Serbia

13.04.2006 At the beginning of April of this year, the Labris Organization for Lesbian Human Rights opened its psychological counselling to support lesbians and women of alternative (non-heterosexual) sexual preferences.

13.04.2006 The Belgrade Minority Rights Centre protested the Court’s lenience towards the thugs that attacked Roma. The Municipal Misdemeanor Court in Nis decided to fine the group of skinheads that attacked the Roma settlement on February 24 with 10,000 Dinars, while the victims of the attacked were fined to 15,000 Dinars.

12.04.2006 In spite of the fact that over a year has passed since the entry into force of the Law on Free Access to Information in Serbia, its implementation has been weak and the citizens are largely uninformed about the rights they have under this Law.

12.04.2006 The Centre for Democracy Foundation, in cooperation with the Government Office for Accession to the EU, presented the publication European Strategies and Policies in the Local Community.

10.04.2006 The Equal Opportunities Association, in cooperation with the Open Society Fund, held a panel debate Towards Information Society on Equal Ground – Directions, Check Lists and Best Practices of Gender Equality. The discussion was held at the facilities of the School of Traffic Engineering in Belgrade, April 6, 2006.

07.04.2006 Thanks to the activities of the non-govermental organizations, the Government of Montenegro and the international community, the status of Roma in Montegengro has improved significantly over the past several years, reports the Roma Scholarship Foundation, on the occasion of April 8, International Day of the Roma.

07.04.2006 The Citizens’ Pact for SEE starts a campaign against the announced raise in EU visa fees. The European Council for Justice and Home Affairs is expected to decide, at the end of April, on EU visa fees increase from EURO 35 to EURO 60 for citizens of third countries. According to announcements, the implementation of new fees will start on January 1, 2007.

31.03.2006 The internet forum of the “Stormfront” neo-Nazi organization in Serbian language again carried threats and calls for concrete direct action against the activists of several NGOs in Serbia.

29.03.2006 The Youth Initiative for Human Rights submitted its request to the Serbian Skupstina (the Parliament) for urgent appointment of Citizens’ Advocate, an institution that would lay the ground for the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman.

23.03.2006 Best Stories from Visa Queues, a collection of stories published by the Citizens’ Pact for the SEE, will be presented to the Members of the European Parliament. The authors of the stories included in the compilation - Vitomirka Trebovac, Ivan Branisavljevic, Nemanja Kuzmanovski and Barbara Pavljasevic - will read excerpts from their works.