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DemocracyAlerts

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are, or may be, facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

To see previous alerts go to www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/democracyAlerts.html.

(Feb. 23, 2007)

Democracy Alert: Bosnian Human Rights Activist Duško Kondor Shot Dead in Home

On February 22, Duško Kondor, one of the founders of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska and the head of its division on education and human rights, was gunned down in his home in the northeastern Bosnian town of Bijeljina. His daughter was also shot, but thankfully survived. According to the initial release issued by the organization, threats against Kondor's life had increased in the last few days, yet repeated attempts by Committee members to secure police protection for him failed. At this time, the motive for his murder remains unknown.

Participants in the World Movement for Democracy are profoundly saddened by the loss of this courageous activist, and we are greatly concerned by the circumstances of his brutal murder. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska urges individuals to send letters to the highest representatives of authority in Republika Srpska calling for a full and thorough investigation into the murder of Duško Kondor, and to take measures to help protect all human rights activists in the country.

For more information in English, go to: www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=02&dd=23&nav_category=123&nav_id=39782

For more information in local language, go to: www.helsinkirs.org/index.php?Meni=3&Stranica=pages/vp.php&id=111

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Letter from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska

Dear friends,

Last night, around 10:30 PM professor Duško Kondor, a sociologist and one of the founders of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska and the head of the division on education on human rights in the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska, was killed from an automatic gun at the door of his apartment.

In the past year and a half, Duško Kondor and his family received telephone threats on several occasions, which is why he turned to the local police and judicial authorities several times. On the day he was murdered, that same morning, he went to the police station in Bijeljina, reported the threats he received and warned the police that his life and the lives of his family members are endangered. Since the police did nothing, he went again to the police station in the afternoon, where he spent two hours giving them the details of the threats and asking protection from the police. The police, unfortunately, did not take a single step to protect our member and activist. That night, around 10:30 PM, three attackers rang the door bell of the apartment of the Kondor family and when they heard his voice, took more than 20 shots from an automatic gun through the door, when Duško Kondor got killed and his daughter wounded.

On this occasion we urge you to refer letters of protest to the highest representatives of authority in Republika Srpska and take other measures which you deem necessary in order to protect human rights activists in Republika Srpska.

Yours truly,

Branko Todorovic, Sadik Pazarac, Valetina Todorovic, Aleksandra Letic, Snjezana Filipovic, Vedrana Subotic, Gabriela Stevic, Tijana Milic, Asmir Vodencarevic