Canada's FM to consider IGC's letter asking for Dodik to be sanctioned

Canada is a member of the PIC, the international body overseeing Bosnia’s peace process.

The IGC sent the letter to Trudeau's office a few days ago asking for Canada to “use all democratic means” to protect Bosnia’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty and to, along with other PIC members, propose to the High Representative in BiH to “permanently suspend” Milorad Dodik from politics and performing any public function in the country.

“Thank you for the letter regarding the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We took the allegations from the letter very seriously. The Office of the Prime Minister of Canada sent your letter directly to Marc Garneau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order to inform, consider and take measures within his competence, according to the allegations in your letter,” the response reads.

The call comes days after the former High Representative in BiH, who oversees the peace implementation in the country, used his special powers to impose a law criminalising genocide and war crimes denial. This sparked reactions among Bosnian Serb political leaders, most notably Dodik, who is also the leader of the ruling party in BiH’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity.

The RS National Assembly rejected the new law and Dodik said RS police would prevent any arrests in the entity based on it.

By rejecting the High Representative's decision on the genocide denial ban, repeated denial of genocide, and the announced dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik seriously jeopardised the peace and security, IGC head Emir Ramic wrote in his letter.