Youth Initiative for Human Rights - Montenegro has published its yearly report for 2009, on human rights in Montenegro. Please find it attached.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) in Montenegro conducted research from March till November 2009, on minority population right to informing on mother language. The goal of the research, conducted by the Initiative team composed of five members, was analyzing and bringing accurate and reliable information on respecting article 12 of the Law on rights and freedoms of minorities.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR MN) has been conducting the monitoring of respect of human rights in Montenegro for the last four years, and as the result of continued monitoring, it publishes annual and periodic reports. Through its research work, YIHR MN separates, as especially problematic areas, politically motivated violence, police torture, status of displaced persons, refugees, and Roma, and social rights problems.

On the basis of the monitoring on human rights state in Montenegro, which has been conducting by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), for the last three years, police torture and politically motivated violence were identified as particularly problematic areas.

Here you can download Presentation of "Human Rights in Montenegro 2008" annual report

Monitoring of human rights by Youth Initiative for Human Rights in 2008 in Montenegro was focused on observing cases of police torture and politically motivated violence. The Initiative informs the public on its work trough every trimester report as it is stipulated by the plan for 2008. This is the third and last report for 2008. The Initiative presented basic information on situation in these fields and cases in those trimester reports, while detailed information is going to be presented in the annual report, which is in preparation and is expected for mid January 2009.

In its monitoring of the state of human rights, Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) decided to pay special attention in 2008 to police torture and politically motivated violence. The public is informed on these fi elds through quarterly reports. The fi rst report was published in June. Our reports contain only basic information about cases, because many of them are in the phase of investigation and evaluation by state institutions. At the end of the year, cases from previous reports will be described in detail within the annual report.

On 21st of May 2006 Montenegro became independent, for the fi rst time since 1918 when she joined then newly made Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. After World War II Montenegro became federal unit in new socialistic Yugoslavia. Unlike other republics that opted for independence in their referendums beginning 90s, Montenegro decided to stay in union with Serbia, fi rstly in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and letter on in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), in cooperation with ART and CRCR from Nis, welcomed a Peace Caravan in the period between May 10 and 13, consisting of street actions, concerns and film screenings. The manifestation had been regularly reported to the local police when permission was requested for the use of public space. Peace Caravan participants are young people from the former Yugoslavia who, traveling for 15 days throughout the region, promote the values of non-violent action, peace and de-militarization.

On Wednesday, December 20th 2006 in Bujanovac the YIHR organized a round table "Albanians and Elections" in partnership with the Center for Multi-Cultural Education. Representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations, media and local authorities took part in the round table discussion.

On Tuesday, December 19th 2006, in Novi Pazar the YIHR organized, in cooperation with its local partner, the Urban In, a round table discussion entitled "Bosniaks and Elections." More than 40 representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations, trade union and media took part in the discussion.

The Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) and the Local Democracy Agency from Subotica organized a round table entitled "Minorities and Elections in Vojvodina" in Subotica, on December 16th , 2006. Dragan Popovic, YIHR Executive Director opened the discussion by explaining the aim of the round table and of YIHR's campaign, which will focus on the improvement of national minorities' position in the election process. Popovic emphasized that legal solutions which regulate the position of national minorities in the election process are not satisfactory. As an example he cited the unclear instructions concerning the number of signatories which a minority election list should contain in order to be eligible to take part in the elections.

Between August 1st and October 15th the YIHR monitored nine Kosovar daily newspapers. At a generally level journalism in Kosovo is satisfactory. Basic errors are made, in terms of good practice, when, for instance, a single source of information is used to create a story. Also, there is a serious lack of investigative journalism. Journalism in Kosovo follows so called “protocol journalism�.Reports on the negotiations between Prishtina and Belgrade were not balanced. There is a constant overrating of the mobility and capacity of the Kosovo delegations and on the other hand constant accusations addressed to the Serbian delegation for unsuccessful talks. There is a positive tendency in the Kosovo media to give more space to minorities, especially ethnic minorities.

The YIHR has analyzed coverage of the Kosovo situation in the fourteen newspapers with the biggest circulation and influence in Serbia from June 15 to September 15, 2006. A majority of print media sources in Serbia violate principles of ethical and professional journalism in their coverage of Kosovo. Their daily coverage of the situation aims to promote the interests of Serbian state authorities and the positions advocated by official Belgrade. We have noted an increase in the number of articles criticizing official Belgrade. These articles are generally opinion pieces and, in turn, are less closely bound to the standard editorial policy of each newspaper or newsmagazine.

