Amnesty report warns of harassment, intimidation in Serbia

“Investigative journalists, human rights defenders and activists continued to face attacks in pro-government media outlets and were subjected to strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs),” the annual report said and cited the example of a pro-government TV station releasing personal details and making accusations against people in some 40 civil society organizations of waging a special war against Serbia at the behest of foreign governments.

Amnesty warned that senior officials called for a foreign agents law to stiffle dissent. It said that the UN Human Rights Committee noted the continued prevalence of discriminatory speech targeting journalists in both online and traditional media, including by politicians and high-level officials. The report said that Amnesty International found evidence of widespread use of unlawful spyware and other invasive digital forensic techniques against activists and independent journalists by the authorities.

The report said no credible effort was made towards achieving accountability for war crimes and that the government focused on weakening a UN resolution on the Srebrenica genocide. According to the report, there are more than 1,700 war crimes cases remaining to be investigated in Serbia.

The report said that Council of Europe (CoE) and UN human rights bodies warned of widespread discrimination and prejudice against the LGBTI, Roma and migrant populations.

Amnesty International said that people protesting against lithium mining were arrested and questioned over social media posts or taking part in protest gatherings, some of who faced disproportionate charge and subjected to extensive questioning, searches of their homes and seizure of their telephones and computers.