Project: Roma in Serbia: How safe they feel and do they see improvements?

28Feb2014

The report has been produced under the project entitled Equal Chances for Better Prospects – Strengthening Roma in Combating Discrimination, implemented by the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, in cooperation with the non-governmental organisations Praxis and the Regional Centre for Minorities, and with the financial support of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Serbia. The reason for writing this report is the need to summarise the experience gained during the implementation of educational and information campaign on anti-discrimination mechanisms targeting the Roma community and to point out to the weaknesses in the area of protection from discrimination. Since one of the project goals was to encourage the Roma minority to file complaints with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality more often, special focus has been placed on identifying the reasons why many cases of discrimination 

go unreported. The report presents the problems that lead to a small number of complaints filed by Roma, but also indicates the measures that should be taken to encourage the victims of discrimination to address the Commissioner more often. The report also shows the progress achieved during the project implementation, the effects expected upon completion of the project and the available resources that could contribute to achieve a greater respect for the principle of equality. The concluding remarks include the recommendations whose implementation would contribute to raising awareness of the prohibition of discrimination and strengthening confidence in anti-discrimination mechanisms and, consequently, to achieving better and more equitable position for the Roma national minority, which is one of the most vulnerable groups in Serbia in terms of exposure to discrimination.

The prohibition of discrimination is a human right guaranteed under the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia whose Article 76 prohibits discrimination against national minorities. The importance of this human right is confirmed in the numerous international instruments that guarantee non-discrimination. The Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, which prescribes the forms and cases of discrimination, began to be implemented at the beginning of 2010. The Law recognises the national minority population as one of the groups that are most vulnerable to discrimination, and defines discrimination against national minorities and 

their members on the basis of nationality, ethnic origin, religious beliefs and language as a special form of discrimination. The Law established the institution of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, as an independent, autonomous and specialised authority. 

The task of this public authority is to prevent all forms, types and cases of discrimination, to protect the equality of natural persons and legal entities in all spheres of social relations, to oversee the implementation of anti-discrimination regulations, and to promote the realisation and protection of equality. The Commissioner is authorised to: handle complaints in cases of discrimination against persons or groups of persons sharing the same characteristics, initiate a civil procedure for protection against discrimination, file misdemeanour charges for the violation of rights guaranteed under 

anti-discrimination regulations, warn the public about the most common, typical and severe cases of discrimination, monitor the implementation of laws and regulations, initiate the adoption of or the amendments to the regulations aimed at the implementation and promotion of protection against discrimination and give opinions about the provisions of draft laws and other non-discrimination regulations, as well as to recommend measures for achieving equality to public authorities and other persons. 

Complaints against discrimination may be filed by any natural person or legal entity or group of persons/entities that consider to have suffered discrimination, 

as well as by organisations dealing with the protection of human rights or any other person, on behalf of and with the consent of the person who considers 

to have suffered discrimination. In case of discrimination against a group of people, human rights organisations can file a complaint in their own name, 

without the consent of a person who is believed to have suffered discrimination.

The provisions relevant to equality and prohibition of discrimination are included in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, which envisages protection against several criminal acts classified as discrimination; a number of special laws have also been adopted and they regulate non-discrimination in the exercise of individual rights. In addition to the constitutional and legal guarantees of equality, there are strategic documents relevant to the protection of Roma from discrimination, such as the Strategy  for  Improvement  of the Status of Roma in the Republic of Serbia, which, by setting up a number of specific goals related to the observance of fundamental human rights, seeks to contribute to reducing differences in the status between Roma and non-Roma populations.

Measures to increase tolerance, with special reference to the Roma minority, are also included in the Strategy for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, which was adopted in June 2013. Although in recent years Serbia has built up a solid anti-discrimination legal framework, which places special focus on the protection of national minorities, the practice shows that the Roma minority, women, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBT population are most exposed to discrimination. They are often the victims of intolerance, hate speech, and even physical attacks. Public officials are often reluctant to condemn publicly such incidents.

According to the 2011 Analytical Report of the European Commission, widespread discrimination and marginalisation of the Roma in Serbia 

continue in practice. In this regard, Roma have been the subject of several ethnically motivated attacks or threats over the past years. Discrimination against Roma is particularly present with respect to their access to employment, education, health care and adequate housing. In addition, there is a problem of legally invisible persons, who are outside the system of health care, education, employment and social protection and unable to exercise the right to be recognised as persons before the law, and all other related rights. 

In the course of 2011, the Commissioner for Protection of Equality repeatedly warned the public that the views and statements that incited and fomented racial hatred and intolerance towards the Roma minority constituted a severe form of racial discrimination and urged the representatives of public authorities to clearly demonstrate that they would not tolerate hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination on any grounds, and called on citizens to condemn any such behaviour.10 However, many ethnically motivated attacks in which the victims were Roma, and which were also recorded in recent years, have not been properly investigated or the perpetrators have not been punished. In addition, competent authorities do not respond appropriately to many cases of incitement to 

national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, and the procedures in these cases are often conducted slowly and inefficiently.

Discrimination against Roma is present also in the media, an important tool for informing and educating the public. The analysis of media content shows that the events involving Roma are often interpreted in a manner that is offensive to the Roma population; the texts clearly inciting intolerance towards the Roma minority are not rare either. Thus, a complaint12 was filed when the daily newspaper Politika published the article entitled Only thieves are eager; the complaint indicated that the article dealing with the theft of property in public use and mild penal policy included the views that offended the dignity of Roma and disseminated stereotypes, prejudices, hatred and intolerance against Roma. In the conducted procedure, it was determined that the author’s allegations that the perpetrators of such acts were predominantly members of the Roma community, and that the courts did not punish them, constituted harassment, degrading treatment and violation of the dignity of a person or group of persons on the basis of their personal characteristics, and created a hostile, humiliating or offensive 

environment. Superficiality and tendentiousness in analysing events, lack of interest about its essence and completely irrelevant emphasis on nationality 

as crucial fact in the event clearly show the intention to send a message to the readers that Roma are offenders, thereby strengthening the ingrained prejudice against Roma and worsening the already poor image of the members of that ethnic minority.

Despite the widespread discrimination against Roma, there is a relatively small number of complaints filed in 2011 with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality by Roma individuals and non-governmental organisations dealing with the protection of the rights of Roma. In this regard, the Commissioner has recognised the need for conducting awareness raising campaigns throughout Serbia in order to inform Roma activists, representatives of Roma associations and residents of informal Roma settlements about the details of anti-discrimination mechanisms. Education and empowerment of the Roma minority aimed at better 

identification and eradication of discrimination are also set as the Commissioner’s priority actions in 2012.

[Photos: 1. Gypsy in front of Musca - Pablo Picasso. Artist: Pablo Picasso. Completion Date: 1900; 2. Zwei Zigeunermadchen Im Wohnraum (Two Gipsy Girls In A Room) - Otto)]