Minister Dacic extends congratulations on international Human Rights Day

“International Human Rights Day, 10 December, is this year, unfortunately, again being marked in an environment where the basic human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are severely violated. Our people in Kosovo and Metohija has been living in an atmosphere of fear of persecution and violence for a quarter of a century. Serbs are systematically denied many basic human rights, guaranteed by the UN Charter and other fundamental international documents, including the right to freedom of movement, free expression of will in elections, the right to property, economic development, and even the right to life.

The world community has not resisted this severe and prolonged violence against the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to the extent that it was obliged to, and that remains a dark stain on its conscience on today's international Human Rights Day.

The Republic of Serbia is deeply committed to the protection and promotion of human rights, as one of the foundations of our society, devoted to living in an atmosphere of tolerance and solidarity.

Institutional protection of human rights in Serbia is at the highest level, and we consider them indivisible and universal. As long as even one of our citizens feels that any human right is threatened, there is an obligation of society and the state to protect those rights without compromise.

Serbia is a society in which special attention is paid to the promotion of women's rights, especially to their protection from violence, and to a sharp opposition to domestic violence until its complete eradication. Our children have the full protection of the entire society, state institutions, our education system, so that they can grow up in an environment of tolerance and care and thus mature into responsible and noble individuals.

We pay special attention to combating peer violence, as a major problem of the modern world, which Serbia, unfortunately, was not spared of either.

Our health and social care systems are based on social concern and solidarity with people in need. These are our vital systems, to which we will dedicate ourselves even more in the future, because our shared sense of care and attention towards the elderly, the sick and the socially vulnerable is best manifested through their functioning.

We are particularly committed to the promotion and protection of the right to diversity, in every sense, as the foundation of a modern, tolerant and progressive society. Differences are our wealth, not our handicap, differences are a huge social resource that we all need to nurture together as the foundation of our common progress through tolerance.

I wish to congratulate our citizens on international Human Rights Day, a day when the whole world celebrates one of the greatest achievements of the modern era and a day when we should remember that the protection of human rights is the duty of each of us, every day of the year”, reads the congratulatory message from Minister Dacic.