Pink Report 2016: Annual report on the state of human rights of LGBTI People in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pink Report 2016: Annual report on the state of human rights of LGBTI People in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: 2015 has not been a year of great progress in terms of LGBTI people’s (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) human rights, compared to 2014: the number of cases of discrimination and violence on the grounds of sexual orientation documented by the Sarajevo Open Centre has not gone down – it has actually gone up. The number of LGBTI individuals who contacted Sarajevo Open Centre looking for help in seeking asylum, changing the gender category in official documents and looking for adequate psychological support (which is particularly important for trans* individuals who are going through transition – gender-reassignment), or because they need documentation to be able to enter into marriage/same-sex partnership in states which recognize this, has also gone up, which implies that there have been no structural changes that have significantly improved the quality of life of LGBTI individuals and their inclusion in the BiH society. The media reporting in 2015 shows insufficient progress – mostly in the form of an increase in the number of articles that present LGBTI people and topics neutrally. A particularly worrying trend is inadequate processing of the attacks on LGBTI individuals, mostly in cases where they exercise their right to public assembly: the case of Merlinka in 2014 and the attack on the visitors of the Art Kriterion Cinema. While the police and the legal system have made barely any progress in their protection of LGBTI people’s rights, despite a three-years long cooperation with the Sarajevo Open Centre, spring of 2015 has indicated a new approach by the legislative and executive branch at state and entity levels; a shift towards working on improving the legal and policy frameworks for protection of LGBTI people’s rights. In May 2015 the State Parliament held the first special session on the state of LGBTI people’s human rights in BiH, and formed three concise conclusions. However, the initial enthusiasm experienced by the LGBTI activists deflated, because almost a year later the conclusions have yet to be implemented and achieved. This act, nevertheless, opened the door for further cooperation between the Civil Society representatives who work on LGBTI people’s rights and the Parliamentary Committees for Human Rights and Gender Equality. In December 2015, authorities made another pioneering move: the Government of Republika Srpska passed their Annual Plan for Implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) for 2016, which also contains specific measures for protection of LGBTI people’s rights. The government of FBiH followed soon after in March of 2016. This is the first time that the governments in Bosnia and Herzegovina are including LGBTI people’s rights in their action plans. It remains to be seen how these measures will be implemented, but our hopes are high, especially because of the evolving partnership between the Sarajevo Open Centre and the institutional mechanisms for gender equality. In December 2015 the Council of Ministers BiH confirmed the draft proposal of the Law on Changes and Amendments of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, which includes amendments submitted by the Sarajevo Open Centre that would ensure better protection from discrimination for all LGBTI individuals. The Law should enter legislative procedure in 2016.

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