Report on Impunity Watch Panel Discussion

Transitional justice: are we ticking the boxes when we should be joining the dots?

Café Dudok, The Hague, 15 December 2009

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Report on Impunity Watch Expert Debate

1 July 2009, Amsterdam: Remembering the Srebrenica and Rwanda genocides: Do war memorials unite or divide?
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Dealing with Impunity in Serbia - Options and Obstacles

Now available in English, this document provides a summary of a research project conducted over the past two years in Serbia, examining the root causes and nature of impunity for crimes committed by the Serbian state and citizens during the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution during the 1990s.
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Recognising the Past: Challenges in the Combat of Impunity in Guatemala

Now available in English, this document provides a summary of a research project conducted over the past two years in Guatemala, examining the root causes and nature of impunity for crimes committed during its long civil war.
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The Persistence of Truth

This report looks at progress in truth-seeking and the combat of impunity in Guatemala ten years after its UN-backed truth comission, the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), published its findings on the events of the internal armed confrontation of 1960-96.
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Impunity Watch Research Instrument

This Impunity Watch tool offers a basic framework for researching the state of accountability in post-conflict societies.
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NEWS ARCHIVE

Press release: Impunity Watch condemns withdrawal of draft Anti-discrimination Law in Serbia

05/03/2009 - Concerns have arisen in recent days over the influence of Serbia’s Orthodox Church on efforts to ban discrimination against minority religious beliefs and sexual orientations. On March 4, Serbia’s government withdrew a draft anti-discrimination law from parliamentary procedure following protests from the country’s traditional religious communities. Reports now emerging indicate that the disputed law has been returned unaltered for consideration, and meetings set up with church leaders.

The Law against Discrimination was first drafted in 2001, and later brought into line with a draft law on discrimination against persons with disabilities. While the latter was adopted by the National Assembly of Serbia, no vote has yet been taken on the draft anti-discrimination law.

The latest version of the bill was drafted jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, and non-governmental and international organisations, following a period of broad public consultation involving all relevant state and non-governmental actors.

The government yesterday pulled the draft law from parliamentary procedure at the behest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the country’s largest religious community. Church representatives confirmed that a letter of protest against the anti-discrimination legislation had been sent, seeking changes to Article 18, which guarantees freedom of religion, and deletion of Article 21, which outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In a press release issued immediately following this development, Impunity Watch joined the Coalition against Discrimination in calling for parliamentary consideration of the draft law to resume and its passage without changes, reminding the government that the bill is one of a series of important laws whose adoption is a prerequisite for easing Serbia’s visa regime with the European Union (the so-called Schengen white list).

In addition, Impunity Watch reminds the government of the importance of this law for advancing Serbia’s transitional justice process, as set out in its recent report, Dealing with Impunity in Serbia - Options and Obstacles.

Impunity Watch is a Dutch-based research-for-policy initiative, that work together with national civil society groups to promote accountability for past atrocities. In Serbia, it works in partnership with the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia (HCHRS), Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) and Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR).

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