JMBG protests

2013 JMBG protests
Date
5 June – July 2013 (1 month)
Location Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Causes
  • Suspension of JMBG law, depriving citizens of a unique identification number, required to obtain legal documentation
Goals
  • Political reform
  • Improvement of living standards
Methods
Status Ended

The JMBG protests were demonstrations in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina between June–July 2013. The acronym JMBG stands for Jedinstveni matični broj građana (English: Unique Master Citizen Number), the identification number granted to citizens.

Due to political bickering along ethnic lines, assignment of JMBG was allowed to expire in February 2013 by the politicians representing the ethnic groups that constitute Bosnia. As a result, children born after February were not assigned a JMBG number and, therefore, could not obtain medical cards or passports.

Etymology

The protests have been called Bebolucija (English: the Baby Revolution) and the JMBG protests.

Background

In May 2011, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the law on Unique Master Citizen Numbers (JMBG), which is needed to request passports and other administrative documents, was unconstitutional, due to the fact that one of its articles did not contain the new names of a handful of municipalities in the Serb entity, Republika Srpska.[1]

The essence of the problem was that representatives of the three groups in Bosnia disputed over digits designating regions of the country in the 13-digit ID number. The Serbs desire to have the Serb-majority Republika Srpska entity half of the country secede from Bosnia and become its own country. In line with this policy, the Serb lawmakers wanted the new ID numbers to reflect this division. The Bosniaks and the Croats claimed the Serb request further divided the country.

The Court ordered the Bosnian parliament to amend the law within six months. But as the six-month period elapsed and no decision was reached by parliamentarians, the Court suspended the law altogether in January 2013.

As a result of the blocked legislation, babies born after February 2013 couldn’t get passports or health insurance because those require a personal ID number.

Protests

The protests started on 5 June 2013 when a group of citizens gathered in front of the Parliament building to protest. The small protest evolved into a blockade of the building by the next day. Thousands of people formed a chain around Bosnia’s parliament, preventing politicians from going home until the ethnic bickering within government ended and the JMBG issue was resolved.[2] By 11 June, an estimated 10,000 protesters were present around parliament.[3]

Continuing protests urged lawmakers to pass a law to prevent such situations in the future. They demanded a new law on personal ID numbers after the old one lapsed in February 2013, leaving all babies born since without personal documents. The government agreed to start issuing temporary ID numbers until a new law is passed, but protesters demanded a final solution. The crowd rejected the government’s offer for a temporary solution.

Young mothers with babies deprived of personal documents pushed their carriages between protesters and special police forces, while Sarajevo cabdrivers blocked streets around the building.

At the midst of the protests, on 16 June 2013, three-month old Berina Hamidović died as a result of being denied entree into neighboring Serbia for urgent life-saving medical treatment because the infant couldn't get a passport due to not being granted an identification number.[4] Protesters held a candle-lit vigil outside parliament to mourn her death and demand change.[5] Protesters set the deadline of 30 June 2013 for a new law.

Reaction

Sarajevo’s mayor, Ivo Komšić, joined the protest, saying “I am here also on behalf of over 1,500 Sarajevo babies who can’t get travel documents.”[6]

Amnesty International released a statement saying the “delay in adopting a new law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), assigning personal identification numbers to the new born citizens of BiH constitutes an illegal attack on the country’s citizens’ basic human rights.”[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "'We are all in this together': a civic awakening in Bosnia-Herzegovina". Open Democracy. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Thousands protest lack of Bosnia law on ID numbers". WKBN. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mass JMBG Protests in Sarajevo: 'Go Out and Fire Them'". Sarajevo Times. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Bosnia: facing political inertia, #JMBG protests call for civil disobedience". Euro News. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Bosnia's baby revolution: is the protest movement coming of age?". Open Democracy. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Thousands Blockade Bosnia Parliament To Protest". Huffington Post. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Bosnia: facing political inertia, #JMBG protests call for civil disobedience". Euro News. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
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