Human Rights at Risk in Serbia

Impunity begets impunity, it seems.

A new report from Amnesty International accuses the Serbian government of turning a blind eye to attacks against human rights defenders, whose primary ‘offense' is calling for accountability for war crimes committed by Serbian forces in the 1990s. Hostile pro-government media singles out human rights defenders, with particularly vicious attacks reserved for women and LGBT activists, and accuses them of driving the country to ruin with their calls for justice. A journalist in Belgade was the victim of a grenade attack on his apartment after appearing on local television to discuss the 1995 genocidal massacre at Srebrenica.

Using the media to express an opinion is one thing -- but threatening the lynching of a human rights activist crosses any reasonable line of free speech, especially in a still-tense post-conflict setting. Publishing the home address of another and labeling her a "traitor" borders on criminal. According to activist Sonja Biserko of the Helsinki Committee, the state itself is "eager to silence people because they don't want us to remind them what they have done."

The culture of impunity that protects the war criminals has, to no huge surprise, been extended to those who seek to prevent its dismantling by the country's human rights community. Physical attacks and death threats are met with total apathy by the Serbian authorities. As is often the case, little international attention is paid to Serbian activists, even from the European Union member states, whose foreign embassies are duty-bound to advocate for the protection of human rights defenders.

A government's respect for and protection of human rights defenders is an often overlooked barometer of peace and stability. This is particularly in societies with recent experiences of conflict, where efforts to end cycles of violence can break down at the drop of a hat. Far too little attention is paid to activists who risk their lives to transform their own countries, and yet a relatively easy round of international name-and-shame can often go a long way towards changing this dynamic.

If we can be bothered to speak up, that is.

[Photo of a woman visiting a grave in Srebrenica from The Advocacy Project's Flickr stream (Creative Commons license.).]