on the open letter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Adopted resolution on the open letter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

The European Green Party assembled with its delegates from 33 national member parties for its 3rd Council meeting in Kyiv  have taken note of the Open letter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia from Sept.19th to its highest authorities in Serbia.

 We are deeply shocked to learn about this smear campaign against Sonja Biserko, chairperson of the “Helsinki Committee on Human Rights in Serbia”, with an article full of lies and falsifications in the daily “Tabloid” and the public disclosure of her privat adress, which is tantamount to a lynch call, and to learn about a burglary in her flat, and even about a physical assault in front of her flat.

Sonja Biserko is a worldwide known Human Rights activist. Her country and its government should be proud of persons like her, who are paving the way for an integration of Serbia into the European structures.

 We express our solidarity with Sonja Biserko, we ask the Serbian government to do its duty and protect its citizens against actions that instigate violence and threaten the security of citizens, and we ask our national delegates to bring the attached Open Letter of the Helsinki Committee to the attention of their own governments and its embassies in Belgrade.

 ”HELSINKI COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS' OPEN LETTER TO

President of the Republic of Serbia Boris Tadić,
Premier of Serbia Vojislav Koštunica,
President of the Serbian Assembly Predrag Marković,
Justice Minister Zoran Stojković,
Minister of the Interior Dragan Jočić, and
Minister for Human and Minority Rights of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro Rasim Ljajić

Dear Sirs,

Chairperson of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Sonja Biserko has been for long the target of an orchestrated public smear campaign. The Council and associates of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia take it is their duty to alert the public that the smear campaign against NGOs and their leaders initiated during the Milosevic era continues unabated. A story ran on September 8 by the daily "Tabloid" accused, inter alia, Sonja Biserko of being a Croat spy. Though some media outlets are persistently awash with lies and fabrications relating to Sonja Biserko, this latest in the series of attacks has a most threatening tone and threatens with grave consequences. Furthermore, the disclosure of Biserko's full private address is tantamount to a blatant lynch call. Of special concern is the fact that other particulars about Sonja Biserko and members of her immediate family, which are usually in an exclusive possession of the State Security bodies, were unveiled too.
Over the past year, Sonja Biserko has been physically assaulted in front of her flat, and the police have been informed about it. Two months ago, her flat was burglarized and the pertinent police investigation is under way. The police patrol van stationed in front of the building she lives in, in the aftermath of the said burglary, has been recently withdrawn.On grounds of the offensive contents of the aforementioned story carried by "Tabloid," legal representatives of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia have filed a criminal complaint to the Republican Public Prosecutor. We feel duty-bound to warn you, the highest representatives of this country, that the public mood characterized by persecution of and physical assaults at public figures hardly contributes to the creation of a tolerant environment, necessary for development of any democratic society. Passivity of the elite in the face of pogrom-like methods further destroys moral criteria and generates apathy, while the absence of adequate measures by the state bodies, which they are duty-bound to take under the law, instigates violence and threatens the security of citizens and safety of society.

Members of the Council and associates of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia:

Ljubivoje Aćimović, Latinka Perović, Milan Šahović, Seška Stanojlović, Olivera Milosavljević, Mirko Djordjević, Filip David, Rajko Danilović, Snežana Kresoja, Pavel Domonji, Izabela Kisić, Ljiljana Palibrk, Nebojša Tasić, Marijana Obradović, Spomenka Grujičić, Mirko Vukčević, Klara Azulaj, Sladjan Lazić, Ljiljana Pavlović, Stipe Sikavica, Semiha Kačar, Stanko Pihler, Alpar Lošonc, Ranko Končar, Pavle Sekeruš, Mihail Ramač, Olga Zirojević, Marijana Pajvančić, Vladimir Ilić, Slavko Almažan, Jovan Komšić, Fuada Stanković, Robert G. Tilly, Slobodan Beljanski, Arpad Vicko, Oto Tolnai, Janja Beč, Laslo Vegel, Dimitrije Boarov, Petar Teofilović, Želimir Žilnik, Šefko Alomerović, Julijan Tamaš, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Svenka Savić, Ana Bu, Milenko Perović, Svetlana Lukić, Olivera Radovanović, Marija Gajicki, Dinko Gruhonjić, Marko Vidojković, Agneš Kartag Odri, Ljubiša Sekulić, Aleksandar Bošković, Zoroslav Spevak, Aleksandar Popov, Milka Puzigaća, Marina Fratucan, Jan Briza, Žužana Serenčeš, Jugoslav Veljkovski, Aleksandra Vujić, Behlul Nasufi, Tatijana Pavlović Križanić, Rade Vukosav, Bogoljub Savin, Alija Halilović, Gordana Perunović Fiat, Zibija Šarenkapić, Šaban Šarenkapić, Dušan Mijić, Martin Vukmanović, Dragoljub Todroović, Aida Polimac, Mikloš Biro, Duško Radosavljević, Boško Kovačević, Voja Pavlović, Sedat Vrcić, Kemal Džemić, Almir Mehonjić, Jovo Živković, Nataša Novaković, Svetlana Ugarčina, Đokica Jovanović, Hodo Katal, Aida Ćorović, Jelena Milić, Lula Mikijelj, Josip Ivanović, Dejan Pataki, Tomislav Žigmanov, Ksenija Lazović, Igor Kuzmanović, Zlatko Pakovic, Nina Milanovic, Borika Petkovic, Branislav Kovačević, Draga Božinović, Ivan Torov, Ivana Damjanović.

Copies of this letter have also been forwarded to:

International Helsinki Federation,
Office of Council of Europe
Delegation of the European Commission
OSCE Mission
Embassy of the United States of America
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Embassy of the United Kingdom

Belgrade, September 19, 2005”