The review of the Republic of Serbia at the United Nations Human Rights Committee is taking place in a tense political climate in Serbia, and after years of continued deterioration of rights to freedom of expression, in particular media rights, and restrictions to the possibility to participate to public life in general. Previous three years in Serbia have been marked by an ever more growing decay of institutions and the rule of law. Although the country is a candidate to membership of the European Union, in addition to being a member of the Council of Europe, and going through all-encompassing legislative changes, it is well beyond general perception that the changes are less than tangible, as they often only remain ‘changes on paper. It is with great concern that CSOs, academic community, political parties, independent media and investigative journalists note strong trends: annulation of accountability, narrowing space for debate on issues of public importance, organized campaigns against any critical opinion on Government and its policies, circumventing legal parliamentary procedures, strong political influences as well as attacks on independent bodies and institutions. The whole report prepared by the House of Human Rights is available here.
Source: Civic Initiatives