ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES ACFC/SR/III(2017)001 Third Report submitted by Montenegro pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Received on 16 June 2017) ACFC/SR/III(2017)001 Montenegro The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights THE THIRD REPORT OF MONTENEGRO ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES submitted pursuant to Article 25 paragraph 2 of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities Podgorica, June 2017 2 ACFC/SR/III(2017)001 Contents I INTRODUCTORY NOTES.....................................................................................................4 II GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................7 III IMPROVING THE POSITION OF ROMA AND EGYPTIANS .......................................11 1. Database and civil registration............................................................................................................11 2. Education ............................................................................................................................................12 2.1. Preschool education ...........................................................................................................13 2.2. Primary education ..............................................................................................................14 2.3. Secondary education ..........................................................................................................15 2.4. University education ..........................................................................................................15 3. Employment........................................................................................................................................16 4. Social and health protection................................................................................................................19 5. Housing 26 6. Culture and information......................................................................................................................31 7. Participation of Roma and Egyptians in Public and Political Life .....................................................33 IV DISPLACED AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS..........................................34 V IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION......................................38 Article 1. 38 Article 2. 38 Article 3. 38 Article 4. 39 Article 5. 51 Article 6. 63 Article 7. 74 Article 9. 76 Article 11. 91 Article 13. 100 Article 14. 100 Article 15. 101 Article 16. 106 Article 17. 107 Article 18. 108 Article 19. 109 ACFC/SR/III(2017)001 I INTRODUCTORY NOTES Montenegro is constitutionally defined as a civil, democratic, ecological and state of social justice, based on the rule of law. The bearer of sovereignty is a citizen with Montenegrin citizenship. The Montenegrin Constitution provides the legal basis for the promotion, strengthening and improvement of the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms and confirms Montenegro's obligation to respect international standards in that context. Apart from fundamental human rights and freedoms, in order to protect the overall national identity, the Constitution and the laws of Montenegro provide for minorities also a set of additional rights. The Constitution in the Part Two, in Articles 79 and 80, to members of minority nations and other minority national communities guarantees the rights and freedoms that they can use individually and in community with others and prohibits the assimilation of members of minority nations and other minority national communities. The State is obliged to protect members of minority nations and other minority national communities from all forms of violent assimilation. The Part Two of the Constitution contains 65 Articles guaranteeing human rights and freedoms, civic and political, economic, social and cultural as well as minority rights. In addition to the national legislation guaranteeing respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as minority rights, under Article 9 of the Constitution has Montenegro has established that international treaties and generally accepted rules of international law make an integral part of the domestic legal order and that they have primacy over domestic legislation and apply directly when relations are regulated differently from domestic legislation. Among the UN legal instruments, these are: the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, with both Optional Protocols, as well as the Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Status of Refugees, with the Protocol, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Also, Montenegro is bound by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but not as a contractual, but as an international custom-legal obligation. Among the Council of Europe legal instruments, these are: the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the European Social Charter. The strategic framework for minority policy is a ten-year Strategy for Minority Policy adopted on 3 July 2008. In line with international comparative legal international standards, this Strategy sets out the measures for implementing the Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms and enhancing the conditions of living of minorities in whole, which, the state authorities are obliged to gradually implement in the period of implementation of the document. After the implementation of the Action Plan for the "Decade for Social Inclusion 2005-2015" and the Strategy for Improving the Position of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro 2008-2012, 2012- 2016, have been achieved significant and visible results in the most important areas in which the 4 ACFC/SR/III(2017)001 Strategy is being implemented. In March 2016, the Government of Montenegro adopted the "Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro 2016-2020", which is based on the provisions of international documents on human rights and the rights of national minorities ratified by Montenegro. The Strategy is fully aligned with the „European Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies“. The strategy covers all areas considered to be important for solving the problems of the Roma and Egyptian population, namely: legal status, social status and family protection (within which four sub-categories are defined: the fight against domestic violence and violence against women; prevention and suppression of begging; the fight against trafficking in human beings and the prevention of conclusion of children illegal marriages), and the area of culture, identity and information. In Montenegro, a number of very important institutions and bodies are dealing with the protection of the rights and improvement of the position of minorities, such as the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, permanent working body of the Parliament of Montenegro- Committee for Human Rights and Freedoms, further as an autonomous and independent institution is acting the Protector of Human Rights and Freedom, than the councils of minority nations, the Fund for the Protection and Realization of Minority Rights, the Center for the Preservation and Development of the Culture of Minorities, as well as a series of very high quality and active non-governmental associations and organizations dealing with the issue of protecting minority rights and improvement of the position of minority communities in Montenegrin society. In the previous period, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights was involved in a regional project (Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo) of the Council of Europe, which was funded by the European Union, "Promotion of Human Rights and Minorities Protection in Southeast Europe" aimed at improving access to minority rights at various levels of government, in line with SE standards in this area, and in particular in accordance with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. The project encompassed a system of grants (donations in the form of non-repayable financial assistance), which are given in support of selected municipalities and cities to develop project ideas in order to overcome the obstacles that lie in the path of realization of minority rights in their local communities. Within this project, was organized a study visit aiming at improving the quality of reporting and implementation of the recommendations arising from the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights in cooperation with the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe, on 7 February 2017