Sanjin Hamidičević: Fighting Corruption with App

The CSS assist the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton in creating an online application used to report corruption, highlighted Sanjin Hamidičević in an interview with the POINTPULSE.

By Mateja Agatonović (BCSP)

Sanjin Hamidičević is a researcher at the Centre for Security Studies (CSS), research and education organization from Sarajevo. The POINTPULSE talked with Hamidičević during last week event in Pristina.

What is the biggest impact of your organization in tackling police corruption?

The CSS has conducted multiple types of research linked with corruption in the security sector and we have raised awareness and promoted necessary reforms through them, such as “Mapping Corruption Risks in the Security Sector”, and through our media appearances.

Using the differential expertise that exists within our organization and the civil society in general, we have managed to assist the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton in creating an online application used to report corruption, which is currently being adapted to be used by the state anti-corruption agency.

Through training, we have managed to introduce different anti-corruption mechanisms such as integrity plans and risk assessments to the law enforcement agencies (LEA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These events have also been used as a forum for the LEA representatives to share their experiences in fighting corruption.

In the fight against corruption, there is a need for good cooperation of the prosecutors and the police. Unfortunately, their practice is to blame each other for the lack of success of investigations or charges on corrupt activities. Thus, we have organized roundtables to discuss on how to improve their cooperation.

The Centre for Security Studies is currently implementing a project on public procurements in the security sector through which we train the public servants on indicators of possible corruption and how and to whom they can report it. Through this, we are advocating for whistle-blower protection on lower governance levels, as the current Law only provides protection to state public servants. Also, as a differential oversight is important, we are working on promoting the creation of Citizens’ Complaint Board on Work of the Police Officers on all governance levels and to create guidelines that they all would share – providing an equal approach on all governance levels.

What are the challenges that you face in your communication with the police?

In the last 16 years, through objective and professional work, the Centre for Security Studies has managed to establish and keep good professional relations with the 16 LEAs and further five institutions that provide support or are engaged in similar activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that sense, there are no challenges in the communication, but there are in the way that information from the LEAs is presented.

The LEAs are created and governed by different legislation, they have different organizational structures, and they keep statistics in different manners and similar issues that come from the policing system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the biggest obstacle to creating a general overview of policing in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of civil society networking on a regional level?

The benefits of regional networking are multiple, as we manage to share our experience and good (and bad) practices in the region. This exchange can also give hints to issues that may be happening in your country and have not attracted your attention yet. On the other side, it can help you see that sometimes your countries institutions have done a good progress, even if there is much more to do. If the countries in the region are working together in multiple initiatives, the networking of civil society on a regional level is also necessary and important.

I cannot identify any drawbacks, but there are however challenges that need to be overcome. One challenge that may show up is which specific area to focus on, as every organization is concentrated on the key issue in their own country. In the POINTPULSE network, we have managed to address this challenge through papers on these key issues to the satisfaction of all partners.