Human Rights Progress Faltering in Balkans, HRW Says

Human Rights Watch, HRW, said in its World Report 2019, published on Thursday, that Balkan countries made only modest progress last year in the field of human rights, citing lack of support for war crimes prosecution and various other issues.

However, the global picture was mixed. “In some ways this is a dark time for human rights. Yet while the autocrats and rights abusers may capture the headlines, the defenders of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law are also gaining strength,” HRW executive director, Kenneth Roth, wrote in an essay included in the report.

HRW’s World Report 2019 summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events from late 2017 through to November 2018.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia made made limited progress in 2018 towards addressing long-standing human rights problems, the report said.

War crimes cases are resolved at a slow rate, while a revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy has been waiting approval by the Council of Ministers, the government, since February 2018.

Members of national minorities remained ineligible to stand for the presidency in the 2018 general elections because of the failure to amend discriminatory provisions in the constitution.

Also, authorities did not provide even basic support to thousands of asylum seekers and migrants who arrived in 2018, the report said.

Journalists face threats and interference in their work, and although some cases were investigated by police and handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office, no one had been convicted for attacks on journalists at time of writing.

Croatia

Between January and September 2018, there were 14 war crimes cases before courts in Croatia. In the same period, courts convicted only four people for war-related crimes and the prosecution of other cases moved slowly.

HRW noted allegations that since January around 2,500 asylum seekers and migrants had been pushed back by Croatian police to Bosnia and Herzegovina, hundreds of cases of denied access to asylum procedures, and over 700 allegations of police violence and theft.

A decade after Croatia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), thousands of adults and children with disabilities remain trapped in segregated institutions.

The report notes that a government-funded study published in July found that almost all Roma in the country live in poverty and less than a third finish primary school.

The report noted a campaign starting in May for a public referendum to reduce the number of seats for ethnic Serbs in parliament and limit them from voting on the budget and government formation, which has alarmed Serbian community leaders and NGOs.

Kosovo

Progress on improving human rights protection in Kosovo was slow during the year, the HRW report said.

Serbian and Kosovo leaders in August announced a controversial plan to redraw their borders, which sparked concerns about the human rights consequences of population transfers that might be required under the plan.

Tensions between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians continued, particularly in the north. Roma, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptian communities continue to face discrimination.

The operation of the special court established to try serious war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war was delayed due to a change in the special prosecutor.

Journalists faced threats and intimidation, and prosecutions of crimes against journalists were slow.

Serbia

In Serbia, war crimes prosecutions progressed slowly and lacked political support and adequate resources, while witness support mechanisms were weak, the report said.

“Few high-ranking officials implicated in serious wartime abuses have been held to account in Serbian courts,” according to HRW.

The report also said that the asylum system remained flawed and conditions for asylum seekers had failed to improve.

The situation for journalists also remained precarious, including attacks, threats, and lawsuits for those reporting on sensitive issues, it noted.