Unfortunately, not even this December 10, Human Rights Day 1997, is cause for celebration. We mark this day with concern for the situation of people and their rights in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and other states of the former SFRY. We find ourselves in an environment where human dignity is valued less and less. Civic and political rights are still denied and threatened by high-handed authorities, while the judiciary lacks the power to protect them. Economic and social rights are increasingly difficult to realize under widespread conditions of poverty and decline. (more…)

On the evening of 30 September 1997, riot police brutally dispersed a crowd of demonstrators in Belgrade injuring and arresting an as-yet unconfirmed number of citizens of that city, demonstrators and accidental passers-by. The peaceful demonstrations were sparked by two related incidents of the same day: the replacement of the Mayor of Belgrade and subsequent dismissal of the Director and Chief Editor of the independent radio-television network Studio B soon afterwards. (more…)