Serbia
05.05.04
Urgent Interventions
Serbia: harassment and defamation perpetrated against independent NGOs
Open Letter to Svetozar Marovic, President of Serbia-Montenegro and Vojislav Kostunica, Prime Minister of Serbia
Paris - Geneva, May 5, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, expresses its concern over the new acts of harassment and defamation perpetrated against independent Serbian NGOs.
The Observatory was informed that the office of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Belgrade, was searched by military police on March 26, 2004, after a search warrant was issued by Vuk Tufegdzic, investigating judge of the Military Court in Belgrade. The judge, a deputy military prosecutor, and several military policemen stayed two hours at the Committee office in Belgrade, and confiscated all the copies of the book Military Secret.
This book, published in mid-March by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, mostly contained minutes taken at sessions of the Supreme Military Council during the period 1999-2000, concerning the activities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) government against the opposition. Vladan Vlakovic, the author of the book, was put in preventive detention on March 18, just after the publication of the book. Although he was released on April 16, he is still under investigation for disclosing a military secret (article 224 §2 in connection with §1 of the Basic Criminal Code), a crime that carries up to three years in prison.
The Observatory is concerned that these acts against the Helsinki Committee in Serbia might be linked to the Committee's efforts to monitor the FRY forces during the Milosevic era.
The Observatory has also been informed of new media smear campaigns against NGOs dealing with protection of human and minority rights, in the context of the upsurge of violence in Kosovo, in March 2004. These campaigns portrayed the fund for Humanitarian Law, the Jurists' Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia as "unpatriotic" and accused them of not having compassion for the Serb victims in Kosovo. For example, on March 21, 2004, an article published by Vecernje novosti stated: "NGOs have been concerned about human rights for the past ten years [...]. But their voice was not heard with respect to the recent pogrom of Serbs in Kosmet". Moreover, on March 22, 2004, the tabloid Inter-Nacional ran this headline "Campaigners for human rights are more concerned with torching of mosques than with the genocide against Serbs in Kosmet". On March 25, 2004, the columnist Tirnanic stated in Nin, "their [NGOs] work on collapse of Serbia is a business speculation On March 28, 2004, during a BK TV program called "It is not in Serb character to keep quiet",Vojislav Kostunica, Prime Minister of Serbia, stated that some NGOs were responsible for the bad image of Serbia.
This hostile climate against NGOs has also targeted independent journalists involved in denouncing human rights violations and political abuses. On March 28, 2004, a bomb was found under a vehicle of the Serbian independent television program, B92 TV. The journalists were coming back from Mitrovica where they had been reporting on the upsurge of violence in Kosovo. On May 3, Mr. Masan Lekic, a B92 reporter, was attacked as he was conducting an investigation on Milorad "Legija" Lukovic, the main suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. The attackers first asked him which television company he was working for and when he answered B92, threw his camera to the ground and seized the tape. The Observatory recalls that Radio Television B92 is one the independent media that has been the most active in denouncing human rights violations by the Milosevic regime.
The Observatory is deeply concerned over this climate of violence and acts of harassment against human rights defenders, in particular against those who investigate into the crimes perpetrated under the Milosevic era and those who denounce nationalist behaviours amongst politicians. It urges Serbian authorities to put an end to any kind of violence and harassment against human rights defenders in Serbia. The Observatory urges the Serbian authorities to conform with Article 1 of the Declaration on human rights defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, which states that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and art 6-b, which states that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms".
More generally, the Observatory urges Serbian authorities to respect fundamental freedoms provided for by international human rights standards.
Sidiki KABA Eric SOTTAS
President of the FIDH Director of the OMCT
Paris - Geneva, May 5, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, expresses its concern over the new acts of harassment and defamation perpetrated against independent Serbian NGOs.
The Observatory was informed that the office of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Belgrade, was searched by military police on March 26, 2004, after a search warrant was issued by Vuk Tufegdzic, investigating judge of the Military Court in Belgrade. The judge, a deputy military prosecutor, and several military policemen stayed two hours at the Committee office in Belgrade, and confiscated all the copies of the book Military Secret.
This book, published in mid-March by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, mostly contained minutes taken at sessions of the Supreme Military Council during the period 1999-2000, concerning the activities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) government against the opposition. Vladan Vlakovic, the author of the book, was put in preventive detention on March 18, just after the publication of the book. Although he was released on April 16, he is still under investigation for disclosing a military secret (article 224 §2 in connection with §1 of the Basic Criminal Code), a crime that carries up to three years in prison.
The Observatory is concerned that these acts against the Helsinki Committee in Serbia might be linked to the Committee's efforts to monitor the FRY forces during the Milosevic era.
The Observatory has also been informed of new media smear campaigns against NGOs dealing with protection of human and minority rights, in the context of the upsurge of violence in Kosovo, in March 2004. These campaigns portrayed the fund for Humanitarian Law, the Jurists' Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia as "unpatriotic" and accused them of not having compassion for the Serb victims in Kosovo. For example, on March 21, 2004, an article published by Vecernje novosti stated: "NGOs have been concerned about human rights for the past ten years [...]. But their voice was not heard with respect to the recent pogrom of Serbs in Kosmet". Moreover, on March 22, 2004, the tabloid Inter-Nacional ran this headline "Campaigners for human rights are more concerned with torching of mosques than with the genocide against Serbs in Kosmet". On March 25, 2004, the columnist Tirnanic stated in Nin, "their [NGOs] work on collapse of Serbia is a business speculation On March 28, 2004, during a BK TV program called "It is not in Serb character to keep quiet",Vojislav Kostunica, Prime Minister of Serbia, stated that some NGOs were responsible for the bad image of Serbia.
This hostile climate against NGOs has also targeted independent journalists involved in denouncing human rights violations and political abuses. On March 28, 2004, a bomb was found under a vehicle of the Serbian independent television program, B92 TV. The journalists were coming back from Mitrovica where they had been reporting on the upsurge of violence in Kosovo. On May 3, Mr. Masan Lekic, a B92 reporter, was attacked as he was conducting an investigation on Milorad "Legija" Lukovic, the main suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. The attackers first asked him which television company he was working for and when he answered B92, threw his camera to the ground and seized the tape. The Observatory recalls that Radio Television B92 is one the independent media that has been the most active in denouncing human rights violations by the Milosevic regime.
The Observatory is deeply concerned over this climate of violence and acts of harassment against human rights defenders, in particular against those who investigate into the crimes perpetrated under the Milosevic era and those who denounce nationalist behaviours amongst politicians. It urges Serbian authorities to put an end to any kind of violence and harassment against human rights defenders in Serbia. The Observatory urges the Serbian authorities to conform with Article 1 of the Declaration on human rights defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, which states that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and art 6-b, which states that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms".
More generally, the Observatory urges Serbian authorities to respect fundamental freedoms provided for by international human rights standards.
Sidiki KABA Eric SOTTAS
President of the FIDH Director of the OMCT