The Protector of Citizens is the first institution that the citizens of Serbia would turn to in case their human rights were violated; this is the result of a public opinion survey “Human Rights in the Eyes of Serbia’s Citizens” conducted in November 2020.

The survey, conducted by Belgrade Center for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Team in Serbia and Ipsos Strategic Marketing, shows that as many as 26.4 percent of Serbian citizens stated that they would first address the Protector of Citizens if their human rights are jeopardized, which is a 7 per cent increase compared to previous year.

"I am pleased that the citizens have recognized the true intention and will of the Protector of Citizens to be a mainstay and support to citizens who cannot exercise their rights before the competent state bodies. This is reflected in manifold increase of citizens’ addresses to this institution during 2020", the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pasalić stated.

Due to the pandemic, the Institution of the Protector of Citizens has had several times more work this year than in previous years, which was why we reorganized the way our Secretariat works, increased the number of own initiative investigations and intensified monitoring over citizens' rights exercise, Mr. Pasalić has said.

The Protector of Citizens would keep intensifying the control over the work of competent bodies regarding the realization of guaranteed rights of citizens, especially when it comes to vulnerable categories of the population, taking into account the altered living conditions imposed by Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Pašalić underlined.

The survey has shown that the citizens recognized the right to health, freedom of movement and media freedoms as most jeopardized rights in Serbia in 2020, the year marked by COVID-19 pandemic.

The Protector of Citizens believes that the executive authorities cannot have a key and final say in restricting human rights during the pandemic and that their decision should be under parliamentary, judicial and oversight of independent institutions, said the Deputy Protector of Citizens Ms. Jelena Stojanović, on 10 December - Human Rights Day.

“In challenging circumstances - such as this lethal virus pandemic, judicial authorities, institutions and competent authorities must ensure the implementation of health measures in an environment that will not violate human rights”, said Ms. Stojanović at a conference organized by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue to mark this international day.

Ms. Stojanović stated at the meeting that the competent authorities, when adopting measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, should be guided by the rules of the profession and the situation on field with mandatory respect for human rights and close attention to vulnerable categories of citizens.

The year behind us in Serbia and all over the world had been marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and most world ombudsmen considered whether the measures taken by their states were justified in relation to the human rights restrictions that inevitably had to be imposed to save people's lives, the Deputy Protector of Citizens accentuated.

Ms. Stojanović reminded that during the state of emergency, the Protector of Citizens had redefined priorities and organization of work in order to help the most endangered ones - residents of substandard Roma settlements, shelters for foreigners, the homeless, migrants and people accommodated in temporary Covid hospitals.

The Protector of Citizens had proposed amending the regulations to enable children with autism to go for a walk without hindrance, enable a child to visit the parent with whom he/she does not live, enable movement of domestic violence victims, carers for the elderly and people with disabilities, said the Deputy Protector of Citizens.

In the investigation initiated upon learning from the media about the sexual abuse of a child from Zaječar, the Protector of Citizens determined that only after the monitoring by the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy did the Zaječar Social Welfare Center react and place the child in a foster family, which was why disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the expert workers.

From the documentation on this inspection, which the line ministry submitted to the Protector of Citizens, it follows that during the case assessment following the report of the Zaječar Police Administration from 2019 with serious allegations indicating gross neglect of a minor, the competent Center did not act upon legal powers and expert standards.

The Protector of Citizens was provided with the documentation suggesting that the competent ministry, during the supervision of the Zaječar Center, determined that the guardianship authority did not conduct a comprehensive assessment of the case and all segments that are important for the child's development, i.e. did not check the allegations from the police complaint in an adequate and sound manner.

After the monitoring by the competent Ministry, it was determined that the legal conditions for urgent removal of the child from the parent's family were met and the procedure of appointing a temporary guardian for the child was initiated, following which the child was placed in a foster family.

The Ministry then instructed the Center in Zaječar to determine accountability of the expert workers, who, after the procedure, were given a warning measure announcing the termination of the employment contract, as well as to ensure that the expert workers of the Center attend adequate trainings in the field of protection of children from abuse and neglect, the Protector of Citizens ascertained.

The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, MSc. met online on 7 December 2020 with the Chairman of B&H Ombudsman, Prof. Dr. Ljubinko Mitrović.

During the meeting, the Ombudsmen shared the two institutions’ experiences regarding the exercise of human rights and freedoms during the pandemic, with special reference to the epidemiological situation in the last month when the situation in both B&H and the Republic of Serbia deteriorated sharply. During the meeting, the Ombudsmen exchanged experiences on exercising rights during the pandemic of vulnerable categories of the population, i.e. children, the elderly, people with disabilities, single parents, and the groups at-risk due to underlying conditions, autoimmune diseases and / or other health problems.

The Ombudsmen concluded that fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitutions in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, as well as the international documents ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, must be respected in all circumstances. On the other hand, the exercise of certain human rights may be restricted under well-defined terms.

With that in mind, three important principles should be highlighted: in the event of restricting the rights, it is necessary to determine the timeframe when the restriction applies, the justification of the restriction must be reviewed, and finally, when the causes for imposing the restrictions cease, they should be revoked. Whenever adopting, mitigating or revoking the measures to curb COVID-19, the guidelines should be the rules of the profession and the situation on field, with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, paying special attention to vulnerable categories of citizens.

The executive must not have a key and final say in restricting human rights during a pandemic, and the ombudsmen's position is that parliamentary and judicial oversight are extremely important in executive decision-making.

Judicial authorities, institutions and public authorities are bound to ensure the implementation of health measures in an environment that will not jeopardize human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The importance of further exchange of experiences and good practices in the promotion of human rights was especially emphasized at the meeting.