Srednjobosanski Canton
Suspect Politics

A detailed and scathing report on public corruption in Srednjobosanski Canton by Federation Financial Police in 2003 named 21 officials and connected them to a variety of scams through which about 1.2 million KM in taxpayers’ money disappeared. Officials took money for trips they never made and bought land for a detention center they never opened because it was next door to a school.

The charges seemed bold and bad, but nothing happened. None of the 21 officials have been cleared of suspicion, but they have either continued in jobs involving public trust or been promoted. Nine of them are up for office in the Oct. 1 elections.

Political parties blithely say that the charges are no big deal. The canton prosecutor says his office is busy, but will get around to bringing charges into court by the end of the year. The case is a sad illustration of how corruption can go unpunished and undeterred in BiH.

Stories are available here or in print form through these fine outlets that carry CIN investigations.

How can BiH integrate with Europe's new educational standards when it cannot even integrate itself?

"Universities Failing the Grade," an examination by the Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) shows that Bosnia-Herzegovina is behind all of Europe in its implementation of the Bologna agreement and its university system is failing its students and the country’s economy.

Two years after signing on to a sweeping program of reforms meant to upgrade and harmonize universities across the continent, higher education in BiH is mostly unchanged from decades ago. CIN found outdated equipment and curricula, a bloated bureaucracy, corruption and regulations that drive the best and brightest students away. While some committed academicians struggle for change, it is the country's politicians who are the slowest to enact it.

Stories are available here or in print form through these fine outlets that carry CIN investigations.

Waiting for Justice
Can We Ever Forgive?

With the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July, the Center for Investigative Journalism in Sarajevo begins an 11-part series on reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina called “Waiting for Justice.”  The project looks at Bosnia-Herzegovina's progress so far toward justice and reconciliation, especially the efforts of the new State Court War Crimes Chamber. 

The stories are available here or in print form through these fine media outlets.  

Losing Culture
Saving BiH's Cultural Heritage

This seven-part series follows a two-month inquiry into BiH’s post-war approach to protecting the past it used to share before its reorganization into two entities. The Center’s eight-person team found that government has no systematic approach to the protection of the country’s heritage, or the promotion of culture to improve the nation’s image and encourage industries such as tourism and filmmaking. Meanwhile, the nation’s future, its’ children, are getting a highly politicized view of their cultural history.

All the stories from this report you can read here.

Healthcare on life support
The Health Care System in BiH is Sick

For six weeks, a team of 9 reporters from the Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) visited hospitals and clinics and talked with the people who work and are treated there.
They found a health care system that is desperately sick.
In this series of 8 stories, the CIN team takes the temperature of health care and provides some of the cures suggested by experts.

All stories from this report you can read here.