Together with our partners, we monitor the authorities, demanding change, justice and reparations when people’s civil and political rights have been violated. We only work with non-governmental, religiously and politically independent organisations that do not use or advocate violence.
In December, we organised a workshop on the new freedom of expression law for judges in Moldova. Percy Bratt, chairman of our Board, was one of the trainers. “Strengthening the legal system is central, because that’s where the rights are protected”, he commented afterwards.
The right to a fair hearing and access to court are the most frequent problems regarding the right to fair trial in Serbia, according to a report published by Civil Rights Defenders in collaboration with Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
In the North Caucasus impunity for grave human rights violations, committed by law enforcement agents on the pretext of combating terrorism, is widespread and requires prompt and independent investigations. Together with the Interregional Committee Against Torture we support the Joint Mobile Group, whose members travel to Chechnya to monitor and investigate the most serious human rights violations.
The North Caucasus has remained the most troubled region in Russia in regard to human rights. Human rights defenders in the region are working under very difficult circumstances and are endangering their lives to help victims obtain justice and to highlight the human rights violations in the North Caucasus.
Despite months of planning and intense dialogue with state authorities the Belgrade Pride parade 2011 was banned. The ban, however, may bring some positive effects. Listen to an interview with Boban Stojanovic and Goran Miletic, two of the organisers.
Personal characteristics such as national or ethnic origin, religious or political beliefs, medical condition, sexual orientation, sex and age are bases for daily discrimination in Serbia. Together with Centre for Advanced Legal Studies we address these issues in a systematic way.
Together with our partner, Coming Out, we arrange the third international Queer Culture Festival, September 15-25. The festival takes place in St Petersburg with the goal to support the right to self-expression, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Serbian media sector is characterized by political and economic influence on media and controversial regulatory practices. Together with our long-term partner ANEM, we strive to respond to existing challenges facing the media sector and to contribute to its development.
In collaboration with Memorial Human Rights Center, we monitor human rights violations and provide legal aid to victims and their family members in order to end impunity and strengthen the rule of law in the North Caucasus.
Albania aims at joining the EU, but much remains to be done before that can happen. In cooperation with the Albanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (AHC) we monitor and assess dismissals of public employees in local and central administration.
The number of threats and attacks on journalists have increased in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past years. In 2009 we established a Free Media Help Line, which provides legal aid and counselling to people working in media organisations.
In Russia, LGBT persons are being discriminated in daily life and in law. Together with the russian organisation Coming Out we are organising an annual Queer Culture Festival in St. Petersburg. The festival gives us an opportunity to mobilize and empower the LGBT community.
In 2009 Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted an anti-discrimination law. We cooperate with the Association for Democratic Initiatives in Sarajevo to facilitate better enforcement of the law, and to improve the understanding about discrimination among students.
Widespread lack of respect for human rights, in particular discrimination against vulnerable groups, remains of great concern in Albania. We believe that the media can play an important role in raising awareness about human rights and mobilizing civic engagement.
Kosovo media landscape comprises diverse media outlets. However, the media mainly focuses on political and economic developments and issues, covering very little about social issues and human rights. Also, very few media outlets do investigative journalism. Our collaboration with Kosovo Glocal aims at building up Kosovo 2.0, a comprehensive and vibrant media platform, offering interesting [...]
In Albania a Law on Legal Aid was adopted in December 2008 and entered into force in April 2009. At the moment, however, access to justice is not equal for all citizens. The lack of access to justice is affecting the Roma population and other minorities more negatively than other groups. Together with Tirana Legal [...]
Our cooperation with Press Council Kosovo (PCK) concerns the quality of the media. By promoting a Code of Conduct for the press, and making sure that it is applied, we strive to improve the professionalism in media.
The overall objective of our cooperation with Mediacentar in Sarajevo is to support the development of efficient mechanisms against discrimination. This will be done through education and information to raise public awareness of discrimination issues. We also train journalists to report on discrimination in society and follow the implementation of the Law against discrimination. The [...]
