The winner of the Konstantin Obradović Award for the Promotion of Human Rights Culture for 2003 is Dr. Gordana Matković, Minister for Social Rights in the Government of Serbia. The award was established by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights to honour the memory of its founder and deputy director, professor Dr. Konstantin Obradović, one of the foremost Yugoslav and international experts in humanitarian law, and an active combatant for the cause of human rights. Konstantin Obradovic died on 10 March 2000. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights expresses its concern over the statement which Mr. Zoran Stojković, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, publicly made on 27 November. The Minister questioned the competency and professional qualities of members of the Association of Judges of Serbia, who had only expressed their opinions on the work of the current Government in the field of the administration of justice. The Minister accompanied his statement with threats. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights would like to express its satisfaction with the latest move by the Ministry of religion of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, which replaced the old text of the Draft Law the freedom of the religion, churches, religious organizations and religious associations with the new Draft Law on religious organizations. The Belgrade Centre considers that the Ministry has thusly in the best way possible met with the criticisms of numerous religious organizations and representatives of civil society, including the Centre itself: that it was not ready for dialogue in the process of drafting this very important new law. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights expresses its concern regarding the Draft Law on Religious Freedom, Churches, Religious Communities and Religious Associations (Draft Law on Religious Freedom), presented by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The main purpose of this kind of law in a modern civil society should be a recognition of the principle of secular state, the protection of religious freedom and tolerance and equality between all of the  religious communities within state borders, but a great part of the text of this Draft  directly contradicts  those principles. Its adoption and implementation may  lead to violations of the religious freedoms protected  by the European Convention for Protection of Human Rights (which  was ratified by Serbia and Montenegro in April 2004). It is reasonable to expect that numerous individual complaints could be submitted to the European Court for Human Rights as a result of  certain provisions of this Draft. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights condemns  the latest statement  by the Director General of the National Television of Serbia , Mr. Aleksandar  Tijanić, against the President of the Lawyers Committee  for Human Rights, Ms. Biljana Kovačević-Vučo. The Centre holds that  his statement  is uncivilized and not  acceptable from the  the director of a public institution which should be a public service for all  citizens. (more…)

 The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns the assault by a masked attacker on Ms. Svetlana Đorđević, which took place on the 27th June in her house in Vranje. She is the author of the book “Testimony on Kosovo”, which describes crimes that the police have committed in Kosovo during the war. She has been the subject of continuous intimidation since her appearance on the B92 television channel last year. (more…)