Serbia is among the countries that used the nefarious Pegaz software to spy on the phones of journalists and civil society representatives in 2023, according to Amnesty International’s annual report, Deutsche Welle (DW) reports.
As it is added, last year they discovered the use of Pegasus in Armenia, the Dominican Republic and India.
Amnesty devoted a large part of its report on the state of human rights to the use of artificial intelligence, which it interprets as a major threat.
In Serbia, as stated, the World Bank financed the introduction of a semi-automatic system of social cards, which caused “possibly thousands” of people to lose access to social care and especially affected Roma and people with disabilities.
Violence against women
Amnesty mentions Serbia among the countries with a high number of cases of violence against women and girls. “Observers in Albania, Austria, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Spain and Turkey reported dozens or hundreds of femicides,” it said.
Serbia was also mentioned as a country where many SLAPP lawsuits are filed – these are targeted lawsuits against journalists and activists, in order to intimidate or prevent them from doing their jobs. It was mentioned that Republika Srpska has criminalized defamation.
Police and private security
Amnesty estimates that the police in Serbia “often” engage in illegal use of force and discrimination. It is said that the protests sometimes take place with a heavy police presence.
“Authorities routinely hire private security companies, whose men are sometimes in civilian clothes and without insignia, to take over policing at protests, often using illegal force,” the respected organization said.
Banjska, protests, elections
The report exhaustively lists the skirmish in Banjska in Kosovo last year, as well as protests against violence after two rampages in May. It is mentioned that the December elections were marked by accusations of numerous irregularities.
Regarding the rights of the LGBTI community, it is recalled that the body of an 18-year-old trans woman was found in Belgrade in May “which caused fear” in the community.
In August, as he writes, President Aleksandar Vučić announced that he “will never” approve the law on same-sex unions, the draft of which was created in 2021.
The main focus of the 418-page report was placed on the world’s attitude towards Israel’s policy of “apartheid” and the suffering in the Gaza Strip, which was assessed as a return to an era without defined human rights.
