07-00-520/2024-02 Date: August 26, 2024.
“NOVOSTI” JSC
Milorad Vučelić, Editor-in-Chief
11000 Belgrade
Trg Nikole Pašića 71
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION OF MEASURES FOR ACHIEVING EQUALITY AND PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION
Dear Mr. Vučelić,
The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has received a letter from the National Council of the Bosniak National Minority regarding the article published on the website of the newspaper “Večernje novosti” on August 6 and 7, 2024, entitled: “Novosti Analysis: What is Behind the Attempt to Change the Curriculum at the University in Novi Pazar.” The letter states that both parts of the “Večernje novosti Analysis,” as well as the statements made by the interviewees, contain violations of numerous legal regulations governing the status and rights of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia, including the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on Public Information, the Law on the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, among others. They believe that by denying the Bosnian language, the rights of Bosniaks to their own national and linguistic identity have been grossly violated.
The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality was established by the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination[1] as an independent state body, autonomous in performing the tasks established by law. According to the provisions of Article 33 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality is authorized, among other things, to receive and consider complaints of discrimination, and to provide opinions and recommendations in specific cases of discrimination.
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia[2] prohibits all discrimination, whether direct or indirect, on any grounds, and in particular on the grounds of race, sex, national affiliation, social origin, birth, religion, political or other belief, property status, culture, language, age, or mental or physical disability. Article 79 of the Constitution stipulates that members of national minorities shall have the right to: express, preserve, foster, develop, and publicly manifest their national, ethnic, cultural, and religious identity; use their symbols in public places; use their language and script; have public authorities, organizations entrusted with public powers, and bodies of autonomous provinces and local self-government units conduct proceedings in their language in areas where they constitute a significant population; receive education in their language in state institutions and institutions of autonomous provinces; establish private educational institutions; use their personal names in their own language; have traditional local names, street names, settlement names, and topographic signs written in their language in areas where they constitute a significant population; receive complete, timely, and impartial information in their language, including the right to express, receive, send, and exchange information and ideas; establish their own public information media, in accordance with the law. In accordance with the Constitution, based on the law, additional rights for members of national minorities may be established through provincial regulations.
The Law on Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages[3], Article 3, stipulates that when depositing the instrument of ratification, Serbia and Montenegro shall make the following declarations: 1. In accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2, of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Serbia and Montenegro accepts that in the Republic of Serbia Article 8, paragraph 1, a (iii), a (iv), b (iv), c (iv), d (iv), e (ii), f (iii), g, Article 9, paragraph 1, a (ii), a (iii), b (ii), c (ii), d, paragraph 2, a, b, c, paragraph 3, Article 10, paragraph 1, a (iv), a (v), c, paragraph 2, b, c, d, paragraph 3. c, paragraph 4 c, paragraph 5. Article 11, paragraph 1. a (iii), b (ii), c (ii), d, e (i), f (ii), paragraph 2, paragraph 3, Article 12, paragraph 1, a, b, c, f, paragraph 2, Article 13, paragraph 1, c, Article 14, a, b, shall apply to the Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romani, Romanian, Ruthenian, Slovak, Ukrainian and Croatian languages, and in the Republic of Montenegro, Article 8, paragraph 1, a (iii), a (iv), b (ii), b (iv), c (iii), c (iv), d (iv), e (ii), f (iii), g, h, Article 9, paragraph 1, a (ii), a (iii), a (iv), b (ii), b (iii), c (ii), c (iii), d, paragraph 2. a, b, c, paragraph 3, Article 10, paragraph 1, a (iii), a (iv), a (v), c, paragraph 2, b, d, g, paragraph 3, a, paragraph 4, a, c, paragraph 5, Article 11, paragraph 1, a (iii), b (ii), c (ii), d, e (i), f (ii), paragraph 2, paragraph 3, Article 12, paragraph 1, a, b, c, f, paragraph 2, Article 13, paragraph 1, c, shall apply to the Albanian and Romani languages.
The constitutional prohibition of discrimination is further elaborated by the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which defines discrimination as any unjustified differentiation or unequal treatment or omission (exclusion, restriction or preferential treatment) of individuals or groups, including their family members or persons close to them, whether in an open or covert manner, on grounds such as race, skin color, ancestry, citizenship, national affiliation or ethnic origin, language, religious or political beliefs, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, property status, birth, genetic characteristics, health status, disability, marital or family status, criminal record, age, appearance, membership of political, trade-union or other organizations, and other actual or presumed personal characteristics. The provision of Article 11 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination prohibits the expression of ideas, information and opinions that incite discrimination, hatred or violence against a person or group of persons on the basis of their personal characteristics, in public media or other publications, at gatherings and places accessible to the public, by writing and displaying messages or symbols and in any other manner. The provision of Article 12, paragraph 1, prohibits harassment and degrading treatment and sexual and gender-based harassment that aims at or constitutes a violation of the dignity of a person or group of persons on the basis of their personal characteristics, especially if this creates fear or a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment. Article 24, paragraph 1, stipulates that discrimination against national minorities and their members on the basis of nationality, ethnic origin, religious beliefs and language is prohibited, while paragraph 2 of the same article stipulates that the manner of exercising and protecting the rights of members of national minorities shall be regulated by a special law.
