Nedim Hadrović:

Zviždači – nova nada Bosne?

Novi bosanski zakon o zaštiti zviždača je jedan od najboljih u Evropi. Obećava rješenje za endemsku korupciju i nepovjerenje u državne vlasti. A ipak za građane ostaje tanka linija između onih koji zviždače vide kao junake ili kao potkazivače. Ovo stanovište se polako mijenja.

04.08.2015.

Nedim Hadrović:

Whistleblowing – Bosnia’s New Hope?

Bosnia’s new law on whistleblower protection is one of the best in Europe. It promises a solution to endemic corruption and distrust of public authorities. Yet for citizens, there remains a fine line between seeing whistleblowers as heroes or as snitches. This view is slowly changing.

04.08.2015.

Iznenađujuće je da u zemlji sa možda jednim od najnepodesnijih i najiščašenijih sudskih sistema u Evropi postoji jedinstven zakon koji funkcionira i može aktivno da mijenja stvari nabolje. Bosna i Hercegovina sada ima jedan od najkompletnijih i najusklađenijih zakona o zviždačima u Evropi i svakako je jedna od prvih zemalja na kontinentu koja je donijela takav zakon.

Kao rezultat skoro četverogodišnjeg aktivnog građanskog angažmana i djelimično pokrenut uz podršku USAID ovaj zakon donesen je 2014. uz velike hvale i s efikasnim rezultatima od samog uvođenja. Sada pozdravljen od USAID-a kao uspješna priča Zakon o zaštiti zviždača obezbjeđuje, iako i marginalno, poslovično svjetlo na kraju tunela za komplikovanu institucionalnu strukturu u Bosni.

Jedan od najistaknutijih slučajeva posljednjih godina koji se odnosi na zviždače bio je slučaj Višnje Marilović – onaj koji je pomogao implementaciju sadašnjeg zakona. Gospođa Marilović je bila zaposlena u Centru Skenderija u Sarajevu, kulturnom i sportskom centru koji je pod upravom grada. Uprkos stalnom fizičkom urušavanju posljednjih godina Centar je funkcionirao neobično dobro i bez vanjske finansijske pomoći.

Početkom 2007. gospođa Marilović, po zanimanju knjigovođa, počela je da primjećuje značajna neslaganja u izvješajima o izdacima koji je podnosio tadašnji direktor Suad Džindo. Naime, nisu bili usaglašeni ogromni manjkovi u budžetu sa izvještajima o izdacima koji su podneseni. Marilovićeva je otkrila da Džindo, koji je koristio novac kompanije da finansira raskošan životni stil - od renoviranja njegovog stana do iznajmljivanja neumjereno skupih hotelskih soba na putovanjima, nije unosio stvarne potvrde u knjigovodstvene knjige Skenderije. U nekoliko navrata Marilovićeva je zatražila od Džinde službene priznanice, što joj je odbijeno.

Nakon što je o svemu ovome obavijestila kantonalnog tužitelja Marilovićeva je dobila otkaz poslije 12 godina rada.

Kao zaposlenici u javnom sektoru koji je uglavnom decentralizovan kad je riječ o propisima i predmet osrednjeg i sporadičnog monitoringa, ovakva sudbina je za Marilovićevu bila očekivana.

Međutim, Marilovićeva je, zajedno sa drugim građanskim grupama kao što su Centar za odgovornu demokratiju Luna i Centar za civilne inicijative, tokom sljedeće tri godine pokrenula i formulirala zakon o zviždačima. Iako je zakon o zaštiti donesen nakon otpuštanja Marilovićeve, ona se još nada da niko nikad neće proći sve ono kroz šta je ona prošla nakon što je izvijestla o onome čemu je direktno svjedočila na svom radnom mjestu.

In a country with perhaps one of the most incongruous and disjointed judicial systems in Europe, it is duly surprising that there is a singular law that is functioning and may actively change things for the better. Bosnia and Herzegovina now has one of the most complete and coordinated laws on whistleblowing in Europe, and certainly one of the first countries on the continent to pass such a law.

A result of a nearly four-year active civic engagement campaign and instituted in part by USAID, the law was enacted in 2014, to much acclaim and with effective results since legislation. Now hailed as a success story by USAID, the Whistleblower Protection Law provides, even if marginal, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel for Bosnia’s complicated institutional structure.

One of the most publicized cases in recent years regarding whistleblowing was that of Višnja Marilović – one that helped set the implementation of the current law into motion. Ms. Marilović was an employee of the Skenderija Centre in Sarajevo, a cultural and sports centre under city mandate. In spite of its steady physical decline in recent years, the Centre had been functioning unusually well without outside financial help.

