Everyone must act urgently: Violation of returnees' rights in RS must not remain solely the media's job

The coalition of civil society organisations Prvi mart called on the Federal Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons, together with elected representatives of the returnee community in the National Assembly of the RS entity, to establish a permanent body that will work on investigating and addressing violations of civil rights and freedoms of Bosniak and Croat returnees in the RS, announced this coalition, reports the Patria news agency.

-The latest penalties in the case of camp inmates who must pay enormous fines in proceedings against the RS, as well as the unprecedented case where Halil Bećirović must pay a fine because he called his torturer from the camp a criminal, represent only a continuation of newspaper articles confirming the difficult human rights situation in the RS.

The lack of adequate and systematic reporting, which is particularly reflected in the lack of capacity and resources to monitor human rights violations, results in a lack of information reaching the international community, more precisely minimising the consequences of such incidents, which limits the possibility of an adequate response.

In this regard, it is necessary to develop a database of lawyers who are ready to provide free legal aid to returnees, journalists who are skilled and interested in reporting on events in the community, and young activists on the ground who will provide support through networking, cooperation and fieldwork to establish facts and specific cases, states the announcement of the Prvi mart Coalition.