Strasbourg, 8 July 2015 – “Serbia has to show more resolve in addressing the legacy of the past, to improve the fight against discrimination and to establish a safer media environment” said Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, while releasing the report based on his visit to the country carried out from 16 to 20 March 2015.

The persistent impunity for certain serious human rights violations adversely affects justice and durable peace in the region. “Serbia should urgently address this situation, in particular by strengthening the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, guaranteeing effective protection to witnesses and ensuring that all victims of serious human rights violations have effective access to justice and to full and effective reparations. Additional efforts are also needed to resolve the pending cases of missing persons in Serbia and in the region.”

Strasbourg, 5 June 2015 – “The current systems of oversight of national security services in Europe remain largely ineffective. Revelations over the last years about security operations which have violated human rights should have prompted reforms in this field, but progress has been disappointingly slow. European countries must now ensure more democratic and effective oversight of what their security services do and avoid future operations leading to new human rights violations,” said today Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights, while presenting a report on this topic.

The report intends to provide guidance to strengthen human rights protection in the field of security services. It sets forth a number of measures necessary for making national oversight systems more effective and the security services accountable and fully compliant with human rights standards.  “Security service activities impact a variety of human rights, including the right to life, to personal liberty and security, and the prohibition of torture or inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment. They also impinge on the right to privacy and family life, as well as the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and fair trial. It is therefore crucial that security services uphold the rule of law and human rights in undertaking their tasks.”

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani

Location: Geneva
Date: 5 May 2015

Serbia

We are concerned by the continued and increasing pressure by Serbian authorities, including members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, on Ombudsperson Sasa Jankovic. Such pressures first emerged following his investigation of alleged wrongdoing by the country’s Military Security Agency (VBA), in January this year, and have intensified since the publication of his latest Annual Report on Serbia, on 14 April 2015.

Protector of Citizens Saša Janković submitted on 14 March the Regular Annual Report of the Protector of Citizens for 2014 to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the law. The Report among other things concludes that the situation with regard to the rule of law and legal certainty, respect of the good governance principles, organization and capacity of public administration, implementation of laws and, above all, economic situation was such that it was not possible to guarantee a level of respect of citizens’ rights necessary for dignified life for everyone.

Improvements in certain issues in fields such as health care were not sufficient to change the overall evaluation, but they are praiseworthy. The fact that most of the public authorities respond positively to findings of the Protector of Citizens is also praiseworthy. In 90 percent of cases, those authorities rectified omissions in their operations which harmed citizens’ rights and which were identified by the Protector of Citizens in inspection procedures. A total of 23,340 citizens contacted the Protector of citizens in 2014.