On the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour, we would like to draw the attention of the public and competent bodies to the problem of child labour exploitation.

Worldwide, more than 168 million boys and girls are engaged in some form of child labour, which deprives them of the right to adequate education, threatens their health and denies the right to play. According to the estimates of the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 85 million children are exposed to the worst forms of the child exploitation, such as prostitution, pornography and trafficking.

Although the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia prohibits child labour, in line with the international obligations undertaken by signing ILO Convention and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to the research conducted by UNICEF in Serbia, 4% of children aged 5-14 are engaged in some form of child labour. The largest number of these children comes from the poorest families, and particularly vulnerable are Roma children, who are very often engaged in labour from an early age.

As the causes of child labour need to be sought primarily in poverty, solving this problem requires a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. The emphasis should be placed on prevention and thus it is necessary to enable available, compulsory, qualitative and completely free education for every child up to the age of acquisition of working capacity.

Today, on the World Day against Child Labour, we appeal to the public, control and state institutions to address the problem of child labour more seriously so that all children equally enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and Convention of the Rights of the Child.

We mark the 20th June, World Refugee Day, with a feeling of a great uncertainty over the faith of a great number of migrants passing through our country, lacking protection from violence, discrimination, abuse, maltreatment and insults.

Unaccompanied child migrants are one of the most vulnerable groups. Misdemeanour courts in Serbia proceed upon charges against child migrants for illegal border-crossing, even though numerous international and European regulations state that children cannot be deprived of liberty only because of the lack of migratory status. Furthermore, there have been cases of breaching legal obligations by conducting procedures without the presence of a guardian or an interpreter.

Unaccompanied child migrants are forced to leave their homes, which is sufficient reason for being granted international protection. Regardless of the fact that most migrants do not wish to stay in Serbia, state bodies are obliged to ensure protection of their rights during their stay in our territory and to treat unaccompanied child migrants in accordance with the principle of the best interests of a child.
 

Preuzmite izveštaj: OVDE

On the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour, we would like to draw the attention of the public and competent bodies to the problem of child labour exploitation.

Worldwide, more than 168 million boys and girls are engaged in some form of child labour, which deprives them of the right to adequate education, threatens their health and denies the right to play. According to the estimates of the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 85 million children are exposed to the worst forms of the child exploitation, such as prostitution, pornography and trafficking.

Although the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia prohibits child labour, in line with the international obligations undertaken by signing ILO Convention and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to the research conducted by UNICEF in Serbia, 4% of children aged 5-14 are engaged in some form of child labour. The largest number of these children comes from the poorest families, and particularly vulnerable are Roma children, who are very often engaged in labour from an early age.

As the causes of child labour need to be sought primarily in poverty, solving this problem requires a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. The emphasis should be placed on prevention and thus it is necessary to enable available, compulsory, qualitative and completely free education for every child up to the age of acquisition of working capacity.

Today, on the World Day against Child Labour, we appeal to the public, control and state institutions to address the problem of child labour more seriously so that all children equally enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Coalition for Monitoring of Inclusive Education has prepared the "Guide for identifying and reporting discrimination in education", which provides information on how to identify and who to report discrimination at local and national level.

Download: Guide for identifying and reporting discrimination in education

Download: HERE

The Constitutional Court found that the right to the trial within a reasonable time, which is guaranteed by the Article 32, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution, was violated to R. J. who submitted the constitutional appeal in the administrative procedure for subsequent birth registration conducted before the Directorate for Civil Status and General Affairs of the City of Nis. At the same time, the Constitutional Court decided that the just satisfaction shall be achieved by granting the right to compensation for non-material damage to the applicant in the amount of 700 EUR from the budget of the Ministry of Justice.

Reviewing the acting of administrative bodies and the court in this case, the Constitutional Court assessed that their acting primarily led to the long duration of the disputed procedure. The Constitutional Court found that within seven years, five first-instance decisions and six second-instance decisions were reached in this procedure. Also, three administrative disputes were conducted, the last being initiated in 2013 and still pending. The Constitutional Court also found that the Ministry, being the second-instance body, returned the case four times to the first-instance body for reconsideration. According to the European Court of Human Rights referred to by the Constitutional Court in its decision, the fact that reconsideration of one case is ordered for several times before the lower instance body may, by itself, reveal a serious deficiency in the legal system of the country (see Pavlyulynets v. Ukraina and Cvetković v. Serbia).

The Constitutional Court particularly referred to the importance of the case for the applicant, stressing the indisputable interest of the applicant that a decision is reached within a reasonable time. The Court also reminded that procedures relating to status issues are urgent by nature.

Meanwhile, R. J. has been registered in the birth registry based on the decision reached in the non-contentious procedure determining the date and place of birth. This was made possible by the new legal solution provided by the Law on Amendments to the Law on Non-Contentious Procedure. R. J. obtained his first ID card in June 2014, when he was 43. Up to then, R. J. could not enjoy any right, such as the right to work and the right to social protection, or to conclude marriage and acknowledge paternity of his children.

