2009 Human Rights Report: Serbia Page 1 of 32
2009 Human Rights Report: Serbia Page 1 of 32 Home » Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs » Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor » Releases » Human Rights Reports » 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices » Europe and Eurasia » Serbia 2009 Human Rights Report: Serbia BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices March 11, 2010 The Republic of Serbia is a parliamentary democracy with approximately 7.5 million inhabitants. Boris Tadic was reelected president in February 2008. In May 2008 voters elected a new parliament in which some minority ethnic parties won seats. Observers considered both elections to be mostly in line with international standards. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces. The following human rights problems were reported: physical mistreatment of detainees by police; police corruption; inefficient and lengthy trials; harassment of journalists, human rights advocates, and others critical of the government; limitations on freedom of speech and religion; large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs); corruption in legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; government failure to apprehend the two remaining fugitive war crimes suspects under indictment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); societal violence against women and children; societal intolerance and discrimination against minorities, particularly Roma and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) population; and trafficking in persons. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life The government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. On November 13, the Belgrade District Court convicted Miljan Raicevic, a Belgrade police officer, for the March 19 killing of Djordje Zaric during a traffic stop.
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