Together with Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Serbia we provide legal representation to victims of the wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. This includes submitting appeals to the Constitutional Court of Serbia and initiating procedures before the European Court of Human Rights. We also work to raise public awareness on the importance of confronting [...]
Weak professional standards in journalism and increased pressure on the media are two core issues in regard to freedom of expression in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our cooperation with the Press Council aims at empowering people to claim their rights and to improve ethical standards in journalism.
LGBT issues are generally silenced in Albania, and the lives of LGBT persons are marked by isolation and lack of support. In order to terminate their isolation we work actively to promote and empower the LGBT community in cooperation with the organisation Aleanca.
Due to widespread impunity in Kosovo, people often do not report violence in prison. Our collaboration with Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (KRCT) refers to prevent torture or any other form of ill-treatment in places of detention and contribute to the respect of human rights in Kosovo. The target group consists of persons deprived [...]
In Bosnia and Herzegovina LGBT people are often attacked. The aim of our collaboration with Sarajevo Open Society is to break the silence around LGBT issues, in order to reduce prejudices and discrimination against LGBT community. By providing activists with theoretical and practical skills and networking opportunities, we aim to educate and strengthen the LGBT [...]
We believe that strengthening investigative journalism in Kosovo will contribute to greater respect for human rights. Our collaboration with Kosovo Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ) aims to develop, improve and support investigative journalism in Kosovo.
A major problem in Kosovo today is the lack of lawyers who can represent victims of human rights violations in court. In collaboration with our partner we are establishing a pool of lawyers and preparing them for the task.
Together with Humanitarian Law Centre in Kosovo, we are compiling the Kosovo Memory Book, a comprehensive record of killed and missing persons during the armed conflict 1998-2000. The aim is to build a historical memory that will assist the Kosovar society to deal with the recent past.
The radio show Pescanik (the Hourglass) is one of very few independent voices in the public domain in Serbia. Our collaboration aims to increase the public’s access to diverse and balanced information and to offer a platform for news and analysis that differs from the mainstream.
Within our cooperation with Local Press Association we work to raise the level of professionalism among journalists and media in Serbia. We help hard pressed local media during a challenging period, when the media landscape is characterised by unfinished legal reforms, chaotic market conditions and weak professional ethics.
In collaboration with the organisation LABRIS we address discrimination of LGBT people in institutional settings through education. In a long term perspective we hope to contribute to a better environment for the LGBT community.
Together with Veliki Mali we empower parents to take an active role in defending their children’s rights, and to improve the legislative framework for the protection of rights of children with disabilities.
In order to improve professional standards in the media and promote ethically responsible journalism, we assist in building a Code of Conduct for journalists and media outlets. We organise seminars about ethics and the Public Information Act, provide free legal aid, and initiate powerful and proactive public actions. Our partner is the independent journalist association [...]
The number of Roma persons in Moldova ranges from 20 000 to 250 000 depending on who you ask. Hence, it is difficult to get a good estimation of the actual needs. Roma suffer from discrimination within the judicial system. Violations committed against them are seldom properly investigated nor are the persons responsible prosecuted. Another [...]
The European Convention on Human Rights entered into force in 1997 in Moldova. Yet, the knowledge about the Convention is still rather low among Moldovan legal professionals. Until January 2011 more than 6.245 cases had been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. So far, the Court has delivered 196 judgments against Moldova and [...]
On May 18, 2011, we held a conference in Skopje together with Macedonian Young Lawyers Association and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. The main purpose of the event was to instigate a discussion among civil society actors about the recently passed Law against discrimination. The law does not meet European or general human rights standards [...]
In 2009 Civil Rights Defenders and Regional Centre for Minorities arranged the first LGBT conference “Justice in Balkans: Equality for sexual minorities” in Podgorica, Montenegro. It provoked a fierce discussion and for the first time brought the LGBT matter into the public debate. Our collaboration continues with further strengthening the position of the LGBT communities [...]
To combat corruption, we provide a tool for preventing cases that contain features of corruption or organized crime from being closed.
