Thursday, 17 December 2015

The Protector of Citizens welcomes the resolution of the Government of Serbia which, after one and a half years, accepted his recommendation to stop the incorrect and unlawful collection of the solidarity tax and to refund any amounts already collected. The Ombudsman regrets that this had not been done earlier to avoid the additional financial burden for the citizens.

Acting on the complaints filed by dozens of women and organisations, the Protector of Citizens investigated the operations of the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance in March 2014 and found the solidarity tax was not levied only on monthly salaries higher than RSD 60,000, as was required by the statute, but also on multiple monthly salaries which were paid cumulatively to pregnant women in arrears.

The Protector of Citizens immediately recommended that the Ministry of Finance stop the unlawful and incorrect levying of the solidarity tax in those instances and refund any amounts unlawfully assessed and collected, but the Ministry of Finance refused to comply with those recommendations even after three meetings between the Minister of Finance and the Protector of Citizens and persisted in its incorrect application of the law. It was only after yesterday’s meeting between the Protector of Citizens and the Prime Minister in which the two discussed this matter that the Government passed a resolution which ordered the Ministry of Finance to remedy this error.

The Ombudsman welcomes the efforts of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Administrative Inspectorate to act on all recommendations of the Ombudsman, to remove the current flaws and enhance cooperation with citizens and this institution.
In the work to come there will be a timely consideration of all citizens’ addresses and of every complaint of the work of employees, and in accordance with the applicable regulations the applicant should be notified of the position and possible further actions , states the reply of the bodies on the acting on the recommendations of the Ombudsman.
The Chief Administrative Inspector, the Director of the Administrative Inspectorate, adopted a Directive dealing with complaints about the work of the inspectors in order to continue to remove the weaknesses in their work and improve the inspection process.

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.”