BackThe Protector of Citizens of Serbia has published its annual report for the year 2020. The reporting year was marked by the pandemic of COVID-19 infective disease which altered the lives of all citizens in economic, social and existential sense, but also in the sense of the exercise of human rights.
The pandemic imposed worldwide, and therefore in the Republic of Serbia, the situation which requested measures of protection which limited in certain
segments and for certain time period individual human rights. In newly emerged life circumstances, which due to changeable epidemiologic situation have remained to the present time as well, the Protector of Citizens aimed all its capacities at urgent and direct assistance to citizens so that they could exercise their guaranteed rights to the
greatest possible extent.
The general assessment of the state of human rights in 2020 in the Republic of Serbia is that the state from the beginning of the year was significantly improved
until the end of the reporting year. The exclusive orientation of the Protector of Citizens towards the exercise of citizen rights in this difficult situation resulted in the increase of the citizen trust in this institution which recorded in 2020 the increase of contacts by more than 67 percent in comparison to 2019
During the reporting year the greatest number of complaints referred to the exercise of rights of members of vulnerable groups: children, the youth, women, domestic violence victims, chronically ill patients, persons with disabilities and the elderly, persons deprived of their liberty, LGBTI population and national minority members, primarily the Roma.
Diligent and hard work during entire year had an impact on great increase of trust of citizens in the institution, which was confirmed by two separate surveys of public opinion. The first one, conducted immediately upon the termination of the state of emergency in May 2020, showed that citizens had most trust in the Protector of Citizens with regards to thebprotection of their rights, while the second research conducted in December of the same year showed that the Protector of Citizens is the institution which the citizens would contact first.
Despite altered conditions of work within which the Protector temporarily suspended the practice of reception of citizens at the seat of institution, the Protector of Citizens was contacted in 2020 by 18,165 citizens which is by 67 percent more than in the previous year when 10,862 of them did so. Of the total number, due to the measures for the prevention of spreading of COVID19 infectious disease, telephone conversations were made with 11,467 citizens, whereas in the periods of a more favorable epidemiologic situation, 1,642 citizens were received in the seat of the institution and offices for Bujanovac, Preševo and Medveđa.
In 2020 the Protector of Citizens received 5,056 complaints, which is an increase by approximately 54 percent in comparison to 2019 and the work was completed in 4,015 cases. The greatest number of citizen complaints, almost 21 percent, referred to the work of ministries to be more precise. Apart from regular actions upon complaints
and own initiative, the Protector of Citizens completed in 2020 the work on numerous actions from previous years as well and of almost 2,000 cases from previous years, the work was completed in 1,441 of them. By comparison, unlike 2019, the number of handled cases from 2020 and previous years was increased by 33.52 percent while the number of completed cases increased by 7.48 percent.
The Annual Report of the Protector of Citizens of Serbia for 2020 can be downloaded below.
Source: Source: Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia
