Freedom of assembly focus of training courses supported by OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and ODIHR

Upholding human rights while policing assemblies was the focus of two three-day training courses for representatives of law enforcement agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Sarajevo and Banja Luka from 9 to 14 April 2018.

The training courses gathered more than 40 senior police officers from across the country and were organized in co-operation with the respective interior ministries and police academies of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska. The courses focused on internationally recognized good practices and standards for police commanders in the area of policing assemblies. 

“The police have a major role to play, as the state has a positive duty to actively protect peaceful assemblies from any persons or groups that attempt to disrupt or inhibit them,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Bruce Berton. “The protection of this freedom is crucial to creating a tolerant and pluralistic society in which groups with different beliefs, practices or policies can co-exist peacefully.”

Anita Danka, ODIHR’s Human Rights Adviser and a trainer at the courses, said: “The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is interlinked with a range of other human rights and fundamental freedoms. For this reason, the human rights-compliant facilitation of peaceful assemblies by law enforcement authorities is an area of key importance, in which ODIHR has developed many assistance tools.”