Post by radovic on Nov 27, 2007 10:35:45 GMT -5
Serbia Police Initiative Slammed
By Amela Bajrovic
26 11 2007 Novi Pazar _ Top ethnic Bosniak politicians in the Sandzak region said Monday they were dissatisfied with the number of cadets from their community admitted to Serbia’s police academy.
A project launched earlier this year by Serbia’s Interior Ministry, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the British embassy in Belgrade was tailored to attract minorities to join the police force and to contribute to a better ethnic balance in country’s law enforcement.
However, only two Bosniaks and one Serb from the volatile western region of Sandzak were admitted to the academy from 261 candidates who applied from the area.
Although Muslim Bosniaks form the majority of the inhabitants of the Sandzak, which borders Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo, only 33 per cent of the local police force are Muslims.
Esad Dzudzevic, a lawmaker from the List for Sandzak party dismissed the results of the project saying that “with just two Bosniaks, the national breakdown of the local police cannot be changed.”
"This proves that Serbia still lacks the sensitivity to implement its international obligations, including on minority rights,” Dzudzevic told Balkan Insight.
Tensions have flared up in Sandzak in recent months following a conflict between rival Muslim clergymen and skirmishes between the police and armed Islamic groups identified as followers of the orthodox, originally Saudi-based Wahhabi movement.
Dzudzevic said that “more Bosniaks in the police and judiciary would improve inter-ethnic trust and the work of the state bodies.”
Another local politician, Mirsad Jusufovic of the Sandzak Democratic Party said “it was unbelievable and devastating that only three candidates from this region were admitted regardless of their ethnicity.”
"At the beginning of the campaign we were told that a number of admissions were allotted for this region, regardless of their ethnicity and gender” Jusufovic said.
Police officials said that many would-be cadets had failed their physical and psychological tests, while others had not passed their medical check-ups.
“The OSCE and police officials have jointly reviewed applications. There were two rounds of selection,” said Milan Petrovic, the Interior Ministry’s coordinator for the project.
He added that several applicants had “poor high school grades.”
Biljana Puskar, the head of the Police Basic Training Center in the town of Sremska Kamenica, said that only 490 from some 5,000 applicants had passed the entrance exams. Of those 130 were actually admitted, in line with the academy’s capacity.
Puskar said that the academy had admitted three Albanians, two Bosniaks, two Hungarians, one ethnic Muslim, one Roma and one Croat and Ruthenian respectively.
Puskar said she regretted dissent from Muslim parties in Sandzak, and said that the Interior Ministry would likely adjust its future personnel lists according to “the needs of regional departments.”
Dinka Zivalj, a OSCE spokeswoman, refused to comment on the matter as the organization was still awaiting the final lists of all successful police academy candidates.
By Amela Bajrovic
26 11 2007 Novi Pazar _ Top ethnic Bosniak politicians in the Sandzak region said Monday they were dissatisfied with the number of cadets from their community admitted to Serbia’s police academy.
A project launched earlier this year by Serbia’s Interior Ministry, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the British embassy in Belgrade was tailored to attract minorities to join the police force and to contribute to a better ethnic balance in country’s law enforcement.
However, only two Bosniaks and one Serb from the volatile western region of Sandzak were admitted to the academy from 261 candidates who applied from the area.
Although Muslim Bosniaks form the majority of the inhabitants of the Sandzak, which borders Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo, only 33 per cent of the local police force are Muslims.
Esad Dzudzevic, a lawmaker from the List for Sandzak party dismissed the results of the project saying that “with just two Bosniaks, the national breakdown of the local police cannot be changed.”
"This proves that Serbia still lacks the sensitivity to implement its international obligations, including on minority rights,” Dzudzevic told Balkan Insight.
Tensions have flared up in Sandzak in recent months following a conflict between rival Muslim clergymen and skirmishes between the police and armed Islamic groups identified as followers of the orthodox, originally Saudi-based Wahhabi movement.
Dzudzevic said that “more Bosniaks in the police and judiciary would improve inter-ethnic trust and the work of the state bodies.”
Another local politician, Mirsad Jusufovic of the Sandzak Democratic Party said “it was unbelievable and devastating that only three candidates from this region were admitted regardless of their ethnicity.”
"At the beginning of the campaign we were told that a number of admissions were allotted for this region, regardless of their ethnicity and gender” Jusufovic said.
Police officials said that many would-be cadets had failed their physical and psychological tests, while others had not passed their medical check-ups.
“The OSCE and police officials have jointly reviewed applications. There were two rounds of selection,” said Milan Petrovic, the Interior Ministry’s coordinator for the project.
He added that several applicants had “poor high school grades.”
Biljana Puskar, the head of the Police Basic Training Center in the town of Sremska Kamenica, said that only 490 from some 5,000 applicants had passed the entrance exams. Of those 130 were actually admitted, in line with the academy’s capacity.
Puskar said that the academy had admitted three Albanians, two Bosniaks, two Hungarians, one ethnic Muslim, one Roma and one Croat and Ruthenian respectively.
Puskar said she regretted dissent from Muslim parties in Sandzak, and said that the Interior Ministry would likely adjust its future personnel lists according to “the needs of regional departments.”
Dinka Zivalj, a OSCE spokeswoman, refused to comment on the matter as the organization was still awaiting the final lists of all successful police academy candidates.