Yugoslavia: The general situation of human rights under Kostunica's presidency in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) (October 2000-2001)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 15 November 2001 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | YUG38076.E |
| Reference | 7 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Yugoslavia: The general situation of human rights under Kostunica's presidency in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) (October 2000-2001), 15 November 2001, YUG38076.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4bec910.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to Amnesty International, incidents of human rights violations have "substantially" decreased in Serbia since the beginning of President Vojislav Kostunica's term on 5 October 2000 (Sept. 2001). In this regard, Amnesty International reports that the federal and Serbian parliaments have adopted several laws in response to remaining "human rights concerns" (ibid.). For example, the Serbian parliament abolished the 1998 Public Information Act reportedly known to be a tool used under Slobodan Milosevic's presidency to control the media (ibid.). On 5 November 2001, the lower house of the federal parliament voted to abolish capital punishment as part of a series of reforms that Yugoslavia is required to enact in order to meet the admission criteria of the Council of Europe (RFE/RL 6 Nov. 2001). As a result, the maximum punishment in the Yugoslav criminal code for the most serious crimes is now 40 years of imprisonment (ibid.).
According to Tihomir Loza, the editor-in-chief of Transitions Online's Balkan Reconstruction Report, there have been no "politically-motivated murders" since the end of Slobodan Milosevic's presidency (Transitions 5 Oct. 2001).
Two reports respectively by Amnesty International and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR) provide an assessment of the situation of human rights in Yugoslavia in 2000, including the first three months of the post-Milosevic era. The IHFHR noted a tendency for a number of judges who had served under Milosevic's presidency to "please the new authorities" in cases with a political dimension, sometimes "at the expense of fair trials" (2001). According to Amnesty International, reports of cases of detainees who had been victims of "police ill-treatment" continue to occur, although to a "lesser degree" following the change in government (2001, 269). Amnesty International added that a number of police officers had been accused of being involved in incidents of ill-treatment, but noted that the majority of them had not been independently investigated (ibid.). These officers were reportedly ordered to other tasks (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International. September 2001. Concerns in Europe. January-June 2001.
_____. 2001. Amnesty International Report 2001. London: Amnesty International.
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR). 2001. Human Rights in the OSCE Regions: The Balkans, the Caucasus, Europe, Central Asia and North America. Report of 2001 (Events of 2000).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Newsline [Prague, in English]. 6 November 2001. Vol. 5, No. 211, Part II. "Yugoslavia Ends Death Penalty." ([email protected])
Transitions Online [Prague]. The Balkan Reconstruction Report. 5 October 2001. Tihomir Loza. "Out of the Fog."
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Internet sites including:
Alternative Information Network (AIM) [Paris]
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) [Belgrade]. 4 October 2001. Media in Serbia - Twelve Months on - Brief Analysis.
Balkan Human Rights Web Pages
British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG)
Le Courrier des Balkans [Villejuif, France]
DERECHOS Human Rights
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) [Flensburg, Germany]
Free B92 [Belgrade]
Fund for an Open Society Yugoslavia
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
_____. May 2001. Report on Racial Discrimination in Serbia.
[Accessed 14 Nov. 2001]
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Humanitarian Law Center[Belgrade]
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
International Crisis Group (ICG) [Brussels]
Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) [Princeton, NJ]
