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Letters
Commissioner highlights key steps to better respect the rights of victims and deal with the past in the region of the former Yugoslavia
In her letters to the Prime Ministers of the Council of Europe member states in the region of the former Yugoslavia, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, recommends specific steps to be taken to deal with the violent past and move more resolutely toward social...
Issue Paper
Dealing with the Past for a Better Future - Resolute efforts on dealing with the violent past are required in the region of the former Yugoslavia
“The failure to fully deal with wartime atrocities and the root causes of conflicts in the 1990s continues to have devastating consequences on respect for human rights, the rule of law and social cohesion in the region”, said today Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human...
Country visit report
Serbia: step up efforts to face the past, safeguard freedom of expression and assembly and protect women from violence
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today the report following her visit to Serbia in March 2023, with recommendations focusing on transitional justice and dealing with the past, freedom of expression and assembly and women’s rights and gender equality. ...
Statement
High time to recognise 11 July as an official International Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide
"The Srebrenica genocide, in which 8,372 Bosniaks, mainly men and boys, were brutally killed, remains a dark chapter in Europe's collective history. That a genocide was committed in Srebrenica is not a matter of opinion, it is a historical fact, legally established by the International Criminal...
Letter
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Commissioner urges the city authorities to build a memorial to the killed children of Prijedor
Today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović published a letter addressed to the Mayor and to the President and Vice-President of the City Assembly of Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In her letter, the Commissioner urges the city authorities to engage as soon as...
Statement
United Kingdom: adopting Northern Ireland Legacy Bill will undermine justice for victims, truth seeking and reconciliation
“The UK government’s ongoing attempt to pass the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill, including its recent introduction of amendments, ignores the many warnings that this legislation would violate the UK’s international obligations and put victims’ rights at risk”, said the Council of Europe...
Statement
Bosnia and Herzegovina: it is high time for a memorial to the killed children of Prijedor to be built
On the occasion of the White Armband Day in Prijedor, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović reiterates the importance of securing the right of the families of thousands of victims of war crimes and grave human rights violations committed in this town between 1992...
Country visit
Serbia: more efforts needed to face the past, increase safety of journalists and human rights defenders, and protect women from violence
“It is high time for Serbia to face the legacy of the past, to protect media freedom and freedom of assembly, and to fulfil its commitments on women’s rights and gender equality” said today Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, at the end of a visit to the country...
Country visit report
United Kingdom: Commissioner warns against regression on human rights, calls for concrete steps to protect children’s rights and to tackle human rights issues in Northern Ireland
“Both the overall system for protecting human rights, and the rights of specific groups, are currently under pressure in the United Kingdom (UK). The authorities should spare no effort to reverse this trend”, warns today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, while...
Memorandum
Kosovo*: address shortcomings in the field of transitional justice and social cohesion, freedom of the media, and women’s rights and gender equality
“More than two decades after the armed conflict in Kosovo, social cohesion is still hampered by impunity for war-related crimes, unresolved cases of missing persons, lack of access to reparations for all war victims, obstacles to sustainable returns of displaced persons and ethnic divisions”,...
Rule 9
Proposed United Kingdom legislation on the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland raises human rights concerns
The Commissioner published today her submission to the Committee of Ministers in the context of the supervision of the execution of the McKerr group of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. This group of judgments relates to several shortcomings in the investigation of deaths during...
Statement
Statement on the occasion of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances
“The large number of people who have been reportedly forcibly disappeared in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion in February is alarming. This abhorrent practice must stop”, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović ahead of this year’s International Day of...
Statement
Srebrenica: The Mothers’ fight for justice should inspire us all
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović participated today in the inauguration of the ‘Mother’s Scarf’ art installation initiated by the Mothers of Srebrenica, as part of the Srebrenica Heroines Initiative, and issued the following statement: “As we honour the memory...
Country visit
United Kingdom: backsliding on human rights must be prevented
“Legal reforms should not weaken human rights protections in the United Kingdom”, said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, following a five-day visit to the country (27 June to 1 July), which focused on the system for human rights protection, the situation...
Statement
International Criminal Court needs robust and long-term support
"As unspeakable atrocities are committed in the heart of Europe once again, we are reminded that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as a pillar of the international criminal justice system and the fight against impunity, is needed more than ever,” said Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe...
