And God Created Civil Rights: Serbian Resistence to the Introduction of Biometric I.D. Cards
And God Created Civil Rights: Serbian Resistence to the Introduction of Biometric I.D. Cards

Summary/Abstract: Due to the media racket over the parliamentary elections the Serbian Government directive, dated 17 January 2007, went almost unnoticed. This directive was passed under public pressure that was guided by a group of NGOs and the Serbian Orthodox Church. It froze a part of the legal code dealing with I.D. cards, dating back to July 2006, which foresaw the compulsory installation of a biometric chip into new I.D. cards for citizens. The directive represents a small, temporary, but heroic victory of civil rights over the unrestrained intrusion of the politics of security into every sphere of life. Also, the passing of the directive represents a significant step in the right direction for democracy in Serbia. It shows that civil society can directly influence the policies of the government when it has sturdy enough arguments based on humanistic values. It does, however, raise the question of why the rightwing, clerical and conservative elements took it upon themselves to defend human rights while the liberally oriented public was not merely silent but actually supported the project of “chipping” the citizens of Serbia and inaugurating a so called surveillance society.[...]

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