News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The President of the European Commission, Ms. Von der Leyen during in her 2023 State of the Union Adress stated that EC will open the Rule of Law Reports to accession countries who get up to speed even faster, placing them on an equal footing with member states, supporting them in their reform efforts. This
Read more →The EU has expressed its concern about the enforcement of amendments to the criminal code of the Republika Srpska entity, which reintroduces criminal penalties for defamation. The EU’s position is that this legislation has come into force in the Bosnian Serb entity and that these legal changes impose unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on independent media
Read more →The CASE coalition, a network of organizations combating SLAPP lawsuits in Europe, has released an updated report detailing SLAPPs prevalence and impact. SLAPP suits are legal actions designed to intimidate media outlets and individuals into silence, rather than seeking legitimate legal outcomes. The report reveals that over 250 SLAPP cases were documented in the past
Read more →In Turkey, closure cases against associations are used to target individual organisations while exerting a chilling effect over civil society. The Observatory and their partner organisations in Turkey, the Human Rights Association and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey released a report documenting this practice and its adverse impact on CSOs and the communities they
Read more →The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled in favor of TV B92 and against Serbia in a case centered on the station’s reporting of allegations of abuse of office by the assistant health minister in 2011. The ECHR stated that it found Serbia in violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of
Read more →The right of citizens to form associations and receive funding to pursue their missions is enshrined in international human rights law. Yet, in recent years an increasing number of states have adopted or amended laws and regulations constraining the right of CSOs to access funding, particularly foreign funding. These measures severely constrain the ability of
Read more →On 15 August, a large-scale graffiti featuring Sofija Todorovic’s full name, Programme Director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), materialized on the facade of a building in the small Borca neighborhood of Belgrade in which she lives. The graffiti displays her name and surname alongside derogatory and sexist language in an alarming attempt
Read more →With regard to the total revenues of CSOs in North Macedonia, state funding, i.e. central budget money, is 4%. In comparison to the preceding year, the proportion of central state funding remains unchanged. Amidst the stagnation in the reform process for state funding allocated to CSOs and the persistent boycott of the Council for Cooperation
Read more →Watchdog organizations have brought attention to a noticeable “surge in censorship” within Turkey following the May elections. The government has employed the judicial system as a means of retaliating against journalists and media outlets that expressed opposition to Turkish President Erdogan and the ruling party. Data from the Mapping Media Freedom of the European Centre
Read more →On 21 August, approximately 50 women joined together in a protest outside the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb. On behalf of nearly 40 women’s organizations and initiatives, they called on the Ministry to improve women’s safety across Croatia and establish a working group on formulating legal solutions to address femicide as well as femicide to
Read more →On 14 August, thousands of Bosnians took to the streets to demand authorities act to curb violence against women after a man last week shot and killed his ex-wife while streaming the slaying live on Instagram. Bosnia’s citizens were angered in particular because of reports that the woman who was killed on Friday in the
Read more →FATF is welcoming proposals from various practitioners, experts, and stakeholders from the NPO sector and the financial institutions for the update of the FATF Best Practice Paper to Combat the Abuse of NPOs. This project is being undertaken in parallel to the proposed amendments to Recommendation 8 and its Interpretive Note (under public consultation) to
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