Human Rights as the Means of Involving Young People in Community Affairs

December 21, 2009

Donor: Olof Palmes International Centrum

Duration of project: January 2009 – December 2009

This project consists of two modules. Module I was conducted from January until July 2009 and the goal was to provide specific education to high school students in three towns in Serbia, Uzice, Sabac and Kovacica. This Module included 150 young people, age 16 – 19 that have received training in human rights, environmental issues and involvement in the decision making process in their local communities. The result of this part of Module I was creation and implementation of local campaigns on environmental issues by students who have attended the trainings. (more…)

Human Rights Report 2009

Donor: German Embassy in Belgrade

Duration of project: December 2009 – December 2010

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has been publishing in Serbian and in English its Annual Reports on the human rights situation in the country since 1998 with the aim to offer a comprehensive analysis of the human rights situation both in legislation and in practice in order to present accurate conditions of the human rights enjoyment in the country. The intention of the Centre is to examine all the aspects in which human rights were manifested, regulated and enjoyed, restricted or violated in 2009 and to describe the circumstances which influence the true enjoyment of human rights in the country. The Annual Human Rights Reports are still the only comprehensive human rights reports in Serbia. (more…)

Serbia’s EU Integration: Implementing Priorities of European Partnership with Serbia in the Field of Judicial Reform

December 20, 2009

Donor: Open Society Fund, British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Westminster Foundation, OEBS, Council of Europe

Duration of project: Jun 2009 – Jun 2010

This project is the latest stage of a long-term Programme launched in 1999, one of the longest and most prominent forms of partnership cooperation on rule of law in Serbia, boasting a lot of support and influence. The Programme has played an important role in Serbia’s rapprochement to the EU. The implementation of the project, entitled “Serbia’s EU Integration: Implementing Priorities of European Partnership with Serbia in the Field of Judicial Reform”, began in June 2009 and will last until June 2010. The project is a logical continuation of the above-mentioned long-term Programme. (more…)

Join in

December 19, 2009

Donor: Spanish Agency for International Development cooperation – AECID

Duration of project: 30 January 2009 – 4 June 2010

This project represents a continuation of the BCHR’s long-standing efforts and programmes aimed at helping Serbia’s transition into an open democratic society based on the rule of law, human rights and other values EU membership entails. The project target group comprises high school students in Serbia (age 16-17) and their teachers in order to present them relevant information on democracy, tolerance and EU and overcome general lack of awareness of what rule of law, democratisation and EU membership entails. Join in has been designed as a multi-disciplinary and interactive project, not only in terms of the methodology of transmitting information, but also in terms of the subsequent involvement of the seminar participants in raising the knowledge of others about the issues covered by seminars. (more…)

Announcement from the Coalition for Free Access to Information on the adoption of two laws on 11 December 2009

December 15, 2009

The Law Amending the Law on Free Access to Public Information and the Law on the Confidentiality of Data. The Coalition for Free Access to Information acknowledges the readiness of the government to, after several years of pressure from independent institutions and civil society, adopt a concrete law on the confidentiality of data and which meets the majority of our legislative demands. On the same day, however the National Assembly was not prepared to bring in full changes in the area of free access to information. (more…)

Freedom of the Media and Safety of Journalists under Threat

December 7, 2009

We are seriously concerned by the threats voiced against B92 journalist Brankica Stanković and her associates on the Insider show and maintain that the state’s reaction must be clear and unequivocal. The activities of the so-called “fan groups” constitute a flagrant violation of the laws of the Republic of Serbia and the fundamental human rights of its citizens, while their rhetoric is based on hate speech and intolerance.  (more…)