21 March 2013 is another opportunity to raise our voices against distinctions based on personal features and recall the reason for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It was in 1966 that the United Nations General Assembly decided to commemorate on this date the brutal killing of 69 peaceful demonstrators in the South African Republic. We are marking this Day by reviewing our strength and the efforts we as a country, as a government authority, as an organisation and as individuals are investing to make sure that such or similar events never happen in the future again. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights continued systematically monitoring the state of human rights in 2012 and, inter alia, noted that the problem of discrimination of Roma children in schools was still present. During the implementation of the project entitled Provision of Legal Aid and Psychological Assistance to Asylum Seekers, the BCHR researchers have also established that the local population harbours feelings for the asylum seekers living in the nearby collective centres that can be qualified as intolerance.
We must fight for a society free of all forms of racial discrimination, because that is the only way in which we can contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of tolerance and respect, which are prerequisite for democratic, peaceful and prosperous co-existence.