Starting in 2007, Ms. Marilović, a bookkeeper by profession, had begun to bear witness to significant inconsistencies in expense reports submitted by its then-director, Suad Džindo. Namely, they didn’t seem to explain large deficiencies in budget with the expense reports being submitted. Marilović had found out that Džindo, who had been using company money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included anything from renovating his apartment to renting out inordinately expensive hotel rooms on leisure trips, wasn’t submitting actual receipts to Skenderija bookkeeping. On several occasions during this time, Marilović had asked Džindo for official receipts, which she was refused.

After reporting all of this to the Cantonal Prosecutor, Marilović was fired, after twelve years on the job.

As an employee in a public sector which is largely decentralized in regulation and subject to subpar and sporadic monitoring, this fate was most obvious for Ms. Marilović.

However, Marilović, along with civil advocacy groups like the Centre for Responsible Democracy Luna and the Centre for Civic Initiatives, were instrumental in pushing for and drafting the subsequent whistleblowing law over the next three years. Despite the protection law having come after Marilović’s dismissal, she still hopes that no one will ever go through what she had gone through after having reporting what she had directly witnessed at her workplace.

Govor o zviždačima nije novost u Bosni. Nakon rata 1990-ih, u Bosnu su upućeni kontraktori za privatnu sigurnost pod izgovorom da će navodno obezbijediti i održavati sigurnost i stabilnost. Jedan od tih kontraktora bila je američka DynCorp, čija je britanska podružnica DyCorp Aerospace dobila ugovor od petnaest miliona dolara da uposli i trenira policiju u Bosni. Kathryn Bolkovac, policajka iz Nebraske, bila je jedna od unajmljenih kao monitoring ekspert u okviru ugovora u mandatu UN. Uskoro nakon dolaska Bolkovac je opazila da policija DynCorpa plaća za prostitutke i da je čak uspostavila lanac prostitucije i operacije trgovine seksom, u što je bila uključena seksualna eksploatacija mladih bosanskih djevojaka, posebno u ruralnim sredinama – sredinama koje su nedavno izašle iz konflikta koje je obilovalo seksualnim nasiljem.

Bolkovac je objavila ovu informaciju i odmah je otpuštena. Tužila je DynCorp za nepravedan otkaz zato što ih je razotkrila, i nakon višegodišnjeg suđenja i svjedočenja ljudi u njenu korist kao što je aktivistkinja za ljudska prava Madeleine Rees, sud je jednoglasno dosudio u korist Bolkovac. Ti događaji su dramatizirani u filmu Zviždač 2010. u kome ulogu Kathryn Bolkovac igra Rachel Weisz.

Međutim, uprkos nedavnim primjerima koji ukazuju na sve veće razumijevanje pojma zviždač, socijalistička prošlost Bosne još nosi složenosti te supresije. Ovo je osjećanje koje preovladava širom regiona i kao što je Yavor Siderov, savjetnik bugarskog premijera o zviždačima, istakao na konferenciji o Zviždačimau junu održanoj u Sarajevu, još postoji tanka linija između onih koji ove ljude vide kao “junake ili kao potkazivače”. U velikom dijelu bivše Jugoslavije, zviždače vide kao potkazivače. Ovaj stav je posebno izražen u bosanskim institucijama čiji je rekordan broj od 150 ministara u stalnom strahu da neko može ugroziti status quo koji im u izvjesnom pogledu pruža sve ali ne i svemoguće. Ali na društvenom nivou važno je utisnuti u svijest šire javnosti da su upravo ti zviždači oni koji bi mogli potencijalno promijeniti nabolje same strukture institucionalizirirane korupcije, posebno u javnim institucijama. Jer oni dokazuju da prijetnja sankcijama može normalizirati zloupotrebu moći koju visoko pozicionirani ministri i izvršni organi vrše unutar bosanskih javnih institucija. Ali je možda još važnije što će pokazati da regularno zaposleni Bosanci u tim institucijama mogu izaći kao junaci – junaci koji izvještavaju o tom kriminalu u korist društvenog dobra, uprkos prijetnjama o gubitku potpore, i junaci koje sada štiti opsežan zakon.

Mark Worth, koji je inicirao konferenciju o ideji zviždača u Sarajevu i koji radi za Blueprint za slobodu govora, aktivno radi na formoranju jugoistočnoevropske koalicije i zaštiti zviždača u skoroj budućnosti. On ističe da je važnost održanja zakona u okviru modernog institucionalnog okvira, i podsjeća ljude da postoji izlaz. Iznad svega, važno je da ljudi saznaju da sami građani mogu izvjestiti i spriječiti kriminal.

