Source description last updated: 23 April 2020

In brief: The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, which was established in 1995 by a group of human rights experts and activists, is a non-profit association of citizens concerned with the advancement of human rights.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Reports for Serbia (country priority B1).

Monthly coverage on ecoi.net.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights is a non-partisan, non-political and non-profit association of citizens concerned with the advancement of theory and practice of human rights. It assembles persons of various professions and backgrounds – jurists, attorneys, sociologists, economists, writers, teachers, students and entrepreneurs. They contribute to the mission of the Centre by their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm. [...] The principal goals of the Centre are advancement of knowledge in the field of human rights and humanitarian law, development of democracy, strengthening of the rule of law and the civil society in Serbia and other countries in transition from authoritarianism to democracy. In the twenty years of its existence the Centre has endeavoured to raise the consciousness of the citizens on the importance and dimensions of the idea of human rights and individual freedoms and to establish a favourable climate for their full respect and enjoyment.” (Website of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: About Us, undated)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights is based on the “conviction that all human beings must be equal before the law”, the “belief that democracy implies full participation of citizens and in the decision making process”, the “need to develop critical attitudes of mature citizens” and the “conviction that the civil society has to be constantly developed and energetically defended”. (Website of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: About Us, undated)

Funding:

A list of donors and supporters is available here: http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/o-nama/donatori/.

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Serbia

Thematic focus: Advancement of human rights in theory and practice. (Website of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: About Us, undated)

Methodology:

“Since 1998 Belgrade Centre for Human Right [sic!] has been publishing Annual Human Rights Report.” (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: Human Rights in Serbia; 2018, 2019)

“The 2019 Report reviews legislation that was in force in 2019 but also comments laws that were adopted during the reporting period, irrespective of whether they entered into force, as well as draft laws that were publicly available during the reporting period. [...] Rather than providing final assessments, the Report mostly cites the information that appeared in the media or NGO reports and press releases during the reporting period. In addition to the domestic regulations, BCHR also analysed the state authorities’ practices in enforcing provisions affecting the exercise of human rights [...]. The BCHR team monitored the information, news and reports published by daily and weekly press in order to analyse the practice of state authorities. A number of sources were perused during the preparation of this Report, including articles published in the dailies [and] weeklies [...]. The BCHR also perused reports by news agencies [...]. The BCHR team also relied in their analyses on information and press releases published by press associations [...]. Furthermore, they perused reports [...] by investigative reporting networks [...] and a number of portals.” (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: Human Rights in Serbia: 2019, 2020, p. 17-18)

“The report on the right to asylum in the RS for 2019 before you has been prepared by the BCHR team based on the experience in providing legal assistance to asylum seekers and persons who have been granted asylum. The Report is based on the review and analysis of the application of the national regulations in the asylum procedure and in other administrative proceedings related to the integration into Serbian society. Additional information was obtained trough [sic!] our regular cooperation and communication with the state authorities and UNHCR, and on the basis of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. In some of its parts, the Report looks at the international commitments undertaken by the RS under specific universal and regional instruments that have been ratified. The authors have sought to present the RS asylum system operations in an objective manner, and some of their observations are corroborated with the views of international organisations, United Nations (UN) treaty bodies and special procedures, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The Report outlines various aspects of the right to asylum in the RS, and focuses on the issues that had received particular attention from the BCHR team during 2019. [...] All the statistics relating to the first-instance asylum procedure and the number of migrants in the RS have been obtained from the UNHCR Office in Belgrade, which receives official activity reports and statistics from the Ministry of the Interior.” (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: Right to Asylum in the Republic of Serbia 2019, 2020, p. 11-13)

“The analysis of the position of young persons is based on the fact that, despite the fact that all young persons have the same rights, the youth group is heterogeneous [...]. The position of certain categories is particularly complicated when analysing the situation of multiply [sic!] vulnerable categories, which is why our main task is to provide sufficient information on the exercise of youth rights in Serbia, and to continuously monitor and report in the coming years on the status and enjoyment of human rights of young persons as a particularly vulnerable population category [...]. The Report draws on the methodology used by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights since 1998, since the publication of the comprehensive Human Rights Report in Serbia. [...] Independent state institutions’ reports and media coverage of the exercise and protection of human rights are also being monitored, as well as information presented in meetings, conferences and roundtables discussing the status of young persons and the enjoyment of their rights. In addition, some data have [sic!] been obtained in regular contact with youth which the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights maintains through its youth programmes throughout the country and at various occasions and fora.” (Belgrade Centre for Human Rights: Zero Report on Youth Rights in Serbia 2019, 2020, p. 7-8)

Languages of publications:

English, Serbian

Further reading / links:

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Website: Governing board, undated
http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/o-nama/upravni-odbor/

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Website: Council, undated
http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/o-nama/savet-centra/

All links accessed 23 April 2020.