As a grassroots and think tank organization, the HCHRS has focused on mass infringement of human rights in Serbia and the region and advocates freedom of association, assembly and speech, tolerance and anti-discrimination. Main areas of work:
1. Anti-discrimination – The HCHRS has been focusing on national minorities in Serbia and has been monitoring the observance of their human and minority rig
hts via its annual reports, bulletins and publications. It has also been engaged in raising public awareness, devising and implementing confidence-building measures for a multi-cultural and tolerant society via public debates, schools for the youth and via advocacy.
2. Monitoring of human rights - The HCHRS has been monitoring human rights of persons deprived of their liberty for the past decade. It was the first NGO to enter prisons and monitor the observance of human rights and it continues to advocate for their observance and the improvement of conditions in prisons via its own continuous monitoring activities as well as through its participation in the National Preventative Mechanism Against Torture (NPM) under the auspices of the Ombudsman’s office. The HCHRS has also been monitoring social care institutions (children without parental care, children and adults with physical and/or mental disabilities) and has advocated for the observance of children and adults in these institutions as well. In addition, the HCHRS is monitoring psychiatric institutions and advocating for legislative change in treatment of persons with mental disabilities.
3. Education - Over the past 15 years, the (HCHRS) has conducted various non-formal educational activities on the local and regional level so as to empower young people to become active agents of social change and responsible citizens. One of the most important is regional program „Human Rights Education for Active Citizenship in the Western Balkans“. The integral parts of this program
are: Human Rights Schools for Youth, organized on local and regional level; Youth Groups in different cities from inner Serbia and from the region which implement their own youth projects, and advocacy activities for the improvement of Civic education as a subject in the formal school system. The HCHRS is also engaged in the implementation of inclusive education in Serbia by mainstreaming and strengthening the institutional anti-discriminative framework, policies and practice and advocating for their more efficient and effective enactment.
4. Transitional justice – as part of this program, the HCHRS has focused on the causes of the wars in ex-Yugoslavia during the 1990-ies, it has been insisting on accountability for war crimes, especially when it comes to the role of Serbian institutions in the war. A number of publications, round tables, TV and video productions have been made over the years, in addition to extensive advocacy and public awareness-raising.
5. Rule of law – as part of the Human Rights House, a legal entity composed of 5 human rights organizations, including the HCHRS (registered in 2011), committed to monitoring and reporting on the rule of law in Serbia, including topics such as anti-corruption.
