The overall objective of the project “Change the constitution on-line and off-line” is to set the stage for amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia that deepen formal and actual commitment to human rights and freedoms, in line with international human rights, freedoms and democracy standards and EU directives.
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM, with all due respect for the Ministry of Interior’s call for citizens of the Republic of Serbia to decommission of weapons, expresses concerns about the way in which this Ministry has organized the action.
Is the Serbian government being controlled by independent institutions? To what extent can one criticize the work of the PM, the President and other state officials without being labeled as a “foreign mercenary”? Why do the bearers of executive power perceive all criticism of their work as an attack on the state? These were some of the questions which were discussed Wednesday night at a debate in Belgrade held in the House of Culture where reporters, NGO activists and political analysts expressed their views.
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM implemented this project with the support of Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) and the Open Society Institute.
Serbia still ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe according to the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (in 2010, Serbia ranked 78th out of 178 countries (followed with 86th out of 182 ranking in 2011 and 80th out of 174 in 2012). The latest EC country reports stated that Serbia has made little progress in harmonizing its judicial system with the European standards and that it failed to rein in corruption. One of the key challenges is that there are still no enough criminal reports filed against perpetrators by the prosecutor’s office, mainly because it is often difficult to provide sufficient evidence for reporting a corruption case.
– Coalition for Equality Step –
Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM with seven other civil society organizations (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, CHRIS Network, the Center for Civic Education, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo, Gay Straight Alliance, LGBT Forum Progress and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Kosovo) conducted Networking project of civil society organizations on human rights violations in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo and established regional Coalition for Equality Step.
The project is supported by the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia.
Objective: Support to civil society organizations in addressing common challenges in the field of human rights, with a special focus on LGBT rights, women’s participation in political life and trials for discrimination.
Duration: October 2012 – October 2014
Location: Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo
The Representative of the Delegation of the EU in Serbia, Yolanda San Hose, stated today that Serbia has made many steps in the fight against discrimination in order to achieve European standards but has also pointed out that the implementation of the laws is more important then just their passing in Parliament and that Serbia can count on EU’s support.
In the words of Milan Antonijevic, the director of the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights, “the current biggest problem in the judiciary is that we don’t have a judiciary.”
“No trials have been held for several months and I don’t see anyone working on a plan of what to do when the judiciary starts working again after the lawyers’ strike comes to an end. We must then see an extraordinarily active prosecutor’s office and an extraordinarily active judiciary in order to make up for lost time. In my opinion, the Ministry must come forth with a clear plan on how this is going to unfold,” Antonijevic points out.
It came recently to our attention that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe put on its agenda election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Serbia set for 27 January 2015.
On behalf of NGOs Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights and Belgrade Center for Human Rights, we are writing to express consternation of the civil society in Serbia with candidates proposed for this high post and the non-transparent and discriminatory procedure for their selection.
Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM is implementing the ” Change the Constitution on-line and off-line” project from 1st January to 1st November 2013.
The main objective of the project is to identify the main disadvantages of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia considering human rights, freedom and democracy through the use of modern technology and social networks. To achieve this goal YUCOM has created www.mojustav.rs website where the public can comment on the current constitutional provisions. Comments of citizens will provide the necessary support and strengthen the arguments of civil society in advocating constitutional change.
False allegations against the Serbian war crimes prosecution and the enforced retirement of the prosecutor suggest that powerful people are still trying to hide the truth about the 1990s conflicts.
In the shadow of global events, such as the tragic attack in Paris and the mass killing in Nigeria, when we look closely at someone else’s backyard, it is our duty to look at our own yard too. We need to acknowledge what we have done about the 1990s, when similar news was coming out of our country, when just like today innocent people were targeted because of religion, hatred, warmongering propaganda and someone else’s interests.