Bosnia and Herzegovina

Previous reports: 2023/24

Principal EBCO concerns

• No recognition of the right to conscientious objection for professional soldiers.

Based on the reply of the Ombudsperson of Bosnia and Herzegovina to EBCO's Questionnaire and public information:

Developments

In December 2024, the Defence Minister stated that conscription is being reconsidered due to “new global developments.” However, he conceded that “t would be very difficult to implement” due to the “complex constitutional structure” and that it would require “the consent of multiple political entities.”²

Conscription provisions and procedures

Conscription was abolished in 2006.³

According to the Ombudsperson, “reserve service […] has not been formed yet because of the lack of funds and thus there has been no call-up so far”.

Voluntary recruitment

The Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina governs the voluntary military service. The minimum duration of contracts is not stipulated, but according to information from the Ombudsperson, it cannot be shorter than three years.

Conscientious objection during and after military service

There is no recognition of the right to conscientious objection for serving members of the armed forces. Termination is only possible through the standard procedure.

Regarding prosecutions for desertion, the Ombudsperson reports that “not a single person has been processed for desertion since the end of the war” and those subject to prosecution during the war were given amnesty immediately after it ended.

Asylum for conscientious objectors

Statistics on approvals/rejections of asylum applications that were citing conscientious objection were not available.

The Ombudsperson reports that “based on monitoring the case law, we know that the Asylum Department of the Ministry of Security of BiH previously rejected asylum applications filed by persons who indicated that they did not want to serve in the military service of their countries of origin (in this case, Eritrea) in the period between 2012 and 2014. We do not have access to complete asylum applications, so we cannot fully confirm to what extent conscientious objection was cited.”

After judgments of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina,⁴ the administrative body changed its practice and in 2014 recognized the status of the above-mentioned persons.⁵

Moreover, “the status of asylum seekers was recognized for three persons from Eritrea in 2019, but we do not know on what grounds.”

Militarisation of the education system

The Ombudsperson reports that there is no military curriculum in education. No armed forces personnel is involved in teaching classes at schools or has access to personal data of students.

1. Population and armed forces figures are derived from The Military Balance 2025, published by the international Institute for Strategic Studies; military expenditure figures are estimates published by SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in April 2025. ⤴
2. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/bosnia-and-herzegovina-considers-reintroducing-mandatory-military-service-defense-minister/3435290⤴
3. Article 79 of Law on Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, nr. 88/05 https://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/legal/laws-of-bih/pdf/014%20-%20ARMY%20LEGISLATION/BH%20Law%20on%20Defence%20of%20Bosnia%20and%20Herzegovina%2088-05.pdf⤴
4. Judgment no: S1 3 U 0010098 12 U, dated 13 June 2012; Judgment of the Court of BiH, no, S1 3 U 001010012 U, dated 14 June 2012;Judgment of the Court of BiH, no S1 3 U 010097 12 U, dated 13 June 2012;Judgment of the Court of BiH no S1 3 U 007612 11 U, dated 2 February 2012⤴
5. Decision no UP-01-07/1-41-1-67-9/13, dated 14 April 2014⤴