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This guidebook serves activists to recognise themselves as human rights defenders, to find out what minimum rights of defenders are guaranteed at the international level, and to obtain information on the addresses and ways in which the international community provides them with support and protection.
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This analysis has shown the mechanism by which the Serbian authorities, by controlling and strategically using narratives on resolving the Kosovo dispute, manage to increase their own discretionary powers while simultaneously abolishing control mechanisms. In other words, under the pretext of resolving the Kosovo issue, the separation of powers and democratic decision-making are being abolished, leading to an even greater level of state capture.
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The path of whistleblowers in Serbia is difficult as, instead of receiving the support of state institutions, they are often exposed to the persecution of those who are formally charged with their protection. Examples of completed court proceedings that were initiated based on whistleblowers’ reports are very rare. In the few such cases, the reported officials did not suffer any serious consequences, and no one has ever been convicted in cases where whistleblowers’ disclosures involved higher-ranking government officials. There are also no examples of absence of resistance to whistleblowers, regardless of whether they provided information on corruption of local inspectors related to parking fines, or that of ministers in relation to arms trafficking. They suffered mobbing, professional degradation, and were in most cases finally dismissed.
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Serbia provided legal protection for whistleblowers for the first time when it adopted the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers in 2014. This protection is exercised in special court proceedings. The Law was adopted on 25 November 2014 and its implementation began on 5 June 2015. The explanation that accompanied the Draft Law made it clear that it was adopted to fulfil the international recommendations and meet the obligations of the Republic of Serbia, primarily those prescribed by the acts of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. The Law regulates whistleblowing, the whistleblowing procedure, the rights of whistleblowers, the obligations of state and other authorities and organisations, legal entities and natural persons related to whistleblowing, as well as other issues of importance for whistleblowing and the protection of whistleblowers.
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Although the Law on Free Access to Information is still a very solid instrument for exercising the public’s right to know, i.e. its control over the work of the government, it was clear practically from the very beginning that there was a need to change, supplement and improve it. In the course of 15 years of its implementation, this became increasingly obvious. Unfortunately, the unwillingness of the authorities to respond to this need in an adequate way is equally obvious, and extremely worrying.
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The objective of this report is to analyze the narrative of the fight against organised crime, i.e., the story the authorities are offering the public concerning this topic, for the purpose of establishing how it is used to capture the state. More precisely, the analysis attempts to explain how the polygraph was abused during the declared war on mafia to suspend judicial institutions, ‘cleanse’ some in the eyes of the public or criminalise others outside the statutory criminal procedure, and to identify the consequences of this approach to fighting organised crime.
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Serbia’s cooperation with some neighboring countries is hampered by conflicts during the 1990s, while citizens’ attitudes are burdened by a negative perception of neighboring countries’ political influence on Serbia. This have not been surprising, taking into account a very belligerent narrative about other regional actors that have dominated the pro-government mainstream media landscape in Serbia in recent years. Citizens are either unaware of the current level of cooperation with Kosovo security institutions or are dissatisfied with certain segments of cooperation. An exception to the dominant view on security cooperation is that most Serbian citizens would accept assistance from Kosovo security institutions in case of a state of emergency or natural/ humanitarian disaster in Serbia.
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The main finding of this study is that the Serbian public has conflicting views on national and personal security including security at the community level. On the one hand, people instinctively recognize that the main security threats are internal and related to poor governance – such as organized crime and corruption and the low level of trust in the government that serves the interests of politicians. Consequently, the list of the main internal security threats Serbia faces is topped by organized crime, emigration, unemployment, and corruption. On the other hand, the public believe that the country is mostly under external threats from migrants, great powers, and Kosovo-Albanians, which is probably a product of sensationalized media coverage and messaging by politicians.
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Due to the way they are contracted and implemented, foreign direct investments represent one of the key mechanisms for capturing the state. Hiding behind the stories of a better future and new jobs, the government is breaking down the system of legal regulations and statutory procedures, promoting private interest to the detriment of the public one, and using foreign investments as propaganda ammunition to legitimise unlimited power. The results of such policy are a number of negative consequences for the state and the citizens, such as the increase of public debt, dramatic violation of workers’ rights and alarming problems with environmental pollution.
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In the latest report you can find comparative results of the public opinion surveys conducted during September and October 2020 in Serbia and Kosovo. This report focuses on citizens perception on Kosovo - Serbia Dialogue and Identity Issues.
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The main finding of this research is that there is a large disproportion between the press releases of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia and the actual number of criminal offence committed on the territory of the Republic of Serbia during the year, and that some criminal offences are more common than others.Based on the analysis of the press releases from the website of the Ministry of the Interior for a period of two and a half years, one gets the impression that the MoI prioritises criminal offences that have a higher degree of organization than opportunistic and impulsive crimes, even when the latter appear to be more numerous. Consequently, in the MoI press releases, the most common criminal offences are drug trafficking, manufacturing or acquiring weapons, ammunition and explosive substances, aggravated theft and robbery, while according to the official data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS) this is not the case.
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In the analysis you can find examples which indicate strong ties between Yugoslavia and America in the fields of science, education, art and culture, which are accompanied by intensive political and economic ties, thanks to which Yugoslavia could consider itself on a par with the most developed Western states.
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The main finding of this study is that the Serbian public have conflicting views on national and personal security and their relationship with the country’s institutions. On the one hand, people instinctively recognise that the main security threats are internal and are related to poor governance – such as organised crime and corruption and low levels of trust in institutions that serve the interests of politicians – which is why they rely on themselves and their own good conduct, from which they derive a sense of personal security. On the other hand, under the influence of media messaging and dominant narratives about threats to national security, presenting a maelstrom of great power rivalry and adversarial actors in the region, they continue to believe that hard power is the best response to security issues. Therefore, they see solutions mainly in the continued strengthening of the country and investment in the security sector.
