| Coalition against Discrimination Presented its Report - ”Discrimination in Serbia 2009” |
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The Coalition against Discrimination, Belgrade, is a coalition of ten NGOs established in 2005 with the goal to campaign for the adoption of the anti-discriminatory legislation in Serbia and to report on discriminatory practice. ”Discrimination in Serbia 2009” is the fourth report edited by Mr Saša Gajin, the Coalition’s coordinator and supported by the Civil Rights Defenders.As one of the founding members, the CHRIS Network contributes to the Report with the discrimination practice cases processed by the Network’s offices. „The fourth annual report on discrimination in
Serbia, that is in front of the readers, represents one more in series
of joint undertakings of the Coalition members. In this unique
publication in the country, the Coalition members present what they have
learnt following up the discriminatory practice…
It is our intention to continue following up individual discrimination cases in order to document to broader public what almost everyone who deals with human rights is well aware of - that discrimination in Serbia is endemic and systemic phenomenon, which is to be coped with by adopting new modern legal solutions and undertaking concrete legal measures and other ways of protection against discriminatory conduct on daily basis.” Excerpt from the Report’s Introduction by Saša Gajin
Three CHRIS Network offices contributed to the Report 2009 with nine cases of discriminatory practices in their regions (p. 11 to 25) where a range of human rights violations happened and several laws and Conventions were breached. The Coalition members presented the report
“Discrimination in Serbia 2009” and awarded individuals and collectives
with the Coalition Against Discrimination annual award in Belgrade
Media Centre on April 30, 2010.
On behalf of the team of the Ministry of for Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia, the state secretary of the Ministry, Mr Zoran Martinović on the occasion of receiving the award in public authorities category, in his address to the audience underlined: “I believe, we completed the area of normative legislation and now we are facing a serious contest in implementation of the legislation”. He noticed that majority of institutions was inaccessible to persons with disabilities and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities was not being implemented adequately. Importantly, he highlighted some results of a research carried out in 2009 showing that 86% of the surveyed Serbian citizens acknowledged and admitted that discrimination exists; 59% condemned discrimination; and only 16% of the citizens, who noticed and admitted there was discrimination, sought appropriate protection measures. The Report in Serbian is on the Coalition's web page:
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The
Free Legal Aid programme is the core activity of the CHRIS Network in
safeguarding respect of human rights and liberties. Its trained and
experienced teams of paralegals and lawyers in the network’s five
offices provide free counselling and representation before national and
international courts to victims of violation of human rights. In the
country where public rarely responds to human rights breaches and is
neither informed properly nor educated on own rights and
responsibilities, the Network conscientiously and regularly contributes
to the CAD's report in an effort to reach public's attention with actual
discrimination cases of their fellow citizens.