Belgrade, December 12, 2024
Violation of basic human rights in Serbia
November 22 – December 12, 2024
CIVICUS, the international confederation of non-governmental organizations, has published a regular annual report on the state of basic freedoms around the world. The report stated that the right to protest is under threat around the world and that the arrest of protesters is by far the most common tactic that restricts the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. In the CIVICUS report, Serbia was marked as a “country of interest” due to the pressures to which citizens and the civil sector are exposed.
That the right to protest is threatened in Serbia is visible every day at the blockades due to the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad when 15 people died. Organized groups of people appear at the blockades and provoke and verbally and physically attack the gathered citizens. The attacks became more and more brutal, and the provocateurs did not even hesitate to drive their cars through the crowd. Information is also reaching the public that the provocateurs are most often from the ranks of the Serbian Progressive Party. A video was also published in which a SNS official gives orders on what the provocateurs should do. Officials of municipal councils also attacked activists who oppose the demolition of the Old Sava Bridge, and the mayor of Belgrade does not consider the organized arrival of members of the ruling party to protest rallies, with the intention of harassing citizens, activists and journalists, objectionable.
The movement of socialists Aleksandar Vulin submitted a bill on foreign agents to the Serbian Parliament. The government tries to stifle any form of criticism, and it no longer even hides its violent methods. Freedom of thought and expression is stifled in institutions, public spaces, and on social networks. The future of basic human rights in Serbia is questionable under a regime that uses the fist as a means of rule.
For more information about these and other cases recorded in the previous period, see the full report below: