Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Srbiji

12/07/2026

Napad na književnika Vladimira Arsenijevića i ometanje komemorativne akcije Inicijative mladih za ljudska prava 11. jula na Trgu Republike nisu izolovani incidenti. Oni predstavljaju dva lica iste državne politike – politike poricanja, zastrašivanja i tolerisanja nasilja nad svima koji se zalažu za istinu, odgovornost i suočavanje s prošlošću.

Posebno je uznemirujuće što se to događa upravo 11. jula – Međunarodnog dana sećanja na genocid u Srebrenici, ustanovljenog kako bi se očuvalo sećanje na žrtve i potvrdila univerzalna poruka da se genocid nikada i nigde više ne sme ponoviti. Umesto da taj dan bude obeležen dostojanstveno i u duhu poštovanja prema žrtvama, vlast je dozvolila da komemoraciju Inicijative mladih za ljudska prava ometaju provokatori koji su očigledno delovali uz njenu političku zaštitu.

Takvo ponašanje nije samo nastavak višedecenijske politike poricanja genocida u Srebrenici. Ono predstavlja i otvoreno ponižavanje žrtava – kako bošnjačkih, tako i srpskih. Društvo koje nije spremno da iskaže pijetet prema svim nevinim žrtvama ostaje zarobljeno u matrici ratne politike i nasilja iz devedesetih.

Napad na Arsenijevića i opstrukcija komemoracije deo su iste političke logike. Cilj nije samo da se izbriše istina o prošlosti, već i da se zastraše svi koji odbijaju da pristanu na revizionizam i govor mržnje. Takva politika održava u životu ideološko nasleđe koje je proizvelo ratove i masovne zločine i predstavlja ozbiljnu pretnju demokratskoj budućnosti Srbije i stabilnosti regiona.

Nasilje više nije sporadičan eksces, već postaje instrument očuvanja vlasti. Režim koji gubi podršku građana sve češće pribegava fizičkom i institucionalnom nasilju, dok istovremeno održava politiku poricanja ratnih zločina i glorifikacije njihovih izvršilaca. To predstavlja upozorenje da Srbija ulazi u opasnu fazu u kojoj su ugroženi ne samo osnovna ljudska prava i sloboda govora, već i elementarna bezbednost svih građana koji se suprotstavljaju autoritarnoj vlasti.

10/07/2026

Without Breaking with the Politics of Denial, Serbia Remains Trapped in the Past

On 11 July, thirty-one years will have passed since the genocide in Srebrenica, the gravest crime committed in Europe since the Second World War. By a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, 11 July has been proclaimed the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, affirming the responsibility of states to preserve the truth about this crime, prevent its denial, and condemn the glorification of those responsible for the genocide.

In Serbia, however, the genocide in Srebrenica continues to be systematically denied or relativized. Convicted war criminals, including Ratko Mladić, are still portrayed as national heroes, while state institutions refuse to acknowledge the facts established by international courts. In doing so, they not only insult the victims and survivors but also undermine the very foundations of ademocratic society based on the rule of law and accountability.

Coming to terms with the past is neither an act of collective guilt nor a political attack on Serbia or the Serbian people. On the contrary, the refusal to accept established facts remains one of the
principal obstacles to the country's democratization. A society that rejects the judgments of international courts and denies judicially established facts remains trapped in the ideological patterns that produced the wars of the 1990s. The politics of denial is not merely about the past. It represents the continuation of the ideology that led to the wars and is today reflected in the concept of the “Serbian World”—a political project which, under different names, perpetuates the logic of ethnic homogenization, challenges the sovereignty of neighboring states, and treats Republika Srpska as an instrument of Serbia's regional influence. Although the project of creating an ethnically homogeneous political space suffered both a political and historical defeat, its narratives continue to be sustained through state institutions, pro-government media, and the education system.

The support provided by the authorities in Belgrade to the leadership of Republika Srpska, despite its open challenge to the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its international obligations, demonstrates that the policies of the 1990s have not been fully abandoned. This approach perpetuates instability throughout the region, deepens mistrust among the countries of the Western Balkans, and distances Serbia from European democratic standards.

