At the global level, the state of human rights in the second year of the corona virus pandemic represents a colorful mosaic of violations of those rights and basic freedoms. The struggles of interest groups to promote certain vaccines and strengthen the anti-vaxxer movement reflect the contradictions and animosities that reign in the world at this time. The ultimate losses are, of course, on the side of the common man and his basic human rights (right to life, right to health, etc.). It is characteristic of these frictions that they affect all parts of the world, true, some to a greater extent, and some to a lesser extent.
In conflict situations around the world where armed conflicts take place, victims of human rights violations are everywhere. The general crisis in Afghanistan, which intensified in August of this year due to the withdrawal of US and allied forces, has led to disintegration in the country. The new authorities, embodied in the Taliban regime, introduced harsh measures and threatened the human rights of many categories of the population (women, children, members of ethnic and religious groups, etc.). This caused a wave of refugees, and according to organizations on the ground, more than 300.000 people have left Afghanistan since the withdrawal of international forces, and between 4000 and 5000 Afghans cross from Afghanistan to Iran every day.
There are daily reports of executions in Iran, the USA and some other countries, while it is not possible to determine what the situation is in China. It does not attract enough public attention due to other incident situations, as well as the omnipresence of the pandemic in the media. If we add to this the actions of numerous authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in various parts of the world, which, acting against their political opponents or minority groups, resort to the cruelest measures (kidnapping, illegal detention, forced disappearances, torture), the picture of the situation resembles a scene from a horror movie.
In Europe, there are numerous cases of hate speech and hate crimes against various minority groups, such as anti-Semitic and xenophobic attacks, which are increasing every year.
Issues related to ecological topics are also current, due to the increasingly visible consequences of the damaged state of the environment. Environmental activists are becoming increasingly vocal, but it is very questionable how much the world's powers are listening to it, so the stories presented at this year's COP26 summit, held in Glasgow, as well as at previous similar gatherings, remain almost empty.
SITUATION IN THE REGION
What makes Serbia different from some neighboring countries is the fact that it is not a member of the EU and NATO, while those countries are. Those countries still seem closer to Serbia, especially when considering the subject of human rights.
Montenegro is in a deep political crisis which means that the general situation and human rights in it are being violated. President Milo Đukanović's interest in human rights has noticeably increased, as if he has not been in power for more than three decades. At the same time, it does not recall human rights, for example, during the period of aggression against Dubrovnik in 1991, when the authorities of Montenegro, led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, wholeheartedly participated in inciting and organizing "volunteers" for the Dubrovnik battlefield. Thus, the alleged struggle for human rights is misused for daily political purposes, such as coin for change. In addition, inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions are still not decreasing, and democratic processes and the normal functioning of the state are facing paralysis.
Croatia, in addition to problems with corruption, is still faced with unresolved issues from the past, and the poor position of national minorities, especially Serbian. By glorifying war criminals, both from the period of the Second World War and from the last one, the so-called of the Homeland War, the stability of Croatian society is undermined, but it also sends a bad signal to the Serbian minority, with narratives and actions that do not instill confidence and faith that Croatian society is truly democratizing according to European and world standards. Turning attention away from pressing problems corresponds to avoiding an unpleasant topic, which is reflected in the mass departure of young people from Croatia, which represents a trend since Croatia's accession to the EU.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is constantly facing various crises. From the political one - the crisis in the functioning of the BiH Presidency, inter-entity frictions, dealing with the war past and the prosecution of war crimes, to the more recent one - the change in criminal legislation that introduced punishment for denying the genocide in Srebrenica. In addition, if we add the increasingly loud separatist attitudes, paying attention to the human rights of ordinary people in BiH does not find any response.
It can be concluded that the problems regarding the enjoyment of human rights in the region are similar and that, regardless of the EU and NATO membership of some of the countries, the former Yugoslav republics still form one region, no matter how much some try to deny it. What characterizes the level of respect for human rights is the extremely high conditionality of those rights by the political decisions of the ruling elites, who were in power or close to power in the nineties, at a time when Yugoslavia was disintegrating in the most violent way, and this was allegedly done for the sake of the fight for human rights and democracy. We have seen the results of that "struggle" and such "democratization" and, unfortunately, we are still seeing and experiencing them.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN SERBIA
Nothing new in Serbia - the deepening of the crisis in various fields and in all areas of human rights, from civil and political to economic, social and cultural.
The situation caused by the pandemic paralyzed the previously poor healthcare system in Serbia. One gets the impression that the only disease that exists is corona. Low salaries of health workers, poor conditions in health institutions, problems of patients accessing health care, as well as many others, have become everyday.
The position of certain groups in society is at an alarmingly bad level - the elderly, people with disabilities, minority groups, but also workers, due to the transition that Serbia has been in for many years, with new challenges and risks that have been deepened by the pandemic.
Serbia has been in a permanent pre-election campaign for years, bearing in mind the dynamics of frequent elections. The issue of election conditions split the already weak, poorly organized and disunited opposition, and the citizens, as mute observers, seemed to be completely excluded from all processes, finding themselves daily surprised by the jump in prices of almost all products and services. If you add the media darkness, the picture is complete.
Constitutional changes and repeated organized changes to the legislation necessary to implement the desired changes show a serious crisis in the functioning of the state and the rule of law. Instead of a broad dialogue and the widest possible consensus when amending the Constitution, the authorities did the opposite, leaving citizens in uncertainty both in the process of changes to the Constitution and in terms of what awaits them after those changes.
The Kosovo crisis (p)remains a constant topic, with no visible improvements. Seen from multiple angles, status quo corresponds to many countries, not only Serbian and Kosovo. Namely, the frozen conflict corresponds to the international community burdened with numerous problems, especially the crisis caused by the pandemic. The absence of serious interest from the international community corresponds to the elites in Belgrade and Pristina, who use the opportunity to deal with the issue of the status of Kosovo for daily political purposes, especially in pre-election campaigns, which results in the residents of Kosovo being left to fend for themselves, as well as the diaspora, without whose help they cannot could survive. On the other hand, Serbia continues to allocate considerable financial resources in order not to maintain the "Serbian cause" in Kosovo, further burdening the citizens of Serbia. Those who are the most resourceful benefit from it, and manage to use the crisis for personal interests.
A BLIND LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
The cross-section of the state of human rights in the world and in Serbia in 2021 as the end result gives a gloomy picture, creates the feeling that at the present moment there is no ideal country where human rights are respected, and generates a feeling of helplessness. The border between "good" and "bad" countries is slowly being erased. This is largely caused by globalization, the unrestrained rampage of big capital, the strengthening of the right and the weakening of the positive role of the state in order to create social cohesion.
Confinement into nation-states in which democracy does not actually rule, but interest groups, whether they have the support of foreign capital or the dubious capital of rulers, created an atmosphere suitable for the violation of human rights and democracy. Such societies are not ready to deal with this problem on their own, and a reaction "from above" by the international community is necessary, which would thus protect the international legal order and the achieved standards of human rights, which were hard-fought, especially after the end of the Second World War. The move thus remains with the international community, as a test of maturity in terms of at least returning to the previous state, if not in the direction of progressive development.
