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Jakob Finci

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina - A Bosnian Jew and an ethnic Roma are taking Bosnia to the European Court of Human Rights because the country’s constitution prevents them from running for presidency and parliament.

A statement from Minority Rights Group International said that the two will challenge their state at the highest chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It will be the first time that the court considers the application of the Council of Europe’s anti-discrimination laws in member states.

Bosnia’s constitution - written in Dayton, Ohio, by peace negotiators in a hurry to stop Bosnia’s 1992-95 war - allows only Muslim Bosniaks, Christian Orthodox Serbs and Roman Catholic Croats to run for president or lawmakers - thereby discriminating against minorities.

Bosnian citizens Jakob Finci, a prominent Jew, and Dervo Sejdic, of Roma ethnicity, are arguing that by preventing people from certain religious and ethnic communities from running, the Bosnian constitution and relevant election laws are discriminatory and violate key U.N. conventions and European treaties.

Such constitutional limitations are “not only discriminatory but they also exclude people from some ethnic and religious groups from participating fully and effectively in public life,” said Lucy Claridge, head of law at London-based Minority Rights Group International.

In a statement, Minority Rights Group International said Bosnia’s constitution violates the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination, while Bosnia has signed and ratified both.

The court’s decision, expected later this year, will be binding on the Bosnian government. If judgment is in favor of the applicants, then Bosnia must change its constitution and allow minorities to hold public office.

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