Politics of Fear Shall Not Discourage the Citizens

OWPSEE

15 February 2008

Nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina condemn the press release of the Government of the Canton of Sarajevo, published in the media after the protests of last Wednesday, January 13, accusing the organizers, Dosta! and GROZD of an �anarchist and anti-civilization call for violence�, and of a �morbidly constructed rebellion... and manipulation of children... abusing the personal tragedy of Denis Mrnjavac�.

In the press release, paid with tax-payers� money, as the NGOs point out rightly, the Cantonal Government also accuses the organizers of the protests of �...enacting a scenario to destabilize the most successful canton in the country�, and hinted at the possibility that it �may have been prepared and worked out outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the context of the current crisis in the wider region.

NGOs respond that the Government attempts to put equation mark between the peaceful protest and a group of trouble-makers in order to discredit the protest directed at the incapable authorities and their turning deaf ear to the justified demands that the citizens and their organization present them with.

�Instead of using the problems to open a dialogue, the Government uses unacceptable methods... makes unfounded accusations and publicly announces a campaign of prosecution and arrests indirectly aimed at two nongovernmental movements�, says the press release that was signed, by the moment of writing of this report, by more than thirty organizations from the whole country.

The signatories of the public statement support the continuation of peaceful and non-violent gatherings of the citizens who shouldn�t be discouraged, in spite of the politics of fear that the Government intends to apply, at a moment when they took a legitimate opportunity to speak up their demands.

�A government that labels its citizens a mob, thugs and anarchists has an obvious problem with the understanding of its role in a democratic society. It is time to change that. There is no place for such a government in a truly democratic society�, conclude the NGOs in their public statement.

The public statement is attached, to be signed and forwarded, to this article. You can also read the ad paid and published by the Government of the Canton of Sarajevo.

Attached files

Response to the Government

38.00 KB

KS Government Ad

36.00 KB