On 12th March 2010, during the meeting with representatives of the EC Rule of Law Mission in Montenegro, the Executive Director of Human Rights Action, Tea Gorjanc-Prelevic, pointed out attitudes of Human Rights Action on necessity of amendments and supplements of the Constitution when it comes to guaranties of human rights and independence of judiciary.1HRA representative expressed one more time the attitude of that organization that it is especially necessary to improve guaranties of independence of judiciary and prosecution in the way that:
there would be a change of political way of selection of the omnipotent president of Supreme Court, as well as the selection of the Supreme State Prosecutor and other prosecutors in the Parliament;
there would be a change in composition and the way of selection of members of the Judicial Council;
parameters for valuation of criteria for selection and promotion of judges and prosecutors would be defined;
conditions for disciplinary responsibility and reasons for dismissal of judges should be defined;
transparency of work of the Judicial and Prosecutor Council would be improved, as well as the transparency of performance of the courts and the state prosecutors in general.
HRA representative stressed out also the problem of impunity of the state’s officers that violate human rights. The cases, which are considered by HRA to be the key ones for valuation of capability of the state prosecutors and police to protect human rights in Montenegro, have been stressed:
● beating of 18 detainees in Spuz prison on 1st September 2005 for which no one up to date has been convicted while only against one person the investigation was performed because of the criminal act of NEGLIGABLE PERFORMANCE;
● the case of maltreatment of the arrested men in the “Eagle’s Flight” police operation in 2006, which has never been investigated by the states prosecutors, due to which an application was submitted against Montenegro in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg;
● the case of several death threats to Aleksandar Zekovic, a researcher of human rights violations in Montenegro in April 2007, in which there are no information that state prosecutors effectively investigated allegations that police officers threatened to Zekovic;
● the case of illegal punishment of a detainee, Vladana Kljajic, by beating in September 2008 in Spuz prison, which has not been effectively processed although also the CPT requested that from the Montenegrin authorities;
● the case of torture of Aleksandar Pejanovic in police detention unit of Police Headquarters in Podgorica, in which even after a testimony of Goran Stankovic in December 2009, there has still been no extension of investigation to the superior police officers;
● the case of torture and a political trial to members of the Party of Democratic Action (in Montenegrin SDA), which remained non-investigated and non-punished. That enabled that since 2009 and 2010 one of members of that group, Ibrahim Cikic, has been facing persecution in sense of charges for criminal and civic responsibility for defamation of the persons he mentioned in his memoir on torture he suffered in 1994;
● the withdrawal of the state prosecutor from criminal charges against officers of Spuz prison in case of reported case of maltreatment of two detainees, Milic and Nikezic, in spite of the video film recording of the incident on You Tube;
● a non-efficient investigation of murder and attacks on journalists, important not only for the protection of the right to life in accordance with international standards of human rights (the case of murder of Dusko Jovanovic and murder of Srdjan Vojicic in relation to the attack onto the writer, Jevrem Brkovic), but also for atmosphere for free expression in general (attack onto journalists, Tufik Softic and Stojovic, who investigated the organized crime, non-solid investigation of the incident in which the journalist Jovovic was attacked, and in which the Mayor Mugosa, his son and the driver participated);
● the case of the veterinary inspector, Mirjana Draskovic, who was suspended from work after she had reported suspicions about illegal activity of the state organs to the authorities and public; there are no information on investigation based on her claims while she remains removed from the workplace without protection belonging to her by the law.
●On the other side, the representative of Human Rights Action reminded on an urgent processing in the criminal proceeding of Veselin Bajceta, a member of MANS NGO, who was efficiently convicted for the criminal act of Hindering of Officer in Performance of Work Activity in a controversial case of removal of the stand and material of non-governmental organization where they were collecting citizens’ signatures.
Human Rights Action considers that the European Commission can contribute significantly:
in suppressing of impunity for war crimes and crime – by influencing all countries in the region to conclude agreements that would made impossible for dual citizenship to secure a safe shelter to charged and/or convicted for war crimes and other criminal acts;
to the change of regulations and practice in Montenegro with the aim of protection of human rights – by influencing the authorized state bodies, especially having in mind that they mostly ignore suggestions of non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties.
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1 For more details please see the ‘’International Human Rights Standards and Constitutional Guarantees in Montenegro” and ‘’Analysis of the Reform of the Appointment of Judges in Montenegro (2007-2008)” of Human Rights Action,
