Our new Report ‘Human Rights in Serbia 2021’ presents a comprehensive overview and analysis of the situation in Serbia last year. Exposed to constant internal political tensions, traumatised by everyday incidents, scandals and verbal and physical violence, Serbia has become a deeply polarised society. The year behind us was marked by numerous protests, strikes and other forms of organisation, the last recourse of citizens whose rights were jeopardised or violated. 2021 was also marked by the process of amending the constitutional provisions on the judiciary, ending with the adoption of the amendments by the National Assembly and their endorsement at a referendum held in early 2022.
Nevertheless, the government’ persistent refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue, above all with the citizens, remained the crucial problem permeating all social processes and manifesting its most drastic forms and effects in the field of human rights.
The numerous problems concerning the rule of law, exacerbated by the increasingly manifest primacy of the executive undermining the separation of powers and the breakdown of the institutions, continued in 2021.
The general opinion is that Serbia still lags substantially behind European and global trends despite its headway in adopting environmental legislation. Serbia ranked 9 th on the global list of pollution-related deaths and 1st on the list of European countries by death rates from
combined pollution risk factors. Such a situation and lack of interest of the authorities to take urgent steps to address numerous environmental problems prompted environmental protests across Serbia throughout the year.
Report ‘Human Rights in Serbia 2021’ is available HERE.
The research, translation and publication of the Report ’Human Rights in Serbia 2021’ were supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Belgrade. The report does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.
