In a statement released on its web site this week, the ICG suggests that High Representative Paddy Ashdown ban the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), founded by Radovan Karadzic, and recalls that the obstruction of police reform is yet another proof that the party is continually working to prevent the stabilisation of the situation in the country and the full implementation of the Dayton peace agreement.
The ICG, which is currently chaired by former European Union commissioner Chris Patten, analyses the situation in more than 40 countries. It has been monitoring the situation in Bosnia since the end of the war in the country, pointing to existing difficulties and offering possible solutions.
In its latest report on Bosnia-Herzegovina, the ICG recalls that the reorganisation of the police force is a basic precondition set by the European Commission for the start of talks on stabilisation and association.
Although a proposal for police reform on the state level was drafted earlier this year with the mediation of former Belgian prime minister Wilfried Martens, it is still being negotiated because Bosnian Serb representatives are refusing to accept the concept of reform which envisages police districts crossing the existing entity borders.
The proposal of the Martens commission included several options and the ICG says in its report that it would be best for Bosnia-Herzegovina to have five police districts and a fully autonomous police chief, who would not have deputies coming from the two entities.
The ICG suggests that if the talks on the police reform fail, a ban should be imposed on the SDS. It also urges the EU leadership to increase pressure on Bosnian Serb authorities as well as those of Serbia and Montenegro so that the proposed concept of police reform is accepted.
The ICG also criticised the EU Police Mission (EUPM) in the country, describing it as an inefficient organisation without a clearly defined mandate. The ICG suggests that the EUPM be disbanded and a new mission established that would have the power to replace local police officials.
The ICG report came only two days after Paddy Ashdown openly threatened the SDS with penalties in case of the failure of talks on police reform, which have been held for the last 11 months.
Ashdown, however, did not specify the nature of the measures he threatened to take.