The new Draft Law on Internal Affairs, if passed in its current form, will undermine the achieved level of human rights, including the right to freedom of speech and the right to privacy.

The proposed Articles 44, 156 – 158 of the Draft Law regulating data processing systems, as well as surveillance and recording in public places endanger the right to privacy of citizens and introduce total surveillance without any court control and completely contrary to the standards of the GDPR and the Law on protection of personal data.

These regulations can also have a detrimental effect on endangering the secrecy of journalistic sources, which develops the effect of self-censorship and prevents the work of journalists, primarily those who investigate and report on corruption and organized crime.

We remind you that these provisions are contrary to the goals in the Media Strategy, which envisaged strengthening the protection of journalistic sources, which can only lead to such proposals in the opposite direction.

Also, the restrictions provided for in Articles 25, 58 and 59, as well as the penal provisions in Article 355 which provide for high penalties for natural persons, both for the use of the term “police” and for revealing the identity of an police officers, jeopardize the regular work of journalists, reporting in public interest and lead to an absurd situation since the use of the term “police” must require the permission of the line minister. Revealing the identity of a police officers, who apparently will no longer wear badges with their last name but will be a combination of letters and numbers, will also be punishable, even though he is an officials whose work must be under public scrutiny.

The work on this Draft Law was rather non-transparent and the interested parties, despite the program of public hearings, which was published on the website of the Ministry of the Interior, were not informed about it.

We invite all interested individuals and organizations to take participation in the public debate to try to defend our rights together. Amendments to the proposed Draft can be sent by interested parties to the e-mail [email protected] no later than September 18, 2021.

1. Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
2. Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina
3. Slavko Curuvija Foundation
4. Partners Serbia
5. Association of Online Media
6. A11 Initiative
7. Transparency Serbia
8. European Movement Serbia
9. Youth Initiative for Human Rights
10. Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
11. Autonomous Women’s Centre
12. AS Center
13. Association of local independent media Local press
14. Anti Smoking Educational Center – RP
15. Western Balkans Institute
16. Sandzak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms
17. TV Forum
18. Center for women studies
19. Lawyers’ Committee for human rights YUCOM
20. Association of Media
21. CRTA
22. Committee for Human rights Nis
23. Alternative home
24. NGO Libero
25. Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
26. Civic Initiatives
27. BIRODI

With regard to the ongoing developments in Afghanistan, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights notes that people from Afghanistan account for most migrants on the Balkan Route and that the situation in this country will very likely give rise to a new influx of refugee in the coming months. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that over 550,000 Afghans have been internally displaced by conflict within the country since the beginning of 2021, including 126,000 new IDPs between 7 July 2021 and 9 August 2021.

Given the decades long hostilities, legal uncertainty and human rights violations in Afghanistan, parts of the population of this state have for decades been in need of international protection. The Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration (CRM) data 1 show that Afghan nationals account for most of the residents of state centres providing accommodation to migrants and refugees. CRM statistics* indicate that 22,000 Afghan nationals passed through Serbia in 2020 and that another 8,500 of them passed through its territory since the beginning of the year. According to data available to the BCHR, a total of 181,065 Afghans expressed the intention to seek asylum in Serbia in the 2012-2020 period and 300 of them applied for asylum in the 2016-2019 period. A total of 17 people from Afghanistan were granted refugee status and another eight subsidiary protection in Serbia in the 2016-2020 period. Serbia upheld a total of 194 asylum applications in the 2008-2020 period.

UNHCR has been monitoring the situation on the ground, where the security and human rights situation has been rapidly deteriorating in large parts of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of international troops from that state, and the upsurge of violence has had serious impact on civilians, including women and children and has called on all states to allow civilians fleeing Afghanistan access to their territories and to ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulement at all times. UNHCR noted the imperative to ensure that the right to seek asylum was not compromised, that borders were kept open and that people in need of international protection were not consigned to areas inside their country of origin that could potentially be dangerous. UNHCR called on States to suspend the forcible return of nationals and former habitual residents of Afghanistan, including those who have had their asylum claims rejected. It said that a moratorium on forced returns to Afghanistan would need to stay in place until the situation in the country has stabilised, pending an assessment of when the changed situation in the country would permit return in safety and dignity.

The BCHR appeals to all the relevant authorities in Serbia to bear UNHCR’s recommendations and the current situation in Afghanistan in mind when ruling on asylum applications filed by individuals from Afghanistan.

UNHCR’s Position on Returns to Afghanistan is available at: https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/611a4c5c4.pdf

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*Radio Free Europe, Balkan Route Countries Readying for Refugees Fleeing the Taliban, 17 August 2021, available in
Serbian at: https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/avganistan-talibani-izbeglice-balkan/31414941.html.

Having reviewed the complaint filed by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality found that Banca Intesa a.d. Belgrade had violated Article 6 of the Anti-Discrimination Act since it had directly discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia when it refused to allow them to open bank accounts. The Bank negatively generalised against these people based solely on their nationality and place (country) of birth, whilst failing to assess whether they fulfilled the legal requirements to open accounts in that Bank, said the Equality Commissioner in her Opinion.

The BCHR filed a complaint with the Equality Commissioner in April 2020, after Banca Intesa refused to allow a number of its clients – nationals of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan granted asylum or subsidiary protection in Serbia or seeking asylum in Serbia – to open accounts with that Bank. The Bank refused to let them open accounts because of their national or ethnic origin, as well as because of their citizenship. In her Opinion, the Commissioner found the Bank in violation of the Anti-Discrimination Act because it had not reviewed whether the applicants fulfilled the legal requirements to open accounts in each individual case. The Equality Commissioner recommended that the Bank: review the fulfilment of the legal requirements by the applicants without making negative generalisations about them based purely on their citizenship or place (country) of birth; make sure it does not violate anti-discrimination law; and, notify her of measures it plans to take in order to implement her recommendations. 

The BCHR applauds the Commissioner’s conclusions and notes, in particular, that banks should explain their suspicions, refrain from indiscriminate and discriminatory assessments, and operate in accordance with Serbian laws, irrespective of their in-house procedures, rules and risk assessments. Our view is corroborated by the opinion voiced by the National Bank of Serbia in response to BCHR’s request. The NBS said that specific banking regulations did not constitute grounds for precluding an entire category of people from the possibility of opening bank accounts on grounds of their nationality or citizenship and referred to national legal provisions prohibiting discrimination. 

BCHR has been UNHCR’s executive partner since 2012 and has been extending legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers, strategically representing them before domestic and international bodies, extending them support in integrating in Serbia’s society and advocating the improvement of the status of all refugees in Serbia.  

The Equality Commissioner Opinion and recommendation is here in serbian.

The National Bank of Serbia response to BCHR’s request is here in serbian.