The Law on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, in Article 10, stipulates that members of national minorities may freely use their language and script, both privately and publicly, while Article 17, paragraph 1, stipulates that members of national minorities have the right to full and impartial information in their own language, including the right to express, receive, send and exchange information and ideas through the press and other means of public information.
Article 19 of the Law on National Councils of National Minorities[4] stipulates that a national council may establish institutions and companies for the purpose of exercising the right to public information in the language of a national minority, or foundations for the purpose of achieving the generally beneficial goal of improving public information in the language of a national minority, in accordance with the law, while paragraph 2 of the same article stipulates that the acts on the establishment of an institution, company or foundation, which is a media publisher, must be in accordance with the laws regulating the field of public information and the media.
Also, the provisions of the Law on Public Information and Media[5] in Article 43, paragraph 1, stipulate that the publisher’s information (impressum) contains: the name of the media outlet, the name and registered seat of the publisher, an email address or website, the full names of the editor-in-chief and responsible editors for specific editions, sections, or program segments, information on the competent regulatory or supervisory bodies, as well as the media outlet’s registration number. Article 45 of the Law on Public Information and Media stipulates, among other things, that the Media Register and the Records of Media Content Producers shall be maintained by the Business Registers Agency, while Article 47, paragraph 1, item 2, stipulates, among other things, that the personal name and personal identification number of a domestic natural person or the passport number and country of issue of the passport of a foreign natural person who is the editor-in-chief of the media shall be registered in the Register. Article 63, paragraph 1 of the Law on Public Information and Media stipulates that a media outlet must have an editor-in-chief. Paragraph 2 of the same provision stipulates that the editor-in-chief of a media outlet has the status of the responsible editor of that media outlet, while paragraph 3 of the same provision stipulates that the editor for an individual edition, section, or program unit is responsible to the editor-in-chief for the content they edit. Finally, paragraph 6 stipulates that a person residing in the territory of the Republic of Serbia shall be appointed as the editor-in-chief. The provision of Article 86 of this law stipulates that ideas, opinions, or information published in the media may not incite discrimination, hatred, or violence against a person or group of persons because of their belonging or non-belonging to a certain race, religion, nation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other personal characteristic, regardless of whether the publication constitutes a criminal offense. Also, the provisions of Article 114 of this law stipulate that the lawsuit referred to in paragraph 112 of this law shall be filed against the editor-in-chief of the media outlet in which the information or recording was published[6]. The provisions of the law that prescribe the passive legitimation of persons against whom a lawsuit is filed in disputes against the media should be accordingly taken into account in the proceedings before the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality.
Considering that the National Council of the Bosniak National Minority addressed the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality with a letter regarding the texts on the website of the newspaper “Novosti” dated 6 and 7 August 2024, the Commissioner notes that the aforementioned texts contain statements by the author of the text as well as statements by the interlocutors mentioned in the text, i.e. their accounts. Thus, among other things, the subtitle of the first text states: “Passions were stirred up at the State University in Novi Pazar because of a language that does not exist.” while the introduction of the continuation states “the introduction of a non-existent language.” Without entering into an analysis of scholarly views on the distinction between languages and the standards a language must meet, the Commissioner, in this particular case, considered the legal aspect, namely, that with the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, along with the ratification instrument, Article 3 of the Law on the Ratification of the Charter, listed the languages to which the provisions of the Charter shall apply. These provisions relate to the right to use minority languages in various spheres of life, and among the listed languages is the Bosnian language. Therefore, bearing in mind that this Charter has been ratified, i.e. that it has become an integral part of the legal system of the Republic of Serbia, it is legally binding for all.
Considering that no complaint was filed in this specific case, and based on the aforementioned regulations and the fact that the state undertook to specify, upon ratification of the Charter, each of the regional and minority languages to which the provisions will apply, and that upon submission of the ratification instrument, the state made a statement that the provisions will also apply to the Bosnian language, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, based on the competences under Article 33, paragraph 1, item 9 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, recommends that “Novosti” JSC, when publishing content, comply with the provisions of the Law on the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, as well as the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which prohibits the expression of ideas, attitudes and opinions that insult the dignity of a person or incite discrimination on the basis of nationality.
[1] Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination (“Official gazette of the RS”, no. 22/09 and 52/21), Article 1, para. 2.
[2] “Official gazette of the RS”, nos. 98/2006 and 115/2021
[3] “Official gazette of the SMN – International Agreements”, no. 18/05
[4] “Official gazette of the RS”, nos. 72/09, 20/14, CC decisions 55/14 and 47/18;
[5] “Official gazette of the RS”, no. 92/2023
[6] Article 112.
COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković
