Human Rights in Serbia 2019
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HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2019 Belgrade Centre for Human Rights The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights was established by a group of human rights experts and activists in February 1995 as a non-profit, non- governmental organisation. The main purpose of the Centre is to study human rights, to disseminate knowledge about them and to educate individuals engaged in this area. It hopes, thereby, to promote the development of democracy and rule of law in Serbia. Since 1998 Belgrade Centre for Human Right has been publishing Annual Human Rights Report. This Report on Human Rights in Serbia analyses the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Serbia with respect to the civil and poli- tical rights guaranteed by international treaties binding on Serbia, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the European Convention on Human Rights and Funda- mental Freedoms (ECHR) and its Proto- cols and standards established by the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Where relevant, the Report also re- views Serbia’s legislation with respect to standards established by specific inter- national treaties dealing with specific human rights, such as the UN Convention against Torture, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Elimina- tion of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. For its achievements in the area of human rights, the Centre was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize for 2000. The Belgrade Centre is member of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI). Series Reports 34 Series Reports HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2019 LAW, PRACTICE AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS Publisher The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Kneza Miloša Str. 4, Belgrade, Tel/fax. (011) 308 5328, 344 7121 e-mail: [email protected]; www.bgcentar.org.rs For the publisher Sonja Tošković Editor Dr. Vesna Petrović Translation Duška Tomanović Cover illustration Predrag Koraksić Corax ISBN 978-86-7202-214-8 Prepress and printing Dosije studio, Belgrade HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA 2019 LAW, PRACTICE AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Belgrade, 2020 The research for and the production and translation of this Report were supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Belgrade. The views herein expressed are solely those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Belgrade Contents Abbreviations. 13 Introduction. 17 Socio-Political Conditions for the Realisation of Human Rights . 20 1. Some of the Reasons for the Negative Assessment of the Social and Political Circumstances in Terms of Respect for and Protection of Human Rights . 20 2. Serbia’s EU Accession Efforts and Regional and International Cooperation . 26 I. HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA’S LAW . 29 1. Serbia’s Obligations Deriving from UN Membership and Ratified International Human Rights Treaties. 29 1.1. Reports by UN Treaty Bodies (Committees) and Special Procedures . 30 1.2. Council for Monitoring the Implementation of Recommendations of UN Human Rights Mechanisms . 32 2. Serbia’s Obligations Arising from Council of Europe Membership. 33 2.1. Council of Europe Conventions Binding on Serbia. 33 2.2. European Court of Human Rights and Serbia . 34 2.3. Report of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). 35 3. Human Rights in National Legislation . 36 3.1. Constitution and International Norms . 36 3.2. Human Rights in the Serbian Constitution. 37 3.3. Ordinary and Extraordinary Legal Remedies and Constitutional Appeals . 40 5 Human Rights in Serbia 2019 II. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS . 43 1. Prohibition of Torture . 43 1.1. Legal Framework. 43 1.2. Respect of the Non-Refoulement Principle. 45 1.3. National Case-Law on Torture and Ill-Treatment . 46 1.4. Guarantees against Ill-Treatment – Rights to Third Party Notification, a Lawyer and an Independent Medical Examination. 47 1.5. Report by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture . 48 1.6. CAT Decision on the extradition of Cevdet Ayaz to Turkey . 50 1.7. ECtHR Judgments. 51 1.8. Major Developments Regarding the Prohibition of Torture and Ill-Treatment . 54 2. Right to Liberty and Security of Person . 57 2.1. Legal Framework. 57 2.2. Major Developments with Respect to the Right to Liberty and Security . 62 2.2.1. Arrests of individuals carrying mock gallows at civic protests . 62 2.2.2. Arrest of whistleblower who alerted to abuses in the Krušik plant. 62 2.3. Measures Ensuring the Defendants’ Presence at Trials and Unhindered Conduct of Criminal Proceedings . 64 2.3.1. Damages for Unlawful Pre-Trial Detention . 65 2.4. Penal Policy and Its Effects on the Enjoyment of the Right to Liberty and Security of Person . 66 3. Equality before the Court and Fair Trial. 70 3.1. Fair Trials and Court Efficiency . 70 3.2. Public Character of Court Hearings. 70 3.3. Equality before the Law and Equal Legal Protection. 72 3.3.1. Legal Aid Act . 72 3.4. Case-Law Harmonisation. 74 3.5. Judicial Efficiency and Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time . 76 3.6. Enforcement and Security of Claims . 79 3.7. Dismissal of Cases as Time Barred. 80 6 Contents 3.8. Presumption of Innocence and Other Guarantees for Criminal Defendants . 80 3.9. E-Justice . 82 4. Right to Privacy and Confidentiality of Correspondence . 83 4.1. Right to Privacy – Legal Framework . 83 4.2. Confidentiality of Correspondence – Legal Framework. 84 4.3. Data Retention and Access to Retained Data . 88 4.4. Families and Family Life . 91 5. Personal Data Protection. 94 5.1. Legal Framework. 94 5.2. Application of the PDPA and Open Issues . 97 6. Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion. 100 6.1. Legal Framework. 100 6.2. Registration of Religious Communities. 103 6.2.1. Legal Framework. 103 6.2.2. Registration of Religious Communities. 104 6.3. Financing of Religious Communities. 107 6.4. The State, Society and the Serbian Orthodox Church . 112 6.5. Right to Conscientious Objection . 116 7. Freedom of Expression . 117 7.1. Legal Framework. 117 7.2. Permitted Restrictions of the Freedom of Expression. 119 7.3. Criminal Law and the Freedom of Expression. 120 7.4. Development of the New Media Strategy – Long and Winding Road . 121 8. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly. 123 8.1. Legal Framework. 123 8.2. Exercise of the Right to Freedom of Assembly. 128 9. Freedom of Association . 135 9.1. Legal Framework. 135 9.2. Narrower Scope for CSO Engagement. 137 9.3. Campaigns and Attacks against CSOs . 139 7 Human Rights in Serbia 2019 9.4. Limited CSO Participation in the Legislative and EU Accession Processes. 142 9.5. Association of Aliens . 143 10. Electoral Rights and Political Participation . 144 10.1. Legal Framework. 144 10.2. Demands for Improving Election Conditions . 146 10.3. Dialogue on Improving the Election Process – Concrete Changes or Instant Democracy? . 148 10.4. Local Elections – “Litmus Test” of the Election System . 153 10.5. Participation in the.