In 2010 Macedonia passed the long expected law on prevention and protection against discrimination. However, to this date there is not a single decision reached by the domestic courts related to discrimination. Together with our partner Macedonian Young Lawyers Association’s we work to improve anti-discrimination policies, practices and standards in the judicial system in Macedonia. [...]
Disadvantaged citizens in Albania are often facing different forms of discrimination by duty holders. They are also subjected to violence, inhuman and degrading treatment and offered poor legal representation in courts. To improve the rule of law in Albania we provide a legal clinic, in collaboration with the Albanian Helsinki Committee, where we offer free [...]
Our collaboration with Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia aims to improve the extent to which human rights are respected and known about in Serbia. The short term objectives are to strengthen the mechanisms for protecting human rights and to inform the public about the implementation of transitional laws. The major issue with these [...]
On April 15th to 17th, we are organising the fifth Moot court competition for law students from the Western Balkans. The students are trained in the procedures of the European Court. Five judges from the European Court will sit on the jury.
Every year we organise trainings for our partners. This year our partners in Albania and Kosovo received training in public speech. The aim was to improve their presentation skills, when advocating and presenting findings and problems, and to inspire them to find new ways of communicating. The training consisted of many practical exercises, among other [...]
Through information campaigns and legal assistance related to discrimination cases we strive to combat the widespread intolerance that exists in regard to specific groups. Recent studies show that groups such as LGBT and ethnic minorities are widely discriminated against in Moldova. Our cooperation with National Youth Council of Moldova on behalf of the Anti-Discrimination Coalition [...]
The mental health facilities in Kosovo are an area of great concern. They suffer from lack of funding, inadequate infrastructure, lack of medicine and unprofessional staff. Moreover, patients in mental health facilities are victims of the lack of a human rights culture in Kosovo, especially in relation to persons deprived of their liberty. We aim [...]
The purpose of this project is to offer minority media outlets objective, timely and quality information from Serbia and the region in their own languages. The project provides high-quality news programs in 3 minority languages (Albanian, Roma and Hungarian) and represents minority media in itself.
This year’s main objective of this project will be publishing five multimedia educational texts, which will treat different aspects of hate speech in Bosnia-Herzegovina media and its consequences.
In order to strengthen Belarusian citizens access to justice we want to raise awareness of Belarusian Lawyers and activists on human rights and International Standards. To do this, a series of seminars on various rights is conducted within the framework of the project.
The project aims to contribute the promotion of the BIH Law against Discrimination, through specialized trainings for law students as well as through street actions and public advocacy.
KJIC used to be an integrated part of ÇOHU! but will from now on be an independent organization. Its main objective is to boost investigative journalism in Kosovo.
Baring in mind that freedom of expression and information in the media is an essential requirement of democracy, we will cooperate with our partners from UNEM to produce a report on limitations of freedom of expression in Montenegro based on the “Indicators for media in a democracy” developed by Council of Europe and presented in the Resolution 1636 (2008).
This project has two major goals: to provide legal protection to independent media, thereby diminishing the power of groups which try to misuse the media to achieve their political ends or advance other interests; and to promote ethical and professional standards in journalism.
Efforts are made for the Belgrade Pride Parade to be carried out as planned, whereas it was banned last year.
Our cooperation with the Albanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (AHC) in this specific project aims at improving the situation regarding protection against discrimination in Albania. We do this by raising capacities of our legal aid partners and the Institution of the Commissioner against Discrimination in handling cases of discrimination as well as increase the capacities of lawyers, people from public structures and civil society to understand and follow cases of discrimination.
Albania has adopted an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law and we raise need to awareness on the new law particularily among faculty students and professors as well as teachers and pupils from high schools for it to be effective in protecting against discrimination.
The conflict in Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics has led to massive human rights abuses, that have never been investigated. The objective within this project is to document human rights abuses as well as providing free legal aid and launching legal proceedings before Russian institutions and the European Court of Human Rights, among other things.
