Reports

Paying special attention to human rights protection standards, this analysis contains an overview of important events and measures in Serbia related to the COVID-19 epidemic during the first five months after the first registered case of infection in Serbia. The aim of this analysis is, on the one hand, to identify acts and measures that infringed on human rights and to examine whether the limits of what can be considered justified and necessary have been exceeded. The analysis also points to situations in which there was no response from the state when intervention was needed to prevent human rights violations.

This research, conducted in ten informal collective centers or informal settlements where internally displaced persons live, examines the conditions of displaced persons living in these centers, particularly their position regarding the exercise of the rights to housing, education, work and employment, health care, and social protection to point at their marginalization and need to prioritize the problems they face.

This is A 11 Initiative`s first report examining the exercise of key economic and social rights, from the right to social protection and housing, to the right to health care and other so-called second-generation human rights. A particular focus of this report is on the aftermath of the global economic crisis and the impact of austerity measures on the right to social protection, health care and housing by citizens from the most vulnerable groups.

This report examines the impact of our work in the first year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal of this analysis is to show to what extent measures derogating from human rights, enacted under the auspices of the state of emergency, have affected the daily life of citizens of the Republic of Serbia and whether they have been implemented in the manner prescribed by the Constitution. The analysis is divided into two sections. The first section provides an overview of the introduced “emergency” legal framework, as well as a mapping of derogated human rights. The second section provides an overview of the international obligations which must be observed in order for derogations to be admissible.

The goal of this analysis is to explain the consequences that the regular and extraordinary legal framework that introduced the “temporary restriction of movement” of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants caused to the enjoyment of the basic human rights to these categories of people. It also explores how this legal framework infringes on the right to liberty and security of persons. It examines whether the stated restrictions and derogations are in accordance with international conventions, generally accepted rules of international law and the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia.

A 11 Initiative, along with 12 CSOs and trade unions, submitted a joint report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the occasion of the adoption of the List of Issues for the 3^rd reporting cycle of the Republic of Serbia under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report covered issues such as the discriminatory exclusion of Roma children from the right to parental allowance; equal rights of men and women; the position of women in the informal economy, textile industry, and those involved in seasonal jobs; access to health care for undocumented children and uninsured pregnant women and legal amendments introduced by the new Law on Health Insurance (related to mandatory cancer screening) that might disproportionately affect women and Serbia’s rural population.

This publication is primarily aimed at activists and all those engaged in the protection of human rights through work in non-governmental organizations, local initiatives and other activist groups. The goal of the publication is to offer new ideas for the improvement of the work of human rights organizations, particularly their monitoring and advocacy work, as well as their efforts to empower vulnerable individuals and communities.

Through this report, A 11 Initiative highlights the main challenges that internally displaced persons (IDPs) face in their access to social rights and offers recommendations for the promotion of local integration of IDPs in Serbia. In addition to the difficulties and recommendations in the field of housing and social and health protection, the report pays special attention to obstacles related to access to personal documents and residence registration.

In cooperation with the FemPlatz, Initiative A 11 submitted an alternative report to the CEDAW Committee for the 72nd Pre-sessional Working group reviewing of the Republic of Serbia, covering issues such as the impact of austerity measures on women’s human rights; stereotyping and patriarchal labeling of women/girls by the governmental officials; inequality before the law of women with disabilities who are placed under guardianship (deprived of legal capacity), which, inter alia, leads to a risk of inhuman and degrading treatment; access to prenatal and maternal health care for undocumented Roma women; participation of women in creation, implementation and assessment of public policies, and participation in public and political life.