Opipljivi primjeri zviždača koji služe pravdi pomažu da se prekine kompleksnost koja se tiče ovog pitanja u Bosni. Postoji Certifikat o zaštiti zviždača da privatna osoba ili institucija može prijaviti svaki nepravedni otkaz. Sada ima slučajeva da uposlenike ponovo upošljavaju jedan dan nakon što su otpušteni jer je njihovim poslodavcima zaprijećeno visokim novčanim globama.

The discourse on whistleblowing isn’t a new one in Bosnia. Following the war in the 1990s, private security contractors were sent to Bosnia on the pretense that they would supposedly provide and maintain security and stability. One of these contractors was US-based DynCorp, whose British subsidiary DynCorp Aerospace had a fifteen million dollar contract to hire and train police officers within Bosnia. Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska police officer, was one of the people hired as a monitoring expert as part of a UN-mandated contract. Shortly after arriving, Bolkovac had noticed that DynCorp’s police officers were paying for prostitutes and had even instituted a prostitution ring and sex trafficking operation, which involved the physical and sexual exploitation of young Bosnian girls, especially in rural areas – areas which had only recently exited a conflict in which sexual violence was rife.

Bolkovac reported this information, and was immediately fired. She sued DynCorp for unfair dismissal as a result of whistleblowing, and after several years of trial and the testimonies of people such as woman’s rights activist Madeleine Rees in her suport, the court unanimously voted in favor of Bolkovac. These events were dramatized in the 2010 film The Whistleblower, starring Rachel Weisz as Bolkovac.

However, despite recent patterns that point towards a heightened understanding of whistleblowing, Bosnia’s socialist past still carries the complexities of its suppression. This is a sentiment that is pervasive region-wide and, as Yavor Siderov, advisor to the Bulgarian Prime Minister on whistleblowing, pointed out in June at the Whistleblowing Conference in Sarajevo, there is still a fine line between seeing this people “as heroes or as snitches.” In much of the former Yugoslavia, whistleblowers are seen as the latter. This view is especially bolstered by the Bosnian institutions, whose record 150 ministers are in constant fear that someone may upset the status quo that renders them all but omnipotent in certain regards.

But on the societal level, it is important to impress upon the wider public that it is precisely these whistleblowers who could potentially change the very structures of institutionalized corruption for the better, especially within public institutions. Because at the very least, they prove that the threat of sanctions can normalize the abuse of power that top-level ministers and executives exercise within Bosnian public institutions. But perhaps more importantly, they go to show that regular Bosnians employed within these institutions can emerge as heroes – heroes who report these crimes for the greater societal good, in spite of the threat of loss of livelihood, and heroes who are now protected by a comprehensive law.

Mark Worth, who initiated the idea of a whistleblower conference in Sarajevo and who works for the Blueprint for Free Speech, is actively working on forming a Southeastern European coalition on whistleblowing protection in the near future. He points out that the importance of maintaining the relevance of the law within the modern institutional framework, and reminding people that there is a way out. Above all, it is important to let people know that citizens themselves can report and prevent crime.

Tangible examples of whistleblowers serving justice are helping break the cultural complexity surrounding this issue in Bosnia. There is the Whistleblower Protection Certificate that a private entity or institution can apply for to immediately preempt any unfair dismissals. There are now cases of employees being rehired one day after being dismissed, because their employers are threatened with hefty monetary fines.

As Worth rightly notes, we are now seeing beginnings of trust in the government. And in a country which has so deeply fallen into the throes of a fundamental distrust of the powers that be, whistleblowing may very well be the factor that restores hope in good governance.

DODATNA NAPOMENA:

Novi zakon u BiH štiti uposlene od osvete za saopćenja o korupciji

Prije donošenja zakona o zaštiti zviždača u Bosni i Hercegovini (BiH), zaposleni u institucijama na državnom nivou koji bi izvijestili o korupciji vjerovatno bi navukli na sebe bijes svojih poslodavaca i bili otpušteni, kao što je slučaj Višnje Marilović iz Sarajeva.

“Nadam se da niko neće proći kroz sve ono kroz šta sam prošla nakon što sam izvijestila o korupciji na mom radnom mjestu”, rekla je Marilović, prvi izvještač u jednoj javnoj kompaniji, Centru Skenderija. Marilović je izgubila posao 2011. nakon što je izvijestila o kriminalnim radnjama u kompaniji u kojoj je 12 godina radila kao knjigovođa.

U decembru 2013. Parlament BiH je u potpunosti prihvatio zakon o zaštiti zviždača a 1. januara 2014. uključen je u zakon i tako je BiH postala prva evropska zemlja koja je donijela takav zakon. Zakon štiti pojedince zaposlene u institucijama na državnom nivou koji u dobroj namjeri izvještavaju o korupciji na radnom mjestu.

Kao što Worth s pravom opaža, sada vidimo buđenje povjerenja u vladu. I u zemlji koja je toliko duboko pala u agoniju temeljnog nepovjerenja u vlast, zviždači mogu biti faktor koji vraća nadu u dobru vlast.