The systematic denial of genocide is not merely a reinterpretation of history; it is an active policy of the present. Through control of the public sphere and selective remembrance, citizens are presented with a narrative in which Serbs are portrayed exclusively as victims, while responsibility for crimes is suppressed or denied. This sustains political mobilization based on fear, a sense of victimhood, and the continuous construction of both internal and external enemies.

Remembering Srebrenica is therefore not simply a matter of historical truth. It is a test of a society's political maturity and democratic capacity. Denying the genocide means accepting the very policies that led to it and leaves open the possibility that similar patterns of violence could re-emerge under different circumstances.

It is particularly important to emphasize that today's generation of young people in Serbia, through the student protests and their demands for institutional accountability, has demonstrated that a different vision of the future exists. Their calls for the rule of law, independent institutions, transparency, and accountability represent resistance to a system sustained by the manipulation of facts, propaganda, and the denial of responsibility. Their struggle for the truth about Srebrenica is inseparable from their struggle for ademocratic Serbia. It is, in fact, the same struggle: a struggle for a
state founded on the rule of law rather than political loyalty, on facts rather than propaganda.

Serbia today faces a fundamental choice. It can continue to remain hostage to the politics of denial, historical myths, and the unresolved legacy of war, or it can embrace the truth as a prerequisite for democratic renewal and lasting regional stability.
Denying the genocide is not a defense of national interests. It is a defense of the policies that led Serbia into war, international isolation, economic decline, and profound social crisis. Today, those
same policies persist under different circumstances through an authoritarian model of governance, media control, the manufacture of enemies, and the instrumentalization of nationalism to preserve political power.

As long as the Serbian state continues to deny the genocide in Srebrenica, it remains captive to the very policies that made it possible. Acknowledging the truth about Srebrenica is therefore far
more than a matter of confronting the past—it is a question of Serbia's future.

22/06/2026

The brutal destruction of the car belonging to David Gruhonjić in Novi Sad represents yet another alarming attack resulting from the long-standing campaign of targeting, public vilification, and dehumanization to which Dinko Gruhonjić and his family have been subjected for years.

The fact that the perpetrators were masked, acted in an organized manner, and clearly knew in advance which vehicle they intended to target indicates that this was not an act of random vandalism, but rather a politically and ideologically motivated act of intimidation.
An attack against a family member marks the crossing of yet another dangerous threshold and demonstrates the extent to which the climate of hatred systematically generated by pro-government tabloids and public officials has escalated.

Particularly disturbing is the fact that David Gruhonjić himself has previously been subjected to public targeting and outrageous accusations, including absurd claims linking him to the Croatian intelligence service. Such campaigns are not merely media persecution; they create an environment in which violence becomes
desirable, while perpetrators are given the message that they are acting in the name of “higher national interests.”
Those who have spent years orchestrating campaigns against independent journalists, academics, activists, and all critical voices
cannot evade responsibility for such an atmosphere. When individuals are branded as enemies of the state, foreign agents, and
traitors, violence becomes an expected consequence rather than an isolated incident.

The Helsinki Committee calls on the police and the prosecution authorities to urgently identify and prosecute both the perpetrators
and any individuals who may have ordered or instigated the attack. Any attempt to cover up or downplay this incident would amount to institutional complicity in the further escalation of political violence.

At the same time, we believe that the authorities bear a particular political responsibility for creating a social climate in which threats, smear campaigns, and physical attacks against dissenting voices
have become almost a daily occurrence. Serbia is dangerously approaching a situation in which violence against critics of the regime is becoming normalized, posing a serious threat not only to individuals but also to the very foundations of democratic order.
The attack on David Gruhonjić is not merely an attack on one family. It is a message directed at all free-minded people in Serbia.
For that reason, society as a whole bears the responsibility to confront such violence clearly, unequivocally, and without any
relativization. Remaining silent in the face of organized hatred today means becoming complicit in violence that may have unforeseeable consequences.