Human rights defenders in the North Caucasus live under constant threat. They fear for their lives and the lives and health of their families. To support them, so that they can continue their important work, Civil Rights Defenders has initiated the Stockholm Process.
LGBT persons face daily discrimination in Russia, both in daily life as well as by legislation. We cooperate with the St Petersburg based organisation Coming Out to increase the understanding for LGBT persons. One activity this year is to organise an an international Queer Culture Festival in St Petersburg in September.
Civil Rights Defenders cooperation with Veliki Mali aims at making education more accessible to children with disabilities, by enhancing parents’ participation in the decision-making processes concerning their children and the quality of education that they receive.
Through our cooperation we aim to assist ANEM, Association of Independent Electronic Media, and its stations to increase their capacities and influence. Our work also contributes to helping the entire media sector to improve media regulations.
Through our cooperation with Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association, we want contribute to the adoption of the best anti-discrimination policies, practices and standards possible within the judicial system in Macedonia. This will be done through strategic litigation.
Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights we attempt to increase the awareness about the crime of genocide among the general public of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and also to foster conditions for further dealing with the recent past in the region of the former Yugoslavia. We do so by making “Srebrenica – Map of Genocide”.
On Sunday July 11th it is the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica. Together with our partners we have created an educational material that describes the crime.
A free media help line is envisaged to provide legal aid and counsel to media practitioners whose rights are violated or endangered. In addition, our cooperation with BH Journalist Association aims to improve the knowledge on skilful and ethical reporting of journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thereby promote the highest professional standards in journalism.
Our cooperation with Press Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina is all about a continuous improvement of self regulation in print media. Our efforts are aimed at enhancing the ethical standards and the usage of the two defamation laws, in order to reduce the number of media outlets and journalists charged for compensation damages in defamation trials.
In cooperation with more than 50 Belarusian and international organisations we regularly compile reports regarding the human rights situation in Belarus. The reports are sent to EU parliamentarians and other decision makers in the wake of their discussions about the relations between EU and Belarus.
During 2009 the human rights situation in North Caucasus worsened significantly and in order to maintain presence on the ground, a group of human rights NGOs decided to organize mobile visits to the region, especially Chechnya, monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. Human rights defenders will be offered training in security awareness when going on missions to North Caucasus.
Within the Russian society people with mental disabilities are marginalised and excluded from almost every aspect of life. In cooperation with Mental Disability Advocacy Centre we lobby towards the Russian authorities to prompt them to comply with national and international legislation.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked among the most underdeveloped and corrupt countries in the world where reforms are slowly implemented (the same level with Zambia, Jamaica, Senegal and Dominican Republic). Citizens’ participation is a crucial component to a culture of tackling corruption, since integrity, accountability and transparency must take hold societal and systemically if it is to uproot corruption practices.
We continue our cooperation with the radio show Pescanik (hourglass) in order to help stimulate the public debate on vital issues in the Serbian society. The show attracts 400.000 listeners every week and covers issues such as; transitional justice, corruption, and many more topics related to civil and political rights.
Together with CHRIS we provide free legal assistance to citizens, as well as free legal aid before the courts to victims of serious human rights violations. Every year we agree on a number of strategic cases for litigation before the courts.
The aim of our co-operation with MANS in 2010 is to monitor and report on trials regarding corruption and organized crime. We do this to investigate how effective the proclaimed fight against corruption is.
For the past three years we have assisted the Macedonian Institute for Media, MIM, a training centre for journalists and media professionals, in educating a considerable number of journalists through their One Year Diploma Program in Journalism. In addition to supporting the education of a new generation of journalists in Macedonia, our purpose of cooperating with MIM has been to try to establish a professional self sustainable school of journalism.
Together with Regional Centre for Minorities, RCM, we are strengthening the capacities of minority and human rights NGOs, local authorities, the judiciary and members of central and regional authorities that are dealing with different minority groups.
From April 29th until May 2nd Gay Pride is arranged in Moldova. A demonstration on Sunday May 2nd has been forbidden with reference to protests from religious and other groups. The event will be an important test for the new coalition government Alliance for European Integration.
