23 January 2016
Dear Hon. Prime Minister Zvizdić,
At the request of the Center for Responsible Democracy-Luna of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are writing to you concerning the serious situation involving the mining company, Tuzla Kvarc.
The Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, comprised of more than 20 NGOs from 10 countries in the region, is lending its support to Tuzla Kvarc and its employees who reported bribery and corruption in the government of Tuzla Canton. As a result of reporting this misconduct – which, in fact, was its public duty – the company has been victimised by brutal and repeated retaliation by corrupt networks and bureaucracies.
Fifty companyemployees and their families are now suffering – while fighting for justice, their rights, and a basic level of financial survival.
The goal of our network is to inform the international community about this tragic and shocking case. We are sending you an excerpt of Luna’s documentary film about the situation, which was shown to the public in Sarajevo in December. We are planning an international premiere of the film in many capital cities around the world.
We have begun to inform foreign investors about the case of Tuzla Kvarc. The investment community needs to know that BiH’s legal frameworks can actually workagainst whistleblowers, with the judicial system and law enforcement agencies expending vast resources to prosecute whistleblowers, rather than investigating and prosecuting public officials who whistleblowers expose. With the situation turned on its head in this way, we are sending a clear message to international investors that now is not time to invest in BiH. Poor whistleblower protections can expose companies and governments alike to great risks.
We have also begun to alert a full range of governments, international organizations and regional institutions – including the European Parliament, European Commission, Council of Europe, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, World Bank, IMF, and the governments of all EU Members States. Unless it is rapidly solved, the Tuzla Kvarcscandal – and similar cases in the country – will be seen as a formal obstacle to BiH’s EU accession process.
We kindly ask you, on behalf of the Coalition, to react immediately, to react with courage and integrity, to react as a leader with vision, to protect this company and its 50 employees and their families. We urge you to use your position to stop all further actions against Tuzla Kvarc, to allow this company to resume full operations, to compensate the company for its great losses, and to permit its employees to recoup their back pay.
We also urge you to nurture an environment for a new deal in BiH – without corruption, and without retaliation against whistleblowers whose only concern is protecting the public interest from crime and corruption.
The property of Tuzla Kvarchas been devastated by authorities acting under the slogan “in the name of the law.”This abuse of public power is at the root of all problems in Tuzla Kvarc and throughout the country, and it is clouding BiH’s future as a member of the EU.
We kindly ask you to inform us within 15 days of your intended actions to solve this serious problem, which has begun to attain international attention to the detriment of the reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Respectfully,
Mark Worth
Coordinator, Coalition to Protect Tuzla Kvarc
Co-Coordinator, Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection
Director, International Whistleblower Project / Blueprint for Free Speech
(+49) 176 630 94993
Berlin