The Helsinki Committee calls upon the international community to respond to the increasingly overt forms of political intimidation and violence in Serbia. Years of targeting campaigns conducted by progovernment media and certain representatives of the authorities have created an atmosphere in which physical attacks have become a predictable consequence of hate speech and impunity. Silence in the face of such developments only further emboldens those responsible
consequences.

10/06/2026

Saopštenje Helsinškog odbora za ljudska prava u Srbiji

Vučićev fijasko na samitu Evropske unije i Zapadnog Balkana u Tivtu dodatno je radikalizovao verbalno nasilje koje vlast već duže vreme usmerava prema građanima Srbije. Poslednji primer predstavlja kampanja protiv porodice Balše Božovića, koja je izložena brutalnim napadima samo zato što je javno iznosila kritičke stavove o ponašanju režima.

Ovaj slučaj posebno zabrinjava jer napadi dolaze sa samog vrha vlasti – od predsednika Republike do predsednice Narodne skupštine. U veoma gledanoj emisiji „Hit-tvit“, mediji pod kontrolom režima predstavili su porodicu Božović kao „porodicu opasnu po Srbiju“ i kao „Milogorce“, uz poruku koja implicira da se postavlja pitanje „šta oni uopšte traže u Srbiji“.

Ministar unutrašnjih poslova Ivica Dačić u istom kontekstu govori o crnogorskim kriminalnim klanovima, čime se indirektno kriminalizuje i porodica Božović. Predsednica Narodne skupštine Ana Brnabić nazvala je ovu porodicu „primerom besramnosti“. U istoj emisiji, Vladislav Dojković je, u prisustvu ministra policije, izrazio žaljenje što se ministar „ne pita“, jer bi, kako je rekao, u suprotnom stvari rešio „po kratkom postupku“.

Na otvoreno prizivanje nasilja, pa i likvidacije članova porodice Božović, izrečeno na televiziji sa nacionalnom frekvencijom u prisustvu ministra policije, nisu reagovali ni Tužilaštvo ni Regulatorno telo za elektronske medije (REM).

Helsinški odbor upozorava da ovakve izjave direktno ugrožavaju bezbednost porodice Božović i predstavljaju poruku odmazde prema svim kritičarima vlasti. Ukoliko bi se članovima ove porodice dogodilo bilo šta, političku i moralnu odgovornost snosiće vrh vlasti koji sistematski podstiče atmosferu linča i nekažnjivosti.

Pozivamo domaće institucije da hitno reaguju, kao i međunarodne aktere da osude ovakvo ponašanje i zahtevaju zaštitu osnovnih prava i bezbednosti građana. Porodica Božović nije usamljen slučaj, već primer obrasca koji se primenjuje prema svim pojedincima i porodicama koje vlast označi kao nepoželjne.

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Nakon zvaničnog otvorenja, koje će biti organizirano 2. juna 2026. u 18.00 sati, slijedi prvi panel na desetom History Festu.
History Fest se održava u Sarajevu, hotel Holiday.

30/05/2026

Nezavisnost Crne Gore predstavlja bolnu tačku većeg dela srpske političke, intelektualne i kulturne elite, ocenila je predsednica Helsinškog odbora za ljudska prava u Srbiji Sonja Biserko.
Evropska unija je zainteresovana da se ništa ne menja kada su granice u pitanju na Balkanu i, kao što vidimo, Srbija može da se kandiduje za članstvo jedino ako promijeni svoju politiku, pre svega prema susedstvu, i ukoliko pristane da vodi regionalnu politiku koja podrazumeva jednakost svih partnera, jer nekomunikacija Srbije sa susedima onemogućava da se region izdigne na nivo koji bi mu dao političku težinu

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21/05/2026

Značajan deo srpske političke elite ni nakon dve decenije nije prihvatio činjenicu da je Crna Gora samostalna država, već je i dalje posmatra kao deo „srpskog nacionalnog prostora“.
Vučićeva retorika ima dvostruku funkciju — da u jeku unutrašnje političke krize mobiliše nacionalističko biračko tijelo u Srbiji, ali i da kroz politički i medijski pritisak oslabi evropski kurs Crne Gore i produbi unutrašnje podjele u zemlji.

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10/05/2026

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