of renewed Mass immigration is another serious stability and security emigration. Individuals and entire families are leaving the threat with nearly one million migrants waiting at the coun- country and seeking a better future abroad. If the trend try’s borders. By January 2020, about 50,000 migrants continues, the UN expects that by 2050 there will only be from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other Middle-Eastern just over three million people left.32 This has religious im- countries were already in Bosnia and Herzegovina,38 plications impacting the relative size of the country’s three 30,000 coming in over the previous 12 months from Ser- main ethnoreligious groups.