Ali donošenje takvog zakona u BiH nije jednostavan podvig. Bio je to rezultat dvogodišnje građanske kampanje uz podršku USAID-a a implementiran je kroz blisku saradnju četiri njegova projekta. Najaktivnije organizacije u zagovaranju ovog zakona su Centar za odgovornu demokratiju Luna, partner USAID-a Centri za civilne inicijative, i NVO članice antikoruptivne mreže USAID-a, ACCOUNT.

Civilno društvo, multipartijska grupa parlamentaraca i predstavnika institucija BiH radili su zajedno na formulaciji i usvajanju zakona – što je rijedak događaj u BiH. Ovaj zajednički napor je primjer kako vlada i NVO mogu raditi zajedno i pozabaviti se važnim pitanjima koji se tiču života građana.

To je zakon čije je vrijeme došlo. Korupcija odnosi približno 1 milijardu dolara (1.5 milijardi maraka. Ili BAM) svake godine. Drugim riječima, svake sekunde korupcija koja se tolerira u ovoj zemlji, podriva ekonomiju za 30 $ (47 BAM), to je novac koji se može iskoristiti za gradnju puteva i škola. To je isto kao da se nameće direktna taksa od 275$ (400 BAM) za godinu na svakog muškarca, ženu i dijete u BiH.

Nažalost, ovaj zakon je donesen nakon što je Marilović dobila otkaz. Njena borba za pravdu vodila se na sudovima tri godine i još nije okončana Ali je ona ipak zahvalna što danas u BiH postoji takva zakonska zaštita. Ipak, prihvatanje zakona je samo prvi korak ka punoj zaštiti. Kao što je rekao jedan parlamentarac, “Zakon bi se, ustvari, mogao proširiti uključivši više institucija, ali ga još možemo ispraviti sa izmjenama i amandmanima.”

Izvor: USAID [http://www.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/protecting-whistleblowers-bosnia-and-herzegovina]

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:

New law in BiH shields employees from retaliation for reporting corruption

Before passage of the law on whistleblower protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), employees of state-level institutions who reported corruption would likely incur the wrath of their employers and be fired, like Višnja Marilović of Sarajevo.

“I hope that no one will go through what I went through after I reported corruption in my work place,” said Marilović, the first whistleblower in public company, Centar Skenderija. Marilović lost her job in 2011 immediately after she reported criminal acts in the company, where she had worked as a bookkeeper for 12 years.

In December 2013, legislation to protect whistleblowers was fully adopted by the BiH Parliament, and on January 1, 2014, it was enacted into law, making BiH one of the first European countries to pass such a law. The law protects individuals employed in state-level institutions who in good faith report corruption at work.

But passage of such a law in BiH was no simple feat. It was the result of a two-year civic advocacy campaign supported by USAID and implemented through close coordination of four of its projects. The organizations most active in advocating for the law are the Center for Responsible Democracy Luna, USAID partner Centers for Civic Initiatives, and NGO members of USAID’s anti-corruption network, ACCOUNT.

Civil society, a multi-party group of parliamentarians, and representatives of BiH institutions worked together to draft and adopt the legislation—a rare event in BiH. This joint effort set an example of how the government and NGOs can work together and address major issues that affect citizens’ lives.

It’s a law whose time has come. Corruption costs approximately $1 billion (1.5 billion Bosnian marks, or BAM) every year. In other words, for every second corruption is tolerated in this country, $30 (47 BAM) is sapped out of the economy, money that could be used for building roads and schools. The result is like imposing a direct tax of $275 (400 BAM) per year on every man, woman and child in BiH.

Unfortunately for Marilović, the law was passed after she was fired from her job. Her fight for justice has been in the courts for three years and has yet to be resolved. But she’s still grateful such legal protection now exists in BiH. Nevertheless, adoption of the law is just the first step towards full protection. Said one parliamentarian, “The law, in fact, could have been wider to include more institutions, but we can still correct it with changes and amendments.”

Source: USAID [http://www.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/protecting-whistleblowers-bosnia-and-herzegovina]

Nedim Hadrović

Nedim Hadrović

Tekst je prvobitno objavljen na Balkanist portalu (15.07.2015).

This article was originally published on the Balkanist portal (15.07.2015).

Odgovornost za informacije i gledišta iznesena u ovom članku, isključivo leži na autorima i nužno ne odražavaju mišljenje urednika Dialogue - BiH2.0 – Dijalog, njegovog savjetodavnog odbora, Tufts univerziteta, partnera, pobornika i donatora.

Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Dialogue - BiH2.0 - Dijalog Editors, its Advisory Board, Tufts University, Partners, Supporters and Donors.}

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