Yougoslavia, Federal Rep.of
05.07.00
Urgent Interventions
Yougoslavia: interrogations/harassment
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
YUG 003 / 0007 / OBS 066
Interrogations/Harassment
FED. REP. OF YUGOSLAVIA
5th July 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Brief description of the situation :
The Observatory was informed by the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), that a staff attorney from the HLC, Mr. Igor Olujic, was temporarily arrested by the Police on 24th June 2000 and interrogated about HLC’s activities.
According to the information received, Mr. Olujic was stopped in the street at about 7 pm, in Leskovac, as he was on his way to meet with the mother of an arrested activist from OTPOR (Resistance), a student organisation, which has called for political change and fought against the totalitarian regime of President Milosevic, since 1998. He was stopped along with another OTPOR activist; the Police asked to see their identity documents and took them both to the Police Department, saying further checks were needed since they suspected the documents to be falsified.
Although he showed the Police documentation proving that he was an attorney, Igor Olujic was taken in and questioned about the finances and activities of the HLC.
The Chairman of the Committee for Human Rights in Leskovac, Dobrosav Nesic and other OPTOR activists were stopped in the streets at approximately the same time. Police files were open on all of them.
The Observatory considers these acts against Igor Olujic to be in contradiction with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on 9th December 1998, by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which stipulates in article 9.3.c that « everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms ».
These facts are part of the systematic harassment of any organisation or person expressing different views from the regime. Several human rights NGOs have recently been subject to harassment from the authorities (see appeal YUG 002 / 0006 / OBS 053) and hundreds of OTPOR activists (university students, high school pupils, professors) have been arrested, interrogated and, in some cases, prosecuted, and they are now being assimilated to terrorists by the authorities.
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of the federal Republic of Yugoslavia urging them to :
i. stop any kind of harassment against the defenders of democracy in the country, including human rights NGOs activists and OTPOR activists.
ii. ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9 1998 (Declaration concerning the rights and responsibilities of individuals, groups and institutions to promote and protect universally recognised human rights and fundamental liberties ) in particular its Article 1 which provides that " Every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international level " and article 9.3.c mentioned above.
iii. guarantee the effective respect of fundamental rights and liberties in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international and regional Pacts and Covenants ratified by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Addresses:
- Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Fax : 381 11 63 67 75
- Ministry of the Interior. Fax : 381 11 361 83 66 -
Embassies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in your respective countries.
Geneva-Paris, 5th July 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken, quoting the reference number
given above.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: +033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
YUG 003 / 0007 / OBS 066
Interrogations/Harassment
FED. REP. OF YUGOSLAVIA
5th July 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Brief description of the situation :
The Observatory was informed by the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), that a staff attorney from the HLC, Mr. Igor Olujic, was temporarily arrested by the Police on 24th June 2000 and interrogated about HLC’s activities.
According to the information received, Mr. Olujic was stopped in the street at about 7 pm, in Leskovac, as he was on his way to meet with the mother of an arrested activist from OTPOR (Resistance), a student organisation, which has called for political change and fought against the totalitarian regime of President Milosevic, since 1998. He was stopped along with another OTPOR activist; the Police asked to see their identity documents and took them both to the Police Department, saying further checks were needed since they suspected the documents to be falsified.
Although he showed the Police documentation proving that he was an attorney, Igor Olujic was taken in and questioned about the finances and activities of the HLC.
The Chairman of the Committee for Human Rights in Leskovac, Dobrosav Nesic and other OPTOR activists were stopped in the streets at approximately the same time. Police files were open on all of them.
The Observatory considers these acts against Igor Olujic to be in contradiction with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on 9th December 1998, by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which stipulates in article 9.3.c that « everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms ».
These facts are part of the systematic harassment of any organisation or person expressing different views from the regime. Several human rights NGOs have recently been subject to harassment from the authorities (see appeal YUG 002 / 0006 / OBS 053) and hundreds of OTPOR activists (university students, high school pupils, professors) have been arrested, interrogated and, in some cases, prosecuted, and they are now being assimilated to terrorists by the authorities.
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of the federal Republic of Yugoslavia urging them to :
i. stop any kind of harassment against the defenders of democracy in the country, including human rights NGOs activists and OTPOR activists.
ii. ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9 1998 (Declaration concerning the rights and responsibilities of individuals, groups and institutions to promote and protect universally recognised human rights and fundamental liberties ) in particular its Article 1 which provides that " Every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international level " and article 9.3.c mentioned above.
iii. guarantee the effective respect of fundamental rights and liberties in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international and regional Pacts and Covenants ratified by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Addresses:
- Slobodan Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Fax : 381 11 63 67 75
- Ministry of the Interior. Fax : 381 11 361 83 66 -
Embassies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in your respective countries.
Geneva-Paris, 5th July 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken, quoting the reference number
given above.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: +033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch