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Serbia
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
No casualties from mines, explosive remnants of war (ERW), or cluster munitions remnants were confirmed in Serbia in 2010.[1] On 29 May 2010, two boys were injured in an explosion in Nis, an area known to be affected by cluster munitions remnants. The device type causing the explosion was unknown and thus the incident was not included in the total of mine or ERW casualties.[2] In 2009, also in Nis, a man was killed by what was initially suspected, but unconfirmed, as an unexploded submunition.[3]
Three ERW casualties reported in 2008 were the last confirmed casualties in Serbia.[4] The last confirmed mine casualties were reported in 2005. Annual casualty figures have declined following a peak in 1999 and 2000.[5]
The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Serbia is not known. In 2004, 1,360 casualties (24 killed; 1336 injured) were reported between 1992 and 2000 by Serbia and Montenegro.[6]
At least 78 casualties occurred during cluster munitions strikes in Serbia. A further 16 casualties were caused by unexploded submunitions between 1999 and 2006. Cluster munitions are estimated to have caused more than 100 unreported casualties in Serbia during strikes on Nis. In addition, unexploded submunitions are known to have caused casualties in several regions, which were not reported to the authorities.[7] A survey by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) identified 191 cluster munitions casualties (31 killed; 160 injured) for the period between 1999 and 2008, but details were not provided and the report did not differentiate between casualties during strikes and those caused by unexploded submunitions.[8]
Victim Assistance
The total number of survivors in Serbia is not known[9] but has been estimated to be between 1,300 and 8,000.[10]
No efforts were made by the Serbian government in 2010 to identify survivors or assess their needs. In 2010, Assistance Advocacy Access–Serbia (AAAS), a national survivors’ association, completed a survey of regional associations of civilian war victims and disabled military veterans and their members and undertook fundraising to carry out a national needs assessment of mine/ERW survivors in 2011.[11] Local survivor groups collected information about the needs of their members on an ongoing basis.[12]
Victim assistance coordination
|
Government coordinating body/focal point |
Special Hospital for Rehabilitation and Orthopedic Prosthetics (SHROP) |
|
Coordinating mechanism |
None |
|
Plan |
None |
In November 2010, a new victim assistance focal point within SHROP was appointed by the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs. At least one meeting regarding the victim assistance coordination role was held between the victim assistance focal point and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the end of 2010. The victim assistance focal point also met with some representatives of survivors’ organizations. It was reported that a lack of documentation on activities and funding managed by the previous victim assistance focal point was an obstacle for developing a functional role for the new focal point.[13] As of the end of 2010, no victim assistance plan had been developed.
The Sector for Protection of Persons with Disability, within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, is the focal point for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In December 2010, it was announced that a national working group would be formed to monitor the implementation of the CRPD.[14] However, the needs of mine/ERW survivors, including civilians, were not considered to be part of the mandate of the Sector for Protection of Persons with Disabilities but rather that of the Sector for Protection of Veterans with Disabilities.[15]
The government did not report on the inclusion of survivors or their representative organizations in the coordination, planning, or implementation of victim assistance activities in 2010, though it recognized the need for greater coordination between government and civil society to increase awareness about available services among survivors.[16] Survivors assessed needs and provided legal aid, peer support, and other assistance to other survivors through local survivor groups.[17]
Service accessibility and effectiveness
Victim assistance activities in 2010[18]
|
Name of organization |
Type of organization |
Type of activity |
Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2010 |
|
SHROP |
Government |
Physical rehabilitation |
Ongoing education for prosthetists and orthotics in cooperation with Human Study and the University of Don Bosco and provision of physical rehabilitation services |
|
Sector for Protection of Veterans with Disability, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy |
Government |
Support for physical rehabilitation of disabled veterans |
Concluded an agreement with SHROP to provide disabled veterans with rehabilitative services |
|
Civilian War Victims Association |
Local NGO |
Data collection, advocacy of rights and legal assistance, peer support and social inclusion |
Increased focus on promoting members’ rights; remained active in other activities despite ongoing funding challenges |
|
Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia |
Local NGO |
Data collection, advocacy of members’ rights |
120 new members through expanded geographic coverage to two new districts despite a decrease in funding |
|
AAAS |
National NGO |
Survivor needs assessment, advocacy |
Completed survey of regional survivor associations; continued advocacy on survivors’ rights |
In 2010, minimal increase in access to some services, such as emergency medical care and inclusion in education, were noted by survivor groups, mainly due to an increase in awareness of survivors’ rights following the strengthening of legal frameworks that relate to persons with disabilities.[19]
Ongoing education of orthopedic technicians at SHROP was designed to improve the quality of physical rehabilitation services while the passage of regulations for orthopedic care for disabled veterans was intended to simplify access to these services.[20] However, a veteran group reported that accessing physical rehabilitation services had instead become more complicated and time-consuming in 2010.[21]
Unemployment remained a serious problem for persons with disabilities.[22] On 23 May 2010, the Law on the Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which introduces an employment quota for persons with disabilities, went into effect.[23] Abuses were reported in the implementation of the legislation as employers collected government subsidies without offering employment to persons with disabilities.[24] A center for professional rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons was also established during 2010 and the number of persons with disabilities gaining employment increased.[25] Despite the new laws promoting the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities, little progress was noted in these areas by survivors’ organizations.[26]
Other new laws were seen as positive on paper but were not yet being implemented throughout the country.[27] Little progress was seen in the removal of physical barriers preventing the inclusion of persons with disabilities.[28]
Serbia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 31 July 2009.
