When the representative of the Government of Serbia announced the amendments to the so-called Organised Crime Act (Act on Organisation and Jurisdiction of State Bodies in Suppressing Organised Crime), he said that the new legal definition of “organised crime” would be fully in compliance with the UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime. This, unfortunately, is not the case. The new definition is much broader and in contravention of the Convention and other international standards. Under the Convention and under the new Serbian Act, organised crime entails the commission of crimes by an organised criminal group or its members. The Serbian Act, however, also introduces “other organised groups”, a concept which does not exist in the Convention.  (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights welcomes the admission of the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro to full membership of the Council of Europe. Our country became a member of this European organisation, which is a step long expected and a boost to all democratic forces which have fought for this moment in their struggle for rule of law and respect for human rights during many years. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights was deeply saddened to hear the news that the authorities have found the body of bestially assassinated former President of the Presidency of Serbia Ivan Stambolić. The gravest fears of Ivan’s family and friends and the whole public in the past two and a half years have thus proven true. The news yet again corroborates what kind of society citizens of Serbia have lived in for over a decade. This horrible crime brings back the memories of the regime, which had for years presented the personal interests of its leaders as the supreme state ideal, enveloping them with the false veneer of patriotism, nation and a great world conspiracy. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights is concerned by the announcement of the Christian Democratic Party of Serbia, which said it would propose to the Government and National Assembly of Serbia to reinstate capital punishment in national criminal law. This initiative is in contravention of the topmost legal human rights document of the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro, the Human and Minority Rights Charter, Article 11 of which guarantees the inviolability of human life and rules out capital punishment. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights regrets that the President of the Supreme Court of Serbia, Mrs. Leposava Karamarkovic, resigned. Mrs. Karamarkovic has personalised independence for which every judge should strive. Because she has stood for the independence of the judiciary and has acted according to her convictions, she had been removed from the judiciary under the previous regime. She was therefore the natural choice for the highest-ranking judge in democratic Serbia. Her reputation and stature gave hope that the Serbian judiciary could grow to be the guarantor of independent, impartial and efficient protection of individuals. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights is shocked by the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Ðinđić. This tragic event jeopardized the security of the country and it threatens to stop the process of democratic changes started by the Government of Serbia. (more…)