Praxis has been providing free legal aid to R. J. since 2007, which he needed, as an uneducated beneficiary who lives in deep poverty, in order to to get out of the maze of procedures, which prevented him from exercising the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and international conventions.

The Commissioner for Protection of Equality issued the opinion and recommendation related to the complaint filed by the father of a minor girl against the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka. Following the complaint, Praxis got involved in the procedure.

The Municipality of Smederevska Palanka denied the right to transport to school to the girl with severe sight impairment, even though it is the legal obligation of the Municipality according to the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education System. Specifically, the Law envisages that the budget of a local self-government shall provide funds for transport, lodging and food for children and pupils with disabilities, regardless of the distance of the place of living from the school.

Both the father of the girl and the school submitted the request for providing transport, and the President of the Municipality rejected their requests. In its opinion, the Commissioner finds that failing to ensure the right to free transport to the school for the girl, the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka impeded her exercise of the right to education and full inclusion in the education system, thus violating the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. The Commissioner recommended that the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka should take all necessary measures within 30 days in order to provide free transport from home to school for the girl, and in the future not to violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.

The Commissioner also stated that providing transportation for children with disabilities and developmental disorders is the most common service in local communities and representatives of the local self-governments are most informed. Further in the opinion, the Commissioner states that this type of support has been legally regulated for a number of years. Therefore, such acting of the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka is utterly worrying.

It is further stated in the opinion that the school and the Ministry of Education must provide adequate teaching material, such as textbooks in the Braille alphabet and a personal assistant, which have been denied to the girl up to date.

Praxis reminds that pursuant to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Serbia is committed to ensure compulsory education and free education on an equal basis for all and without discrimination. Also, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, Law on Prevention of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, and laws and bylaws governing the area of education explicitly forbid discrimination against persons with disabilities in all spheres of life.

In the period from 22 to 24 April, the training on migration, discrimination and international human rights law was held within the project “PROACTION - Protection Against Discrimination of Asylum-Seekers and Unaccompanied Child Migrants”, implemented by Group 484 in cooperation with Praxis and International Commission of Jurists.

The goal of the training was that representatives of relevant institutions and non-governmental organizations shall be introduced into the right to adequate housing, health care and education of asylum seekers, unaccompanied child migrants and migrants in detention, and also protection from discrimination of all targeted groups, in accordance with EU law and international human rights law. The lectures at the training were Roisin Pillay and Massimo Frigo from the International Commission of Jurists.

During the first day of the training, the most important provisions of EU acts and international treaties were presented, which were followed by the presentation of the cases from court practice. On the second and the third day of the training, the representatives of civil society organizations divided into working groups were working on the development of indicators for tracking the extent to which the rights of asylum seekers, irregular migrants and unaccompanied child migrants are exercised in the area of housing, health care and education in Serbia. The intention is that the list of indicators helps civil society to assess the current situation and advocate for the highest international standards in the respective areas.

The training contributed to better insight into difficulties we will face while developing a functional system that may respond to all challenges of mixed migrations.

Download: Guide for the training

The Appeals Commission of the Press Council has established that Vecernje novosti Daily has violated the Code of Ethics of Journalists of Serbia by publishing the article entitled “Horror in Smederevo: Roma in Sexual Relation with a Girl”. This article was published on 17 March 2015 in the printed edition in the section “Local News” and on 18 March 2015 in online edition.
NGO Praxis and Standing Conference of Roma Associations of Citizens SKRUG – The League of Roma lodged a complaint to the Appeals Commission of the Press Council, stating that national affiliation of the suspected for a criminal act must not be mentioned, unless it is in direct relation with the type and nature of committed crime. The complainants are of the opinion that the stated article incites discrimination, hatred and violence towards the members of Roma national minority. 

The Appeals Commission adopted the appeal and reached a decision that Vecernje novosti Daily violated the Code of Ethics of Journalists of Serbia, precisely Item 1 of the chapter IV according to which a journalist shall oppose all those who violate human rights or who advocate any kind of discrimination, hate speech or incitement to violence, and Item 4 of the Chapter V according to which a journalist must be aware of the danger of discrimination that can be spread by media and shall do everything to avoid discrimination.

The members of the Appeals Commission pointed at the guidelines of the Code of Ethics of Journalists of Serbia which clearly specify that in reports on criminal acts, national, racial, religious, ideological and political affiliation, as well as sexual orientation, social and marital status of suspected persons or victims, are mentioned only if it is in direct relation to the nature of a criminal act. Also, it was pointed out that in this case the national affiliation of the possible perpetrator is not connected to the nature of that criminal act and therefore there was no reason to note that it was a Roma.

Vecernje novosti Daily was ordered to publish this decision in the third issue from the day of delivery of decision at latest, and within seven days in online edition.

Praxis welcomes the decision of the Appeals Commission and draws attention of the media that stating personal characteristics of the suspected persons or victims is not in line with ethical standard of professional acting of journalists and must not be stated, unless it is in direct connection with the nature of the committed crime.

Complaint lodged by:
Praxis
SKRUG – The League of Roma

More information about the procedure may be found at website of the Press Council.
Download: Decision of the Press Council