The Balkans and human rights: Spyware is used in Serbia, and partner violence and femicide are widespread

As you sow, so you reap – and the world is currently facing the ‘harvest’ of the terrifying consequences of conflict and the near collapse of international law.

“I couldn’t have thought that the state of human rights would remind me of a science fiction movie.” Back to the Futurebut here we are.

“The world that spins through time is rushing backwards, past the promises made in 1948 about universal human rights, and on the other hand is rushing into the future with technological giants and unregulated artificial intelligence,” said Anges Calamar, Secretary General of Amnesty International on the occasion report on the state of human rights in the world.

Life in modern democracies has also returned to the level of 1985 – before the fall of the Berlin Wall, before Nelson Mandela was released from prison, before the end of the Cold War that brought hope that a different era was ahead for humanity.

In the report of this international human rights organization on the situation in 155 countries, the warnings refer to Serbia, which is also on the list of places where the Pegaz software is used to spy on the phones of journalists and representatives of civil society, as was the case with Armenia. Dominican Republic and India.

Violations of the rights of women, LGBT people and migrants are listed, among other things, as problems in Serbia, but also in other countries in the Balkans.

Politicians and businesses have used so-called SLAPP lawsuits to silence journalists or prevent activists from doing their jobs in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia.

While the Republika Srpska, one of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has declared defamation a criminal offense, Bulgaria has reduced the penalties for this offense if it concerns public officials.

The institutional glorification of war criminals, which overshadows the court proceedings for these crimes, is noted.

Amnesty assesses that the police in Serbia engage in illegal use of force and discrimination.

Protests sometimes take place with a heavy police presence, and the proposed Law on Internal Affairs has further threatened the right to freedom of assembly, reminds Amnesty.

Partner violence also causes great concern – 27 women were killed in 2023 in Serbia.

Problems have also been noted with social assistance – Roma are particularly deprived of receiving benefits by the introduction of a semi-automatic system that prevents thousands of people from receiving money.

People with disabilities were also affected by these measures, which only deepened inequality.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

New laws in Republika Srpska further threaten freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, according to the report.

LGBT people are the target of both physical attacks and discrimination on the Internet.

The case of the murder of a woman who was killed by her partner and the crime was broadcast live on social networks has sparked protests across the country.

War crimes trials are progressing slowly.

Environmental problems have also been noted – reliance on fossil fuels leads to alarming levels of pollution.

Thousands of migrants remained stuck in the country.

Even in neighboring Croatia, the youngest member of the European Union, violent returns of refugees and migrants continue to be recorded.

Women in Croatia have limited access to abortion.

The government announced measures to reduce partner violence, and rape victims from the war period have difficulty accessing justice.

Members of the Roma and Serb minorities face discrimination, according to the report

The rights of women and national minorities are also under attack in Montenegro.

The authorities have failed to guarantee women protection, support and justice in cases of intimate partner violence, and Roma women, Egyptian women and women with disabilities are particularly affected, according to Amnesty.

The United Nations Human Rights Council called on Montenegro to more effectively investigate war crimes, investigate cases of alleged torture and strengthen the judiciary.

During the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, an agreement was reached with Serbia on the issue of the missing during the 1990s conflict, but the question is how much it will be able to be implemented due to the strained relations between Belgrade and Pristina, according to Amnesty.

State aid to women victims of violence is not enough, which returns them to the abusers.

In Kosovo as well, journalists and media work in an increasingly difficult environment.

North Macedonia

The long duration of court processes and the impunity of officials in cases of corruption, as well as the reduction of sentences for those crimes, were cited as problems in North Macedonia.

There are still cases of torture and ill-treatment in prisons, as well as systemic discrimination against Roma.

The new law ended court proceedings against those who violated the general ban on gatherings during the pandemic.

The lack of family doctors has left around 140,000 people without adequate access to primary health care.

The President proposed a law to restore the right of residence to the “erased”.

On February 26, 1992, Slovenia removed from the register of people with permanent residence persons whose application for citizenship was rejected or who did not submit it, thus becoming “administratively dead”, losing all economic and social rights.

Slovenia continued to return modern migrants and asylum seekers to Croatia, where they most often come from.

According to Amnesty’s estimates, in some segments the world seems to have gone back 40 years, and there are more and more authoritarian regimes.

The governments of the most powerful countries have ushered humanity into an era of gross violations of international law in which civilians pay the highest price.

The responsibility is also borne by the world’s large technological corporations that have enabled artificial intelligence to be used as fertile ground for racism, discrimination and division in societies, especially before elections.

In Afghanistan, being a woman or a girl has essentially become a crime, but it’s not easy for women in the West either.

In America, 15 states have passed a complete ban on abortion or allow it to be done under very strict conditions, which especially affects African-American women and other minority groups.

In Poland, at least one woman has died because it is legally forbidden to legally terminate pregnancies.

LGBT people also struggle with numerous challenges around the world.

Uganda has passed a rigorous anti-gay law, and social and political leaders in America are also promoting negative attitudes against trans people.

Although the world has never been richer, 2023 was, according to the World Bank, “the year of inequality”.

From Great Britain, through Hungary to India, advocates of labor and human rights were often targeted by opponents.

The situation is further aggravated by wars, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to armed conflicts and mass violations of rights in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar.

The conflict in Gaza, where more than 1,000 Israelis were killed in an attack by Hamas, and by the end of the year in retaliation more than 20,000 Palestinians, reminds us of an even more distant past – the year 1948 when the world said “never again” after 55 million civilian deaths in the Second World War, it is said.

“Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law is compounded by the failure of its allies to stop the untold civilian bloodshed in Gaza.”

“Many of these allies were the architects of the post-World War II legal system,” the website states.

Amnesty calls on governments and international institutions like the United Nations to do more to protect humanity.