A group of four Serbian NGOs, gathered in the Impunity Watch (IW) research initiative, made the Analysis of Irregularities that occurred during the Referendum organised for the purpose of confirming the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. They concluded that the referendum was not conducted in line with the democratic procedures, by which the legitimacy of the highest legal act in the country became questionable. The atmosphere in which the endorsement of Constitution and the referendum campaign were conducted contained serious elements of culture of impunity promotion. This situation is very worrisome. It represents obstacle to further democratization and development of the society in general.

In reporting on Kosovo, Serbian print media constantly breach international codes of ethics, and sometimes violate provisions of domestic legislation. The majority of media assume the role of state spokespersons and fighters for "national interests", ignoring or negating the rules of ethical journalism. Some media go even farther: in using hate-speech and inciting national, religious and racial intolerance, they are oblivious to the provisions of the Serbian Law on Public Information. In the period between March 15th and June 15th 2006, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights analyzed the reporting of 15 newspapers with greatest circulation and/or influence in Serbia.

In the period of the first four months of 2006, the implementation of transitional laws in Serbia remained at last year's level. In practical terms, this means that authorities still fail to respect and adhere to the law, thus seriously damaging the establishment of the rule of law in Serbia. Serbian authorities do not adhere to existing legal norms, and consequently violate the law. The rule of law is collapsing in Serbia due to the fact that the very institutions responsible for enacting these laws are the ones who breach them. Serbia cannot institutionalize the rule of law unless the government begins to show respect for the country's legal order and until all those directly contributing to the collapse of this order are punished.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights has formed a working group for testing the transparency of trials for war crimes before the courts in the region of the former Yugoslavia. The basic task of the working group is to determine the level and practice of transparency of trials for war crimes committed in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the main hearing and then to define the conclusions and proposals that are to contribute to higher transparency of trials before the War Crimes Chamber of the District Court in Belgrade.

The right to audio and video recording of trials is part of the right to fair trial, guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The idea of full transparency of war crimes trials is based on the precisely defined premise of transparency of court truth for the purpose of efficient realization of the process of dealing with the past and of establishment of the rule of law. On the basis of positive legislation in analyzed legal systems, we arrived at the conclusion that audio and video recordings, as well as trial broadcasts, are generally allowed, always with the consent of a presiding judge.

In the period between June and September 2005, the YIHR continued to monitor the implementation of transitional laws. The first part of our research, published in June 2005, provoked numerous reactions from state institutions as well as non-governmental organizations and the media. The YIHR firmly believes that the rule of law should be the supreme value of every society. This analysis represents a small contribution to the civil sector's fight for the establishment of a firm and serious foundation for the rule of law in Serbia.

In the period between March and June 2005, the YIHR monitored the implementation of five transitional laws. The targeted laws were: the Law on Cooperation with the ICTY, the Law on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, the Lustration Law, the Law on Public Information, and the Law on the Transfer of Authority of Military Courts, Military Prosecutions and Military Attorney.

In the period of December 2004 and April 2005, YIHR researchers investigated the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Interest. It was concluded that 76.42% of tested state institutions do not fully adhere to this law. The practice, as perhaps the best indicator of the extent to which this law is applied in reality, shows an absence of honesty, will and capability of state bodies to allow citizens to have access to information of public interest.

Rights and liberties, stipulated by international legal acts, are not guaranteed to the LGBT population in Serbia. Same-sex couples are not given the right of marriage. Discrimination lurks everywhere – in offices and public places, exercised even by police and the military. Homophobic rhetoric is widespread in the media. The government refuses to condemn discrimination and mistreatment of the LGBT population. Furthermore, some government officials and ministers have uttered homophobic statements. The Law does not stipulate adequate measures to eradicate discrimination against the LGBT population.

The number of members of national minorities has decreased in six targeted municipalities, while the percentage of Serbs has increased. With the exception of two cases, the religious rights of national minorities were not violated or endangered. The right to official use of native language, however, is not fully respected in any of the researched municipalities. Education in minority languages is not implemented everywhere in the manner stipulated by the Framework Convention. Inequality in institutions of public power is most visible in courts, prosecution and the police.