Team Prima Iustiniana from the law faculty at the University of Skopje in Macedonia was the winning team of this year’s moot court competition. Team Radomir Lukic from Novi Sad in Serbia was ranked second in the competition.
In April 23-25 Civil Rights Defenders will arrange the fourth moot court competition in Rijeka, Croatia. The involvement of Law schools from five countries, professors, highly experienced judges from the region, makes the Moot Court competition a unique opportunity for education. Ten clubs from Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia will participate. Two judges from [...]
Documentation of human rights violations is crucial in the struggle to put an end to impunity and to strengthen the rule of law. In cooperation with Memorial we now seeks to establish an archive of human rights violations, consisting of all of their collected materials in North Caucasus.
Our cooperation with COHU!, the Organisation for Democracy, Anticorruption and Dignity, aims at influencing the law-making process in the field of anti-corruption. The fight against political corruption is carried out by identifying structures that make mismanagement and abuse of public office and funds possible.
The main objective of our cooperation with the organisation ARKA is to register, and provide identification documents, to around 300 Roma individuals in Skopje, Kumanovo, Kratovo, and Kriva Palanka regions. The registration will give them access to basic human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections.
Our cooperation with the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia aims to bring to the public eye violations of human and minority rights. The Annual Report on human rights in Serbia presents the most pressing needs, constraints and priorities regarding the human rights situation in Serbia.
Our cooperation with Centre for Legal and Civil Initiatives, CLCI, aims at increasing women’s access to justice. This is done by providing free legal assistance, monitoring the implementation of the Law on domestic violence, and organising awareness raising activities in regard to women’s rights among the general population.
Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights we have organised trainings on the burning issue of dealing with the past for Bosnian youth activists and high school students for the past three years.
Together with Labris we struggle to decrease the level of homophobia and ignorance about the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. Our main activities are lobbying, advocacy, education and networking, but we are also providing legal counseling for LGBT people.
The purpose of our cooperation with Civil Rights Program/Kosovo is to provide free legal aid to vulnerable residents either from the majority community or one of the minorities, either living in Kosovo or as refugees in one of the neighbouring countries. The main target group however is individuals that lack personal identification documents.
Civil Rights Defenders cooperates with European Radio for Belarus to support access to information for the Belarusian people. Our cooperation also aims at assisting a new generation of journalists, who will be able to work professionally in Belarus in the future.
Together with Humanitarian Law Centre, HLC, we identify victims of human rights violations and secure relevant evidence. We are also providing legal support and representing the victims of war crimes and serious human rights violations in civil proceedings for reparation.
With the aim to improve Albanian media’s ethical conduct, and contribute to an increased self-regulation of media, we organise in-house training courses on ethics and self-regulation for media outlets together with our partner Albanian Media Institute. These trainings are a supplement to the efforts of establishing and implementing a formalised self-regulation mechanism in the country.
Public administration has the power to deprive people of their liberty following procedures clearly established by the law. But when detention takes place outside the public scrutiny it opens the door to violations of rights of the inmates, as well as to torture and ill-treatment. We initiated cooperation with Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims in 2007, with the aim to monitor detention facilities and prisons.
We cooperate with the Kosovo office of Humanitarian Law Centre in documenting facts about the conflicts in the recent past. Our aim is to build a comprehensive record of the killed and missing during the 1998-1999 armed conflict and the period of revenge killings against non-Albanians and suspected collaborators with the Serbian authorities in Kosovo between June 1999 and the end of 2000.
We have cooperated with the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for more than a decade, with the main focus to enhance awareness and respect for human rights and the rule of law in Macedonia. By providing free legal aid we not only improve people’s access to justice but also monitor the respect of human rights by authorities, and put pressure on authorities to comply with international and national human rights standards.
Since 2006 Civil Rights Defenders has cooperated with Tirana Legal Aid Society, TLAS, in assisting Roma families to register their children, but also other members of the families, in order to help them get access to some of the most fundamental human rights; such as the right to education, health care, social allowances, as well as the possibility to get a legal employment and the right to vote in general elections. Hundreds of families have been assisted through our joint efforts so far.
