March 7, 2007
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade

U.S. State Department Releases Human Rights Report

On March 6, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the release of the State Department's annual Human Rights Report.

"Across the globe in 2006, men and women continued to press for their rights to be respected and their governments to be responsive, for their voices to be heard and their votes to count, for just laws and justice for all," Secretary Rice remarked. "There also was a growing recognition that democracy is the form of government that can best meet the demands of citizens for dignity, liberty, and equality. These are hopeful trends indeed, yet the reports also reflect sobering realities."

The full text of the Human Rights Report is available on the State Department website at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/

For Serbia, the report noted that the Serbian government generally respected the rights of citizens and continued efforts to address human rights violations in 2006. However, problems persisted, including widespread corruption, failure to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, as well as the harassment of journalists and human rights defenders. The U.S. Embassy will post the Serbia Human Rights Report on its website (http://belgrade.usembassy.gov) in both English and Serbian.

The report also announces two new U.S. initiatives in support of human rights and democracy defenders. A Human Rights Defenders Fund will quickly disburse small grants to help human rights defenders facing extraordinary needs as a result of government repression. This funding may cover legal defense, medical costs, or the pressing needs of activists' families. More information on the Fund is available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/77837.htm

In addition, the State Department established ten guiding NGO Principles regarding the treatment by governments of nongovernmental organizations. These core principles are available at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/77771.htm

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