[1] Fax from Petrovic Dragan, Officer in Charge, Bureau for Information of Public Importance, Cabinet of the Minister, Ministry of Interior, 12 April 2011.
[2] “Decaci povredjeni u eksploziji u Nisu” (“Boys injured in an explosion in Nis”), Juzne vesti (Nis), 30 May 2010, www.juznevesti.com.
[3] “Razneo se bombom kasikarom!” (“Blew himself up with a hand grenade!”), Press (Nis), 20 July 2009, www.pressonline.rs; and M. Smiljković, “Razneo se kasikarom pored Nisave” (“Blew himself up with a hand grenade on Nisava river bank”), Blic (Daily newspaper), 19 July 2009, www.blic.rs.
[4] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: October 2009), www.the-monitor.org.
[5] Email from Srecko Gavrilovic, Ministry of Defense, 13 July 2009; and NPA, “Report on the impact of unexploded cluster submunitions in Serbia,” (NPA: Belgrade, January 2009), pp. 40–41.
[6] This figure includes 260 mine survivors registered in Montenegro. Presentation by Serbia and Montenegro, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 10 February 2004; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 25 October 2004.
[7] NPA, “Yellow Killers, the Impact of Cluster Munitions in Serbia and Montenegro,” (NPA: Belgrade, January 2007), pp. 39, 56.
[8] NPA, “Report on the impact of unexploded cluster submunitions in Serbia,” (NPA: Belgrade, January 2009), p. 10.
[9] Statement of Serbia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 1 December 2010.
[10] Presentation by Serbia and Montenegro, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 10 February 2004; and “Zaboravljene zrtve mina” (“Mine Victims Forgotten”), Politika (Daily newspaper), 3 September 2009.
[11] Interviews with Svetlana Bogdanovic, Administrative Officer, and Aleksandar Sekulic, Finance Officer, AAAS, Belgrade, 4 April 2011.
[12] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Secretary, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011; and Jovica Pavlovic, Secretary, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011.
[13] Interviews with Igor Simanic, Specialist in Physical Medicine, SHROP, Belgrade, 26 November 2010 and 1 March 2011.
[14] Gordana Rajkov, Serbian Parliamentarian, at the opening of the Regional Center for Monitoring of Implementation of the CRPD, Belgrade, 10 December 2010.
[15] Telephone interview with Zorica Grujevski, Representative, Sector for Protection of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, 18 March 2011.
[16] Statement of Serbia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 1 December 2010.
[17] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011.
[18] Statement of Serbia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 1 December 2010; response to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011; response to Monitor questionnaire by Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011; and interviews with Svetlana Bogdanovic and Aleksandar Sekulic, AAAS Belgrade, 4 April 2011.
[19] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011; and Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011.
[20] Statement of Serbia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 1 December 2010.
[21] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011.
[22] US Department of State, “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Croatia,” Washington, DC, 11 March 2010.
[23] “Posao za 2.500 osoba sa invaliditetom,” (“Jobs for 2.500 persons with disabilities”), Danas, 29 September 2010, www.danas.rs; and “Izvestaj o radu nacionalne sluzbe za zaposljavanje za 2010. godinu” (“Report on activities of the National Employment Agency for 2010”), Belgrade, February 2011, www.nsz.gov.rs.
[24] Vladimir Nikitovic, “Abuse of funding in Cacak—Bosses played the disabled,” Blic, 19 March 2010; and interview with Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, Kragujevac, 26 March 2011.
[25] European Commission, “Serbia 2010 Progress Report,” Commission staff working document, Brussels, 9 November 2010, p. 36.
[26] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011; and Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011.
[27] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Jovica Pavlovic, Association of Veterans with Disabilities of Serbia, 16 May 2011.
[28] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Katarina Pasic, Civilian War Victim Association of Kolubarski, 15 May 2011.
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