The situation in Chechnya has been characterised by grave human rights abuses, including forced disappearances, extra judicial killings and torture. Together with RJI we launch legal proceedings before Russian institutions and the European Court of Human Rights and provide direct legal consultations for victims and their relatives on ways of defending their rights.
By supporting the Press Council we contribute to ensuring the quality of media and to strengthening freedom of expression in Kosovo. Furthermore, our focus is to make the Kosovo public better aware of the Press Council’s existence and role, and to ensure the future sustainability of the Press Council.
In cooperation with Centre for Advanced Legal Studies we established the Coalition Against Discrimination to lobby for an inclusive Law against discrimination. In 2009 it was finally adopted by the Serbian government. We now continue lobbying for other laws in the human rights field.
The overall aim of our cooperation with the Coalition for All Fair Trials is to strengthen the independency, efficiency and impartiality of the judiciary in Macedonia. The Coalition will measure whether there is an improvement in the implementation of the existing laws and how efficient the legal procedure in the judiciary is.
In cooperation with Albanian Disability Rights Foundation we provide legal aid to persons with disabilities, and to their families. Our efforts include raising awareness and recognition of human rights by spreading information to stakeholders that are one way or the other involved in disability issues, but also to the general public.
In Kosovo the situation for media and individual journalists has worsened. In cooperation with YIHR we decided to produce a comprehensive report on Freedom of Expression, with a particular focus on media freedom and on documented statements from journalists who have been subjected to threats and pressure.
We cooperate with Kosovo Media Association to provide professional, balanced and unbiased news primarily to the Serbian population in Kosovo. The network reaches almost the entire Serbian community, as well as the Albanian population, in Kosovo.
The purpose of our support to the Human Rights House in Vilnius is to provide Belarusian human rights defenders a safe place to plan and carry out activities. In the house in exile they can have seminars, meetings and other activities that cannot be conducted inside Belarus due to the difficult political situation.
In cooperation with our partner Young Lawyers of Serbia we are organising the fourth regional Moot Court competition for law students from the Western Balkans, with the aim to increase practical knowledge on cases, rules and procedures of the European Court on Human Rights, both among students at Law faculties and among existing legal professionals.
In cooperation with the Russian LGBT Network we support LGBT groups and organisations all over Russia with capacity building, legal counselling and organisational development. Although Russia has taken some very important steps in the right direction, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is widely spread in the society.
Together with Youth Initiative for Human Rights, we work to increase awareness on human rights concerns in Montenegro. We do so by monitoring crucial human rights issues and reacting on serious human rights violations.
Through our partnership with the Helsinki Committee we monitor and report on fair trial standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the last couple of years we have also worked intensively on lobbying for an all inclusive Law against discrimination, in addition to the regular long-term activities of providing free legal aid to victims of human rights violations.
A truth commission in the Western Balkans would contribute to the democratisation process and to strengthening of the rule of law. This was the expressed opinion of the participants at a recently arranged conference in Brussels by, among others, the Humanitarian Law Centre, our cooperation partner.
The team from University of Rijeka, Croatia, has won this year’s edition of the Moot Court competition in the Western Balkans. The competition was held April 24-26 in Kotor, Montenegro and ten teams participated. This was the third time a team from Croatia won the competition. We are very satisfied and surprised to win. There [...]
On April 24-26 the Swedish Helsinki Committee and the organization Young Lawyers of Serbia arrange a trial game in the Western Balkans. Judges from high courts in the region and from the European Court in Strasbourg will participate in the panel of judges. The third edition of the Moot Court will be held in Kotor, [...]
On November 7th the popular film festival “Frizon” opens in Belgrade for the fourth year running. The Swedish Helsinki Committee, together with REX, has helped promote the festival and over the years it has become a significant part of Serbian culture. The films shown during the festival concern current social and political issues and they [...]
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