On 21st of May 2006 Montenegro became independent, for the first time since 1918 when she joined then newly made Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. After World War II Montenegro became federal unit in new socialistic Yugoslavia. Unlike other republics that opted for independence in their referendums beginning 90s, Montenegro decided to stay in union with Serbia, fi rstly in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and letter on in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Results of a research conducted by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) in the period between October 2006 and April 2007, and presented in this Report, show Serbia facing political violence in the form of systematic series of politically motivate incidents, which state authorities promoted by their support to the politics of impunity. Serious, expected, law-supported response by institutions of a democratic state is continually lacking in all recorded incidents. The stats, thus, supports further growth of political violence, strengthening the practice of human rights violations, and making political violence a normal, socially acceptable phenomenon. It also hampers democratization processes, the establishment of the rule of law and institutional strengthening of the state.

In the period between September 2006 and January 2007, the Montenegrin YIHR office conducted a research on human rights. Investigative efforts were mainly focused on the following: the right to official use of native language, the right to information in native language, the right to education in native language, rights of sexual minorities, freedom of confession, the right to free access to the information and prohibition of torture. An analysis was conducted of the Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms, as well as of the Law on Free Access to the Information of Public Interest. Apart from research results, and integral to this report is a transcript of the public debate titled "Towards the New Constitution", which was held at the end of January 2007. The aim was to launch a public debate on the expert version of the Montenegrin Constitution, but particularly on those designed to regulate the status of minorities. The overall objective of this research was YIHR's attempt to establish the extent to which minority rights are respected in Montenegro, and to convey the message and communicate its results to the general public in Montenegro. The report will be distributed to all domestic and international institutions and organizations of relevance.

According to the last census from 2002, there are in Serbia 1,100 citizens members of national minorities, which make approximately 15% of overall population. Their status is characterized first and foremost by a high level of ethnic intolerance and.

During the year when so much attention has been devoted to the status of Kosovo, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Stiftung, has focused on the “Day After.”

This publication contains transcripts from a conference held at the end of March 2004 in Risan, Montenegro, which gathered over 30 young activists, students and intellectuals from Kosovo and Serbia, who discussed important social and political issues in five conference sessions. The first session concerned the past and the process of dealing with the past. The second session was about nationalism and the radicalization of society. The third session was dedicated to the university system while the fourth and fifth sessions dealt with civil society and the role it can have in the process of stabilization and the establishment of justice.

The number of members of national minorities has decreased in six targeted municipalities, while the percentage of Serbs has increased. With the exception of two cases, the religious rights of national minorities have not been violated or endangered. The right to the official use of one’s native language, though, is not fully respected in any of the researched municipalities. Education in minority languages is not implemented everywhere in the manner stipulated by the Framework Convention. Inequality in institutions of public power is most visible in the courts, prosecution and the police.

With the publication of Violent Societies in Transition II, the YIHR documented the continuation of the youth forum, part of the Alternative Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The publication is a transcript from a conference held in Prishtina, authorized by the panelists. We believe this forum to be a significant contribution to the establishment of new bonds and ties between the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia. The conference entitled "From Ethnic Violence to Civic Normality" gathered more than 60 activists and students form Kosovo and Serbia.

This publication is a detailed overview of print media in Serbia and Kosovo, conveyed through analyses and key events, and through a project launched by the YIHR, in cooperation with partner-journalists, for the purpose of erecting a bridge between the media from Kosovo and that of Serbia. The analysis concludes that Serbian media is marked by hate-speech, lies, decontextualization of facts, and denial. The majority of the media, even those falling within the category of “liberal”, sticks firmly to and uses prejudiced symbols of the Kosovo’s society. The media in Kosovo, on the other hand, remains blind to most of the important local social and political issues. Minorities and their lives mean nothing to them. Stories coming out of the Kosovo enclaves are used only to prove that "the flowers are blooming."

In the period between December 2004 and November 2005, the YIHR investigated the implementation of transitional laws in Serbia. The targeted laws were: the Law on Cooperation with the ICTY, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, the Lustration Law, the Law on Public Information, and the Law on the Transfer of Authority to Military Courts, Military prosecutions and the Military Attorney. The research was conducted on the basis of information collected as of November 15th 2005.

In cooperation with Sarajevo photographer Tarik Samarah, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights launched a billboard campaign on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. The billboards, which read "SEE, KNOW, REMEMBER. Srebrenica 1995-2005", were installed throughout Serbia. A series of other related activities were organized in cooperation with the Movement of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves. Eight non-governmental organizations submitted a request to the Serbian National Assembly, demanding the adoption of a mandatory declaration on respect of the rights of war crimes victims, especially those related to the genocide in Srebrenica. The public response to this clearly expressed necessity for Serbia to deal with its own past was not unified. Billboards were destroyed and marred, but the victims' voice was heard nevertheless.

In the period from January to December 2006, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (hereinafter the Initiative) conducted research into the implementation of transitional laws. The Initiative monitored the implementation of the Law on Public Information, the Law on Broadcasting, the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Governmental Organs in Procedures for War Crimes and the Law on the Protector of Citizens. The Initiative analyzed the legal basis of the new Constitution of Serbia. Those regulations that incited disputes in professional and general public were firstly analyzed. The Referendum campaign and the observance of electoral and media laws, which regulate this process, were monitored as well. At the end of the report, there are two annexes. The first annex presents cases that lawyers and the legal team of the Initiative presented before courts and other state organs in the name of the victims of violations of human rights. The second report analyzes the efficiency of courts and prosecution in Serbia, when dealing with the criminal acts of causing racial, religious and national hatred, discord or intolerance.