Home > 1. The principles of Europe's electoral heritage > BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA- Joint Opinion on amendments to the Election Law
 
 
 
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Paragraph 8
 

The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission have previously expressed concerns over the exclusion of “others” (any person who is not a Bosniac, Croat, or Serb) from elective executive office.[7] The constitutional ethnicity-based limitations to the right to stand for office violate several international documents, including the ICCPR, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and of the commitments made to the Council of Europe, as well as article 7.3 of the OSCE 1990 Copenhagen Document. None of the amendments address this issue. It is recommended that provisions of the constitution and of the Election Law that discriminate against certain citizens on the basis of their ethnicity should be eliminated. All citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina should have the right to stand for any office or to vote on equal terms.