HR/CT/731
Human Rights Committee
101st Session
2781st & 2782nd Meetings (AM & PM)
Delegation Concede Need to Enhance Investigations, Strengthen Penalties
Citing critical gaps between a number of admittedly excellent laws and proposed legislative amendments on the one hand, and the actual status of civil and political rights in Serbia on the other, experts of the Human Rights Committee pressed that country today to do more on several fronts, including the protection of minority rights, the effective functioning of its courts and grave instances of violence against journalists and human rights defenders.
"The situation on the ground does not give the Committee too much cause to be happy," said Zonke Zanele Majodina, Chair of the Committee and expert from South Africa, as the 18-member body charged with monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights concluded its consideration of Serbia's second periodic report.
While noting that the delegation had been forthcoming on the problems of implementation and how much work was still required to advance the human rights of the Serbian people, she emphasized that many minorities, including the Roma, internally displaced persons and the "legally invisible", still faced significant difficulties.
Suggesting that Serbia's administration of justice appeared to be flawed, Krister Thelin, expert from Sweden, highlighted complaints from citizens about the length of proceedings, the scarcity of judges, untimely decision-making and the absence of legally based decision-making. The country's Constitution provided for an independent judiciary, but recent "serious" reforms would cut the number of judges to 330, seemingly worsening the situation, he said.
At the same time, he said, according to reports from non-governmental organizations, significant percentages of Serbians convicted of criminal offences - and even higher numbers in civil cases - had not been represented by a lawyer. Expressing concern at those figures, he also pressed the delegation to review reforms in its legal aid system. He also suggested that the Government had wielded an "inappropriate" tool in prosecuting the Director of the Humanitarian Law Centre for defamation.
Cornelis Flinterman, expert from the Netherlands, said it was commendable that Serbia considered any declaration of ethnic affiliation to be a personal right, rather than an obligation. Yet that meant no information could be provided on minority representation in Government service, which made it difficult to adopt policies to promote the representation of minorities, who were very much underrepresented in the public sector.
Also commending Serbia's efforts to eliminate human trafficking, including its ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, he nevertheless pressed the delegation to provide the Committee with an update on specific actions taken to address the issues raised in its previous concluding observations in 2004 over the State's failure to notify victims of their rights.