FEDERATION AUTHORITIES ACCUSED OF VIOLATING CITIZENS' SOCIAL RIGHTS

( Editorial: --> 9452 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 10 (Hina) - Ombudsmen for the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina (FBH) have warned that authorities in Bosnia's Muslim- Croat entity were constantly violating the social rights of its citizens and the law which organised the management of former socially-owned property. In their latest report presented to reporters in Sarajevo on Thursday, FBH ombudsmen Esad Muhibic, Branka Raguz and Vera Jovanovic emphasised that public enterprises were using their monopoly position to impose high prices for their services. They also accused municipal administrations for making charges which were totally out of proportion to average incomes. Our analyses show that the social rights of citizens are very threatened and that, for example, the prices of public services in the FBH are incomparable with prices of the same services in transitional countries, Huhibic said. The three federal ombudsmen recommended the FBH government establish a permanent body which would monitor the situation in the social policy arena; to harmonise the price of communal services with citizens' standard of living, and to immediately guarantee balanced responsibilities towards pensioners. FBH ombudsmen in a special report warned that municipal authorities often acted illegally by granting temporarily abandoned properties as well as property which is subjugated to restitution. "According to our information, granting such property is closely tied to corruption," Raguz said. She said that in Bugojno (under Bosnian Muslim control) similar cases were being reviewed in cooperation with the Office of the High Representative. "It is an infection which has taken over the entire country and it must be stopped immediately," said Esad Muhibic adding that immediately following Bugojno, Stolac (under Croat control) would be examined. (Hina) mbr jn /sp 101716 MET sep 98