The Message

Hip, Hot and Proud to be Roma: Rappers from a Czech minority gain majority appeal with a fusion of sounds and introspective lyrics.



*Just a note: the article is on Transitions Online; after a short bit, the article will get archived and you will have to pay a fee to view the article.

A matter of enforcement

The Zagreb based "Human Rights Centre" presented their findings with regard to human rights in Croatia.
Their findings noted that

The general assessment is that Croatia has no major problems concerning the
laws on human rights protection. However, it has been pointed out continuously
that problems crop up in the enforcement of the existing laws, notably in the
field of the judiciary, corruption and minorities' rights...

Bosnia Elected to UN Human Rights Council

In a 112 to 72 vote, Bosnia defeated Belarus to join Slovenia on the UN Human Rights Council.
The news was welcomed by the US State Department, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and various human rights groups.
Speaking on the election, UN Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch Steve Crawshaw, noted that while Bosnia's human rights record is far from perfect; Belarus' human rights record is simply in a "league of it's own."
According to this article Bosnia's Ambassador to the UN, Milos Prica, has called Bosnia's election to the Council a "huge achievment" and hoped the country could share the lessons it has learned from its own war torn past.
Not, everyone was so impressed. Sudan's Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad seemed upset that his personal trip to the UN to vote for Belarus was for naught.

The Price Of Speaking Out In Serbia

Opinion piece by Dejan Anastasijevic

ENOUGH

An organization focusing on preventing mass atrocities and genocide in Africa.

LGBTQ and the BiH Media

I found this study online several months ago; but I really couldn't find any topical news story to tie it into. It is from a few years ago, but it still is an absolutely fascinating study on the analysis of how the L/G/B/T community is portrayed in the Bosnian media; including both "serious" news sources and more "entertainment" news sources.

Read the study here
The study is in PDF format.

Bosnian Serb Helsinki Member Killed

Duško Kondor, a member of the human rights organization, Helsinki Watch was murdered in his home. His daughter was also shot, but it appears as if she is out of danger.
Mr. Kondor recieved numerous threats and harassment in the year prior to his murder.
http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0702&L=justwatch-l&D=1&O=D&P=61239


BIRN issued a statement regarding Mr. Kondor and his murder:

BIRN condemns the brutal murder of Dusko Kondor, a Human Rights activistfrom
Republika Srpska, and extends its sympathies to Mr. Kondor's family andfriends,
as well as colleagues from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rightsin Republika
Srpska.We hope that the authorities of Republika Srpska will act promptly and
processthose responsible for this crime, thereby sending a message to all those
whodo not believe in universality of human rights.

Dayton and the Constitution

This issue has already been covered on other Balkan blogs; but in case for some reason you've missed it...

Jakob Finci has asked the European Court of Human Rights to lift the ban that prevents minorities from running for the Presidency. Under Dayton only Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks can run for the Presidency; thereby discriminating against Jews, Roma, and anyone else who does not fit into a neat little identity box.

There is some opposition to the proposal, from those who say that the changes to the constitution are nearly "impossible" to inact; to some who seem to oppose the idea for reasons of Anti-Semitism; as the quote at the bottom of the article seems to demonstrate.

http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0702&L=justwatch-l&D=1&O=D&P=61383