BCHR Submits Initiative for an Inspection of the Work of the Požarevac General Hospital

January 15, 2020 by Radomir Bojic

January 15, 2020

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights submitted an initiative for an inspection of the work of the Požarevac General Hospital, after the latter refused to allow access to or hand over the body of a still-born baby to its parents. The BCHR filed the initiative for the inspection of the work of the Požarevac hospital and, if necessary, initiation of misdemeanour proceedings together with the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM and the A11 Initiative for Economic and Social Rights. The initiative was launched after media reported in late 2019 that the Požarevac General Hospital refused to allow access to or hand over the body of a still-born baby to its parents. The video footage published on the Internet showed the Hospital Director telling the parents that still-born children were treated as foetuses and that the body would be disposed of in accordance with the Medical Waste Rulebook. (more…)

Criminal Report filed against Unidentified Staff of the Niš Prosecution Service and Police for Leaking Suspected Child Molester’s Testimony to Tabloids

January 13, 2020 by Radomir Bojic

January 13, 2020

On 11 January 2020, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights filed a criminal report with the Republican Public Prosecution Service (RPPS) against unidentified staff of the Niš Higher Public Prosecution Service and/or the city police officers. They are suspected of leaking to tabloids the statement Ninoslav Jovanović from Malča gave the Niš Higher Public Prosecutor in early January 2020, which contained details of the grave crimes he had committed against his underage victim. By leaking his testimony to the dailies Informer, Alo, Srpski telegraf and its Internet portal republika.rs, the officials have committed the following offences that are incriminated by the Criminal Code and prosecuted ex officio: violation of confidentiality of proceedings (Article 337), abuse of office (Article 359) and/or violation of the law by judges, public prosecutors or their deputies (Article 360). (more…)

BCHR Presents Survey “Human Rights in the Eyes of Serbia’s Citizens”

December 10, 2019 by Radomir Bojic

December 10, 2019

In cooperation with the UN Human Rights Unit in Serbia and IPSOS Strategic Marketing, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) conducted a public opinion survey on the main human rights issues in Serbia.

The survey results paint a dismal picture of the public’s general impressions of the extent to which human rights are respected in Serbia and familiarity with their own rights and how they can protect them.

The fact that 63% of the respondents think that human rights are more or less not respected may reflect their belief that violations of human rights in Serbia are widespread. Furthermore, most respondents think that the very state authorities primarily charged with human rights protection, the prosecutors and the courts, are not autonomous and independent and that the proceedings in which they can claim protection of their rights are overly long. This renders meaningless the purpose of human rights protection and results in public mistrust in the state authorities whose primary role is to protect human rights.

The conclusion that institutional protection and promotion of human rights does not reach all segments of the population is corroborated by the survey results – as many as 72% of the respondents were unable to list any independent human rights protection institutions, such as, e.g. the Protector of Citizens.

The respondents singled out the right to work and freedom of expression/the media as the ones they considered the most jeopardised. Nearly 30% of the respondents who reported that they had been victims of human rights violations in the past decade said that their work-related rights had been breached. Only 29% of the respondents think that there are independent media in Serbia, while as many as 74% think that the press is censored.

The survey results show that a substantial share of the population have misconceptions about the position of specific groups in society. For instance, there are major differences in the views of male and female respondents about the women’s status in society and their participation in public life. As per the rights of national minorities, 64% of the respondents opined that their rights were respected, but as many as 54% were unable to specify any rights guaranteed minorities in Serbia in order to preserve their identity and cultural specificities. Major discrepancies in public views on the status of LGBTI persons were identified as well. Only 23% of the respondents held that their rights were violated, while, on the other hand, 44% of the respondents said that LGBTI persons were discriminated against in Serbia.

The results of this survey raised a number of questions about the status of vulnerable groups and the realisation of human rights in Serbia. They also send a clear signal to decision makers that human rights cannot be reduced only to “ticking the boxes” in the ongoing reforms, that they concern the everyday lives of all Serbia’s citizens and that the latter perceive their own rights and those of other members of society as under-protected. The relatively low level of the respondents’ familiarity with their own rights is also reason for concern and indicates the necessity to raise public awareness of them.

The press release in pdf is available in Serbian here.

The survey results are available in Serbian here.

The results with detailed statistical data are available in Serbian here.

Committee against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment Finds Serbia in Violation of the Convention against Torture for Extraditing Kurdish Political Activist Cevdet Ayaz

September 2, 2019 by Tamara Protic

September 2, 2019

The Committee against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has adopted a decision finding the Republic of Serbia in violation of Articles 3 and 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for extraditing Kurdish political activist Cevdet Ayaz to Turkey on 25 December 2017. (more…)

Constituencies for Judicial Reform in Serbia

July 24, 2019 by Tamara Protic

July 24, 2019

Platform Otvorena vrata pravosuđa is designed to provide citizens with information on how the justice system functions in Serbia and how they can protect their rights in courts.

The project Constituencies for Judicial Reform in Serbia wants to adopt the principle of open dialogue between citizens and the judiciary, and to encourage their greater engagement in local communities. The task of the project is to help citizens to understand their rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, and also to inform citizens how the judicial system works and how judges and prosecutors make fair and rational decisions.

No Response to Hate Speech in Parliament

July 10, 2019 by Tamara Protic

July 10, 2019

The insults ruling party MP Marko Atlagić hurled at Belgrade College of Philosophy professors in the Serbian National Assembly several days ago are, to say the least, unbefitting of the office he holds and the institution to which Serbia’s citizens had elected him and other deputies to represent them with dignity and decency. (more…)