On Monday, 21 March 2016, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights will present its annual report on the state of human rights in Serbia. The authors of the report have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the general state of affairs in the field of human rights and will present their findings in the Media Centre at 11 o’clock.
Generally speaking, the analysis shows that the state of human rights deteriorated in 2015 compared to the year before. Most human rights issues lay in the shadow of the Belgrade-Priština talks and the topic of European integration, in spite of the fact that the latter involves considerable reform and harmonization of the legal matter at hand with European acquis. Economic and social rights, as well as free speech, were threatened in 2015, which led to a drop in the standard of living and an increase in policital apathy among citizens.
The verbal assault launched by the executive and certain MPs against representatives of independent bodies in Serbia – and, in particular, against the Ombudsman – give cause for concern regarding the proper funcitoning of parliamentary democracy, not only due to the fact that these officials were called foreign agents and enemies of the state. Such actions by the authorities of Serbia are simultaneously a consequence of a developed political and democratic culture in our country, as well as one of its causes.
The refugee crisis that claimed the headlines of many great European papers in 2015 was likewise felt in Serbia. Hundreds of thousands of refugees coming from war-afflicted areas passed through Serbia, moving towards those Members States of the European Union they perceived as safe countries of asylum. Serbia was relevantly tolerant towards refugees and migrants during 2015, but essential reforms in the asylum system did not come about, which rendered our country incapable of providing durable solutions for any significant number of refugees who expressed the intention to seek asylum.
The publication of the report was supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and we would like to use this opportunity and express our gratitude for their support to the Belgrade Centre’s aspirations to improve the state of human rights in our country.
