Attorney and Bluffton University alumna Nadin-Sarah Salkic drew similarities between ethnic discrimination in her native Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the U.S. at Bluffton’s annual Constitution Day Forum on Sept. 16.
Salkic, a 2010 Bluffton graduate in history, explained that discrimination in her home country results from its constitution, which was created as part of the 1995 peace treaty that ended years of civil war between ethnic Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, leaving more than 8,000 dead and 30,000 displaced from their homes. While the majority of Serbs wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia, the Croats and Bosniaks favored independence from each other.
When the peace treaty was drafted, Salkic said, government officials created a written constitution—in English, rather than the country’s official languages—as part of the treaty.
But this method of creating a constitution was very different from the normal democratic method of ratification through voting, she pointed out. Because the document was attached to the peace treaty and was adopted through unconventional, undemocratic procedures, she added, Bosnia’s constitution is highly difficult to amend.
To Salkic and many other Bosniaks, the constitution must be able to be amended because they believe it discriminates against many of the country’s citizens. According to the constitution, many political offices, including the presidency, can only be held by citizens of Serbian, Croatian or Bosniak ethnic origin.
A 2009 decision by the European Court of Human Rights ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral provisions as unconstitutional after citizens of Roma and Jewish origin brought the issue to court. But the government has failed to make any changes to enforce the ruling, Salkic said.
The Texas Wesleyan—now Texas A&M—University School of Law graduate compared the recent incidence of discrimination in her country with the struggle of Dred Scott in the U.S. in the 19thcentury.
Scott was born into slavery but later in life was relocated to Illinois, a free state. Because he had lived and worked in a free state, he argued that he should be able to purchase his freedom. In 1857, however, a historic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court held that because African-American slaves were not deemed to be citizens, Scott could not bring a suit to federal court.
Salkic, who came to the U.S. as an exchange student in 2005, shared the story of American injustice to show how constitutional red tape can enforce discrimination rather than protect its citizens from it.
“Today, Bosnia stands in breach of international agreement,” she told the audience. If the constitution remains unaltered, many citizens will continue to be unable to run for office, an opportunity that should be fully realized in a democratic government, she said.
“If you try to protect one group too much, you’re going to start excluding other groups,” she said of the government’s favoritism toward Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. “I still have hope that Bosnia will get there.”
