We are marking the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination by an interview with Natasa Tasic-Knezevic, the first Roma opera singer in Serbia and human rights defender ranked who OESCE among the most prominent Roma women in the world.

On racism, discrimination and importance of respecting each other’s differences 

- We should fight against discrimination and racism every day and every moment. The problem of discrimination lies in difference. Each nation and each nationality carry within themselves huge wealth and culture, and to accept difference it means to enrich oneself and one’s country in the best possible way. However, usually human vanity, greed and pride make someone feels more valuable than someone else. 

On inhibition, life struggles, lectures and dreams

- Schooling wasn’t easy for me and my sisters. At the entrance exam, I was advised to continue with the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, because I had no perspective. There were no Roma in the opera, which is here still considered “elite" art. However, the God's will was obviously different, and later, as a student of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, and thanks to Jovan Cirilov, I met the Princess Elizabeth Karadjordjevic, who helped me and financed my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of solo singing. Had it not been for her, I would have never enrolled in the Academy. 

On the status of women and gender equality

- The position of women in our society is disastrous. They are victims of continuous discrimination and domestic violence. It is even more difficult with Roma because of greater poverty. 

On consequences of child, early and forced marriages  

- Child marriages are violation of human rights, especially the rights of a girl to grow up and live normally. This usually happens because there is no choice or children are not given any option. Early marriages are not a tradition, but a consequence of the lack of a better choice. If we were given the choice, everything would work out.  

Read the whole interview: We Should Fight against Racism and Discrimination Every Day and Every Moment

International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, is the day when we celebrate transgender, courage and persistence of individuals in the determination to live their lives outside gender norms and be who they are, despite all the difficulties they face after speaking out and affirming their own gender identity.

Although there are anti-discrimination legislation in Serbia, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees equality of all citizens, transgender people are, more likely than others, exposed to discrimination and violation of basic human rights such as the right to human dignity, bodily integrity, life without violence, the right to medical care, the right to marriage and many others.

The greatest legal impediments to protection and full equality of transgender people include the lack of legislation that would protect the rights of transgender people in Serbia and regulate important issues from different areas of life, such as the ability to change mark of sex/gender, name and personal identification number in all personal documents.

For more information, see: We Celebrate Transgender and Remind of the Importance of Joint Struggle for the Rights of Transgender People in Serbia

Today, we are celebrating 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the annual holiday which was established to coordinate international events that remind of LGBTI rights violations and the importance to respect them worldwide. 

One of the main goals of 17 May is creation of a globally visible event without a need to adapt to a specific type of action. Though united in their messages, due to the variety of social, religious, cultural and political contexts in which LGBTI rights violations take place, the present action around the world include various activities - large street marches, parades and festivals, dance flash mobs, musical events, street art, etc.

LGBTI persons are day-to-day exposed to discrimination and violence, including physical violence and abuse. Therefore, it is necessary that the government and society in general pay more attention to measures to protect the physical and psychological integrity of LGBTI people as well as to the prevention of discrimination and hate speech.

For more information, see: On the Occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

This week, for the first time after four years, a ten-year girl with severe sight impairment goes to school by a vehicle provided by the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka. 

We remind that the girl was born with severe sight impairment and that over the past four years, ever since she started the primary school, her parents have been trying to persuade the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka to provide her the transportation to and from school, which is the obligation of each municipality according to the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System. The Municipality of Smederevska Palanka has been unsuccessfully reminded of this legal obligation over the past years by the School Inspection, the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, which in 2015 found that the Municipality shall take all necessary measures to ensure the transportation to the girl. 

As the Municipality failed to act upon the Commissioner’s recommendation, in November 2015 Praxis filed a lawsuit for establishing of discrimination against the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka. On the basis of the above-stated lawsuit, the Supreme Court in Belgrade issued a judgment in April 2016 and established that the Municipality acted discriminatory towards the girl as it rejected to provide the transport to school, violating thus the principle of equality prescribed by the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, and provisions of the Law on Prohibition of the Discrimination in Education.    

However, the quality education and respect for the principle of equality means much more – along with the transportation, the textbooks in Braille alphabet, as well as a qualified personal assistant, should be also available to the girl.

For more information, see: Transportation to School Provided for a Girl with Severe Sight Impairment

Human rights organizations have launched today a procedure for assessing the constitutionality of the Law on Registry Books to challenge the provision of the Law which provides that registrars exceptionally may postpone the birth registration for checking or determining the data which they  consider missing at the moment of the birth registration. This imprecisely worded provision of the Law actually allows to the official bodies to deny children the right to a name and identity, giving these authorities the legal cover for the denial of a birth certificate. In this sense, the Law is contrary to the internationally recognized human right of every child to be registered immediately after birth.

The Initiative actually raises a question of whether this provision is in accordance with the best interests of the child and the principle of prohibition of discrimination. Every child has the right from birth to a name and identity that must be available to all children in Serbia.

Praxis and ERRC are members of the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), and together they developed this initiative as part of a three-year pan-European strategy ENS which aims to eliminate statelessness among children.

For more information, see: Roma in Serbia Still Denied Birth Certificates – Human Rights Organisations Take Legal Action to Challenge Register Offices’ Unlimited Power