Volden mot mennesker som oppfattes som “de andre” har økt i Serbia de siste to år, og myndighetene foretar seg lite eller ingenting for å stanse den. Tvertom ser det ofte ut som om politi og domstoler stilltiende godtar volden, eller rent ut oppfordrer til den.
Det er den dystre konklusjonen i en ny 52 siders rapport fra Human Rights Watch.
Det er særlig i provinsen Vojvodina at ekstremister har angrepet de andre folkegruppene som lever der. Vojvodina representerer den flerkulturelle sentraleuropeiske arven. Det er et bevis på giftigheten i den serbiske fascismen at ekstremistene kan herje fritt, fem år etter Slobodan Milosevics fall.
Attacks on ethnic Hungarians and Croats in Vojvodina province have been widely reported. In 2004, ethnic Slovaks and Ruthenians in Vojvodina were the targets of intimidation and violence for the first time in many years. This year, ethnically motivated incidents have decreased in Vojvodina, but have intensified in other parts of Serbia, often taking the form of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim graffiti, as well as physical assaults on Roma.
Members of the minorities, who were victims and witnesses of attacks in Vojvodina and other parts of Serbia told Human Rights Watch that, in some cases of ethnically motivated violence, the police were slow to intervene, allowed the assailants to leave, or even expressed approval of the attack. In March 2004, for example, demonstrators broke through an undermanned police cordon and set fire to Belgrade’s only mosque. Initial orders to police not to use force on demonstrators contributed to the police failure.
Rapporten ble utgitt samme dag som EU-kommissær for utvidelse, finnen Olli Rehn, besøkte Beograd. Målet er å forhandle frem en assosieringsavtale.
“Violence against minorities has increasingly become a problem in Serbia today,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Serbia cannot hope to move closer towards the European Union unless it starts taking these attacks a lot more seriously.”
