almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

norms result from overzealous attempts of parliament to dominate certain issues that
should be left to the executive. After years of ignoring security, parliament went to
the other extreme after the 2000 elections, resulting in basic strategic security and
defence related documents being passed by parliament.
There is no societal and institutionally significant denial or failure of recognition of
the importance of the right to ask for information. In addition, all international norms
on protection of human rights are observed and anti-discrimination polices pursued
according to international standards. Gradually over the years, enforceability of procedures
and official responsibilities towards proper handling of requests aimed at access
to information has been increasing. Consequently, the perception of its relevance
is gaining more recognition within the general public and state structures. So, the
added value of freedom of information is gaining ground and heavily influencing the
internalisation of norms in state officials and employees.
There are still examples of superfluous interpretation of confidential and classified
information on defence and security by security structures, but also of a lack of knowledge
and expertise of such sensitive relations and problems by the media and civil
society. Too wide ranging interpretations of classified documents are habitual, due
to the ambition of some high positioned security officials to keep their positions out
of public scrutiny by mystifying their profession. On the other hand, there are few
journalists who are able to recognise the tiny distinction between information which
should be considered as confidential in the national interest and information or problems
which deserve public scrutiny. A lot of education should be done in this field. This
is mostly fine tuning. Journalists are not competent enough to analyse very sensitive
civil military relations, especially in terms of democratic oversight of armed forces and
vice versa. Wider social development, partly related to previous abuses and corruption,
helped build understanding among citizens to recognise their rights.
Human rights are important among societal values. This position also is fostered by
NGOs and the media. In this situation MPs cannot avoid this important issue, even if
they want to. This makes them aware and sensitive to any breeches of human rights
and the individual liberties protection system, so all these elements together make
them effective in pursuing values growing from this issue. Again, some are more interested,
active and committed, but overall they represent a strong force addressing
mistakes of the security sector. Protection of human and civil rights are internalised by
most MPs and professionals and political appointees, as well as employees of security
agencies and organisations.
In all fields, these values are accepted and pursued by society and state. More importantly,
there is improvement in internalising these values by employees of the security
structures and state administration. There is a serious training of state employees
fostering understanding that misdeeds result in sanctioning. Finally, this value is
achieved by better and more deeply informing citizens, done regularly by state institutions,
helping in confidence building, creating public opinion and improving public
perception.
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