Physical assault against 9 members of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)

SER 001 /0117 / OBS 013
Physical assault

Serbia
January 27, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) andFIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Serbia.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory hasbeen informed by reliable sources about a physical assault perpetrated againstnine members of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)[1], while they were staging a protest at a public meeting organised bySerbia’s ruling party SNS (Serbian Progressive Party) in the premises of theMunicipality of Beška, northern province of Vojvodina. The nine YIHRrepresentatives were protesting against a speech which was being delivered byMr. Veselin Sljivancanin, convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal forthe Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2007, and in appeal in 2009, for crimes oftorture committed during the Yugoslav wars[2].

According to theinformation received, on January 17, 2017, several members of the YIHR werephysically attacked after displaying a banner which read “War criminals shouldbecome silent so that the victims can speak out!”, thereby disrupting thespeech of Mr. Veselin Sljivancanin. Subsequently, several SNS supportersattacked the human rights defenders and violently forced them out of thepremises, after tearing down their banner. Several activists were injured, twoof them severely, after being violently kicked. The aggressors also damaged oneof the vehicles belonging to YIHR members, while the latter were trying toleave. The incident occurred right in front of the local police station.

Shortly after theattack, the SNS party publicly defamed the non-violent protestors, by accusingthem of being “fascists” and “hooligans”.

The Observatorystrongly condemns the above-mentioned attack, and calls for a prompt,effective, transparent and impartial investigation. The Observatory moregenerally urges the Serbian authorities to guarantee the physical andpsychological integrity of YIHR members in all circumstances, taking intoaccount that this is not the first attack suffered by the latter (seebackground information).

Background Information:

Members of YIHR havefaced at least four instances of harassment in the last year and a half,including three physical assaults and a case of judicial harassment.

In May 2015, YIHRmembers suffered an attempted physical assault while collecting messages ofcondolences in the streets of Belgrade, to commemorate the 20th anniversary ofthe killing of 71 people by Bosnian Serb forces in Tuzla. Several members ofthe far-right organisation “Serbian Action” tried to tear their condolence bookapart, and to attack the human rights defenders, but were eventually stopped bythe police.

In July 2015, theleader of YIHR, Ms. Anita Mitic, was involved in the organisation of agathering to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, whichwas due to take place on July 10. The event was banned by the government, andMs. Mitic was among the approximately 200 persons who defied the ban and heldtheir candle-lit commemoration the evening before. Following this gathering,Ms. Mitic was charged with a misdemeanour by the Interior Ministry, for breakingSerbia’s public gatherings law by organising a public gathering withoutpreviously notifying the authorities. The first hearing in her case took placeon February 3, 2016, and no further hearings have taken place since then.

During the samecandle-lit commemoration, protesters were further aggressed by nationalisticgroups, who threw various objects at them and even used fire extinguishers toextinguish the candles they had lightened.

Besides, on April 15,2016, three women human rights defenders belonging to YIHR were physicallyassaulted in Belgrade’s Youth Centre by members of the Democratic Party ofSerbia (DSS) after staging a protest against an event promoting a book whichdenies war crimes.

Actions requested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities of Serbia asking them to:

iOrder an immediate,thorough, transparent investigation into the attack against the 9 human rightsdefenders, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before anindependent tribunal, and apply them the sanctions provided by the law;

ii.Provide compensation and redress to the injured human rights defenders, andtake all necessary measures to provide guarantees of non-repetition;

iii.Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all members of YIHR, as wellas all human rights defenders in Serbia, and particularly those carrying outactivities related to crimes committed during the war;

iv. Comply with all the provisions of the UnitedNations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Serbia.

Addresses:

· Mr. AleksandarVucic, Prime Minister. E-mail: predsednikvlade@gov.rs

· Ms. NelaKuburovic, Minister of Justice. E-mail: kontakt@mpravde.gov.rs

· Mr. Ivica Dacic,First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.E-mail: mfa@mfa.rs

· Mr. StefanovicNebojsa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. E-mail: info@mup.gov.rs

· Ms. ZagorkaDolovac, Procureur General. E-mail:kabinetrjt@rjt.gov.rs, biljana.spasic@rjt.gov.rs

· Mr. VladislavMladenović, Ambassador to the UN and other international organisations inGeneva. E-mail: serbian.mission@bluewin.ch

· Ms. AnaHrustanovic, Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels: mission.serbia.eu@mfa.rs

· Mr. Vuk Žugić,Ambassador to the OSCE in Vienna. E-mail: mission.vienna@mfa.rs

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassyof Serbia in your respective country.

***

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

[1] The Youth Initiative for HumanRights (YIHR) is a regional network of non-governmental organizations withprograms implemented on the territories of Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro,and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Initiative was formed by young people fromthese countries in order to enhance youth participation in the democratizationof the society and empowerment of the rule of law through the establishment ofnew, progressive connections in the post-conflict region of former Yugoslavia.The Initiative was formed in 2003, and more than 30 persons work on variousprojects on a daily basis. The work of the organization also includes severalhundred activists.

[2] On December 8, 2010, hisjudgement was reviewed, and the sentence was reduced to 10 years’ imprisonment.He benefitted from an early release on July 5, 2011.