Statement
Slovenia state apology to the “erased” is a welcome and meaningful step
“The apology extended today by Slovenian President Borut Pahor on behalf of the state and himself to the “erased”, 30 years after their removal from the official residence registry, is a welcome and meaningful step. It helps remedy past wrongs, foster reconciliation and prevent similar human...
Opinion article
Op-ed: De-escalate Bosnia and Herzegovina - before it is too late
EUObserver, 18/11/2021 Warmongering has seriously intensified in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As some politicians, including in the neighbouring countries Serbia and Croatia, ratchet-up their inflammatory rhetoric, the international community struggles to find a response to escalating tensions. This...
Memorandum
Humanitarian and human rights protection needed following the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh
One year after the signing of the trilateral statement which ended the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, publishes a memorandum addressing the humanitarian and human rights...
Letter
UK government’s legacy proposals must not undermine human rights and cut off victims’ avenues to justice in Northern Ireland
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland published today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, warns that a proposed new plan for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland “would undermine human rights protections and would cut...
Statement
Coming to terms with the past and delivering justice is the only way to achieve reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia
”I sincerely hope that the confirmation on appeal of Ratko Mladić’s guilty verdict brings the relief of justice done to the many victims who suffered atrocities and lost loved ones in Srebrenica, Sarajevo, and other municipalities during the war in the 1990’s in the former Yugoslavia”, said today...
Statement
Witnesses in proceedings relating to crimes committed during the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia must be effectively protected and supported
The provision of effective protection and support for witnesses in the context of wartime-related criminal proceedings is instrumental to the fight against impunity for the crimes committed during the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia. However, over recent days, the name of a protected...
Statement
European states must no longer procrastinate on the duty to establish the truth concerning missing persons
“The lack of truth and justice for thousands of missing persons remains a serious human rights issue in Europe. So many families of missing persons in Council of Europe member states, including in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the Balkans, Cyprus, Georgia,...
Statement
25th anniversary of Tuzla massacre: Ensuring justice for past crimes must be one of the top political priorities in the region
Today we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the massacre of Tuzla, where a grenade fired by the Army of the Republika Srpska killed 71 people and injured more than 130. It is important to commemorate the victims and survivors of that atrocious crime and remember the suffering of their families....
Statement
Statement of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the Bleiburg commemoration
"The mass planned in Sarajevo on 16 May with the intention of commemorating soldiers and civilians who died in Bleiburg, in the aftermath of the Second World War, risks becoming a glorification of those who supported the Nazi-allied fascist Ustasha regime, complicit in the death of hundreds of...
Statement
Commissioner welcomes the first joint commemoration in the former extermination camp in Jasenovac since 2014
75 years ago, today, the Jasenovac extermination camp in Croatia was dismantled. In that camp, more than 80 000 persons were brutally killed by the fascist Ustasha regime. As we honour the memory of the victims today, I warmly welcome the first joint commemoration in Jasenovac since 2014...
Speech
The long fight for justice of the Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa
Opening the photography exhibition “Srebrenica – Mothers’ long fight for justice” presented in the lobby of the Parliamentary Assembly during its summer session from 24-28 June 2019, the Commissioner made the following statement: Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for coming here today for the...
Statement
Commissioner commemorates the victims and survivors of the Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia
“More than 80 000 people were brutally killed in the Jasenovac concentration camp. This is a place of profound pain and a symbol of the disastrous consequences of unbridled nationalism and hate. Today I would like to honour the victims of those atrocities, express my solidarity with all those who...
Country visit report
Report on Armenia recommends measures to improve women’s rights, protection of disadvantaged or vulnerable groups, and establishing accountability for past human rights violations
Today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published the report of her visit to Armenia carried out in September 2018. The report focuses on women’s rights, gender equality and domestic violence; the human rights of disadvantaged or vulnerable groups; and...
Speech
Commissioner’s address to the Second Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide
In a video message sent to the Second Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide held in Yerevan today, the Commissioner said: “Dear excellencies, colleagues, distinguished participants, Out of the ashes of the Second World War, governments around the world committed to outlawing genocide,...
Speech
Commemoration of the Roma Holocaust: our duty to remember, and to combat persisting anti-Gypsyism in today’s Europe
Today, Commissioner Mijatović is participating, in Auschwitz-Birkenau, in the ceremony of commemoration of the Roma Holocaust during the Second World War. In her speech she pays respect to the survivors of the genocide, stresses the duty to remember and the crucial importance of combating...