Human rights in Serbia

Human rights in Serbia are generally respected by the government; however, there have been controversies regarding a number of issues, including police brutality and some violations of human rights, but such incidents are usually isolated and not related to government.

Human rights in the past

In the past, particularly during breakup of Yugoslavia there had been some violations of human rights but in much smaller scale than in other parts of Yugoslavia. During the Kosovo war there had been violations both by KLA, and by Serb forces.

Asylum seekers

Serbia has a UN facility at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for applicants for asylum in accordance with international policies.

Kosovo

After the conflict, in fear of their safety, perhaps up to 250,000 Serbs and other ethnic minorities fled their homes to go north.[1]

Vojvodina

Vojvodina has been in 2003 and 2004 identified by Human Rights Watch and the European Parliament as region experiencing human rights violation, and a marked increase in ethnic violence since the national elections of 2003. After thoroughly investigating these allegations, and taking into account the long history of ethnic conflict in the Balkans, the European Parliament in September 2005, unanimously passed a resolution summarised on the Europa website as: "In its resolution on Vojvodina, adopted with 88 votes in favour, none against and 2 abstentions, Parliament expresses its deep concern at the repeated breaches of human rights and the lack of law and order in that province."[2]

Timok

In 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe "regreted that Serbia applies double standards in artificially separating the Romanians of Vojvodina from the Romanians of Eastern Serbia".[3] Since 2004 they are regular clashes between the Serbian authorities and the Romanian community in Timok when Bojan Aleksandrović, a Romanian Orthodox priest decided to build Romanian Orthodox Church, Malajnica where he holds services in Romanian. The priest has been subjected to threats. In Negotin, the Romanian Cultural Association was vandalized in 2004 when Serbian pro-fascist ultra-nationalists wrote "Out of Serbia" on the windows of the main doors.[4][5] In 2002 census, there appears to be 34,576 declared as Romanians, and 40,054 declared as Vlachs.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia drew attention to the situation of the Romanian people living in Timok, and to their right to preserve their Romanian identity.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kosovo: The Human Rights Situation and the Fate of Persons Displaced from Their Homes (.pdf) "
  2. ↑ "Human rights in Nepal, Tunisia and Vojvodina" Parliament of the European Union Resolution on Vojvodina 29 September 2005. (Accessed January 29, 2007)
  3. ↑ Respect for the rights of the Timok Romanians (Eastern Serbia)
  4. ↑ Protests on the Council of Europe
  5. ↑ http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,850103,00.html April 25, 2003 on Deutsche Welle Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Extract from the IHF report
  7. ↑ Debates Monday, 3 September 2007 - Strasbourg
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