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According to a public opinion survey Serbian citizens identify Russia and China as their greatest friends. As the country's most important foreign policy priorities, citizens recognize preserving Kosovo as part of Serbia, strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries and strengthening cooperation with Russia. More than half of the citizens do not support Serbia's membership in the EU.Most respondents (40%) perceive Russia as Serbia’s best friend, and 72% believe that Russia’s influence in the country is positive, which is an increase of 11% compared to the results of the survey from 2017. Only two percent of people believe that Russia’s attitude towards Serbia is hostile. After Russia, second place on the list of friends is reserved for China (16 percent of respondents). The growth of positive attitudes towards China is especially visible after the beginning of the pandemic, which is proved by the fact that 75% of respondents believe that China provided the most assistance to Serbia in the fight against the pandemic, although there are no official data on the amount of Chinese aid. According to available data, the largest donor was the European Union (EU), and only 3% of Serbian citizens recognize that. In addition, almost 90% of respondents believe that the Chinese influence in the country is positive, which is an increase of over 30 percent compared to the survey from 2017.
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International legislative framework does not properly recognise the relevance of civil society in the fight against organised crime and does not provide for full civil society participation. As a consequence, the effort of civil society to achieve progress in fighting organised crime and build a strong and stable communication channels for key stakeholders in the public and private sector remains questionable. This is why civil society advocates the revision of the existing international legislative framework. Civil society plays two main roles in tackling the issue of organised crime. It is very useful in exposing illicit organised crime activities, and it can serve as support to criminal justice efforts and reforms in the fight against organised crime. However, the challenge lies in the fact that most civil society organisations are specialised or focused on one specific area of organised crime. They also depend on national situations and donors’ funding availability. On the other hand, civil society can link relevant institutions and the private sector in the fight against organised crime.
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State capture is a deliberate political undertaking in which political actors use the consequences (both real and imagined) of the previous government as justification for the complete capture of the state’s institutions. These legitimising narratives are specific to every country and range from fighting crime and corruption, to advancing social justice, preserving national and cultural identities, mythomaniac notions of national origins and so forth. Of course, the narratives can change over time, as evidenced by the example of Serbia, but their essence remains the same: to act as a smokescreen for ever broader and ever deeper capture of the state.In such an endeavor, security sector institutions are among the first targets of political actors, since by increasing and concentrating their security power they are simultaneously increasing their political power. Some security sectors and institutions are also on the receiving end of significant budgetary outlays (e.g. the defence sector and the police), which makes them potentially significant sources of cash flow for the party leadership and those close to them. Deep-seated control of security institutions also ensures the ruling party leadership can redirect public funds into private pockets unhindered.
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This analysis by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) concludes that during the 52 days it spent in a state of emergency, Serbia failed the test of democracy, thanks to a series of failings and irregularities in the conduct and control of the security sector.The police did not always conduct themselves professionally, proportionately and as politically neutral agents primarily concerned with the needs and rights of citizens. The criteria on the basis of which the Ministry of the Interior issued permits for movement during the curfew were not prescribed, which is why they were misused during the flare-lighting incident. People who arrived in Serbia before the state of emergency was declared were often not informed that they had been placed under mandatory self-isolation. Police harassment was observed in at least three cases, with the police internal control department reacting publicly only once.
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The government’s decision in 2017 to embark upon a programme to build housing for members of the security forces was followed by the adoption of a “special law” that governs the implementation of this programme somewhat differently to existing regulations.The government’s decision was not properly justified: either in terms of considering the various financial approaches to solving the same problem, or from the point of view of legal proceedings.A special law was passed in Serbia to legislate construction of government-subsidised flats across Serbia, which employees in the security forces would buy under standard market prices. The government has justified this legislative approach by calling upon national security. However, the Government’s decision to address the housing needs of security sector employees in this way and not through some other measures, was not properly justified. The special law has foreseen numerous deviations from the public procurement legislation for the sake of urgency, but in practice, there have been significant delays in the project implementation. Also, by comparing initial announcements and actual contract values, it could be estimated that the project costs would be up to 20% higher than was envisaged at the beginning. Procurement of construction services was marred by insufficient transparency and dubious phenomena such as discriminatory capacity requirements from bidders and low competition.
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Although official data on the outflow of personnel from the defence system is not publicly available – the data which is available points to the fact that this problem has become more pronounced in recent years. Members of the Serbian Armed Forces terminate their service of their own volition, not only because they are dissatisfied with their pay, but also because of other factors. This report provides answers for a number of key questions, in terms of the outflow of personnel from the defence system. In the first part, researchers analysed the scale of the problem and attempted to answer the question of who is leaving the system.
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At a time when corruption is rising in Serbia, the number of professional killings by organized crime groups is growing, extremism and nationalism are on the rise, and many scandals that occupy the media remain without an epilogue, the Security Information Agency (BIA) is fighting internal enemies and as the biggest threat to Serbia’s security highlights one part of the civil society.Contrary to the expectations of the general and professional public, there has been no comprehensive reform of the security sector in Serbia, including security services. Since democratic changes in Serbia in year 2000, there has been a partial and inconsistent reform of the security services and the security-intelligence sector, guided by the wishes and ambitions of the strongest political leaders to control the work of the security services, and not by the desire to make the security services one of the bases for protecting the democratic order proclaimed in the first article of the Serbian Constitution.
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