VZCZCXRO8887
PP RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVJ #0749/01 1010822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110822Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3202
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO
RUETIAA/NSA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000749 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR D (SMITH), P (BAME), EUR (DICARLO), EUR/SCE 
(ENGLISH, FOOKS, MITCHELL, SAINZ), DRL/PHD (CLAYTON), NSC 
FOR BRAUN, OSD FOR FLORY, USNIC FOR WEBER AND GREGORIAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: COURT DECLARES ENTITY SYMBOLS MUST GO 
 
¶1. Summary: On March 30, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina (BiH) issued a decision that the Federation 
flag and coat of arms and the Republika Srpska (RS) coat of 
arms and anthem are unconstitutional because the 
ethnically-associated symbols they contain constitute a form 
of racial/ethnic discrimination. (Note: The Dayton peace 
accord created two constituent entities (the Federation and 
the Republika Srpska (RS)) and the independent Brcko 
District.) The Parliaments of both entities have been given 
six months to develop new non-discriminatory versions. 
Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats in the Federation 
generally welcomed the decision; political leaders in the 
Republika Srpska reacted strongly and negatively. The Court 
will consider the RS flag and RS Law on Holidays separately, 
but is likely to conclude that these too are 
unconstitutional. End summary. 
 
COURT RULES ETHNIC SYMBOLS UNCONSTITUTIONAL 
 
¶2. On March 30, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina (BiH) issued its long-awaited decision on the 
Federation flag and coat of arms and the RS coat of arms and 
anthem, declaring all of them to be unconstitutional because 
the ethnic symbols they contain discriminate against Bosnian 
Serbs in the Federation and against Croats and Bosniaks in 
the RS. The current RS flag (identical to the tricolor flag 
of Serbia-Montenegro) and the RS Law on Holidays, which 
designates Serb Orthodox religious holidays as official 
holidays, will be considered separately by the Court. The 
Court's decision, which is final and binding, gives the 
entity Parliaments six months to replace the offending 
symbols with non-discriminatory substitutes. 
Non-implementation of the decision would constitute a 
criminal act. 
 
RS SYMBOLS LINKED TO SERBIA 
 
¶3. The RS coat of arms has a white double-headed eagle and a 
Cyrillic letter "S" (which resembles the Latin letter "C") in 
each corner. The four S symbols stand for the nationalist 
slogan "Only unity saves the Serbs." The RS anthem "Boze 
pravde" is identical to the Serbian national anthem. The 
lyrics, in part, are "God, our master; Guide and prosper the 
Serbian crown and Serbian race." Both the coat of arms and 
the anthem were introduced by the wartime government of 
former RS President (and fugitive war crimes indictee) 
Radovan Karadzic. Bosniaks and Croats, especially those who 
are minority returnees to the RS, have long objected to the 
use of these symbols and slogans. Non-Serbs in the RS 
strongly associate these symbols with the wartime regime that 
carried out genocidal acts against their communities during 
the 1992-1995 conflict. 
 
FEDERATION COMPROMISE DESIGN EXCLUDES SERBS 
 
¶4. The Federation coat of arms and flag incorporate the 
red-and-white checkerboard pattern associated with Croats, 
the lily symbol associated with Bosniaks and the image from 
the EU flag of yellow stars on a blue background. However, 
there is no symbolic representation of the Serb people; for 
that reason, the Court also found the Federation's symbols 
unconstitutional. Federation political leaders generally 
praised the Court's decision and agreed on the need to 
develop a new flag. 
 
STRONG REACTIONS FROM RS LEADERS 
 
¶5. The Court's decision provoked a strong backlash from RS 
political leaders. RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik pronounced 
the decision "totally unacceptable," and, in a defiant mood, 
challenged anyone who might try to remove the coat of arms 
from his office. RS President Dragan Cavic, who is also 
president of the nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS), 
said that the Court's ruling is seen as another incident in a 
series of attacks on the Serb people in BiH, and that it 
would lead to increasing political radicalization. Both Cavic 
and Dodik hinted that the ruling could have a negative impact 
on the future course of police reform and constitutional 
reform. In an April 4 meeting, the RS political leadership 
called for the Court to reexamine its ruling. In their public 
comments, RS political leaders ignored the fact that the 
Court's decision will also force the Federation to create 
public symbols that are inclusive of the Serb population. 
 
DIVERSE PUBLIC REACTIONS 
 
 
SARAJEVO 00000749  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. While many politicians have commented on the decision, 
public reaction in both entities has been muted to date. The 
director of the Helsinki Committee of the RS, Branko 
Todorovic, said that he believed the Court's ruling was 
purely a political decision, and he questioned the 
credibility of the President of the Constitutional Court, 
Mate Tadic, who is currently on trial in State Court for 
bribery and corruption charges. Todorovic observed that the 
ruling would likely further radicalize political life in the 
RS, and that he believed it would have a negative impact on 
the overall reconciliation process. However, Bosniak returnee 
and Speaker of the Municipal Assembly in Bratunac Refik Begic 
had a completely different opinion about the Court's 
decision. In his view, if implemented, the decision would 
help Bosniaks and Croats in the RS to feel they are more 
welcome in their prewar municipalities and that they are full 
citizens with equal rights. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶7. The Constitutional Court's decision declaring the 
entities' symbols unconstitutional is a long-awaited step 
toward the further integration of the Bosnian state. The 
predictably negative reactions of RS political leaders are 
another manifestation of their ongoing efforts to take the 
public's attention away from the real issues that burden the 
RS, including unemployment and poverty. RS leaders have also 
conveniently overlooked that the Court's decision affects the 
Federation as well, and will arguably bring positive 
improvements in the status of Serbs in the Federation. As 
pre-election campaigning heats up between now and October, 
this may be a first signal that nationalist politics will 
increasingly dominate the political scene in the RS. End 
comment. 
 
MCELHANEY