On Sunday, 19th of February, at approximately 16.35, a group of young men was passing by our office windows, when one of them vandalized our windows by spraying them with black can paint. Luckily, no one was injured during the attack. We demand that the authorities immediately investigate and process of the culprit, to stop the evident vandalism of far-right extremist groups and the demolition of the walls and facades of Belgrade, as well as other cities across the country. Futhermore we urge the authorities to prosecute the individuals who have continously, particularly in the last 24 hours, sent severe threats to activists and civilians on social media (publicly and privately).
On Monday, January 23, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia (YIHR Serbia) submitted a complaint to the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality due to the discrimination of members of the Albanian community by the Security Information Agency (BIA). The BIA in its statement for the public from December 27, 2022, emphasized that the suspect for the crime of terrorism is of Albanian nationality.
As a network that has been strongly dedicated to reconciliation in the region for almost 20 years, Youth Initiative for Human Rights urges RYCO to take immediate action against the RYCO youth representative from Serbia, Jagos Stojanovic, for his problematic statement, which directly undermines the principles of reconciliation and cooperation between the youth in the region.
Following a gathering in Gračanica/Graçanicë, a diverse group of civil society organisations from Kosovo and Serbia have adopted the following joint statement calling for new constructive voices – voices that look to the future whilst retaining a keen eye on the past; voices that seek out partnerships and coalitions beyond the red lines that are supposed to define them; and voices that stand up publicly against divisive and derogatory rhetoric
