Discrimination Complaints on the Basis of National Identity Acting ...

1. Discrimination Complaints on the Basis of National Identity
Acting within the jurisdiction stipulated by law to receive and review
complaints pertaining to violations of provisions of the Law on the
Prohibition of Discrimination, to issue opinions and recommendations and
pass measures stipulated by law (Article 33 paragraph 1 point 1) of the
Discrimination (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, no. 22/2009),
concerning the complaint of the Bosniak National Minority Council from Novi
Pazar, the Commissioner for Protection of Equality issues the following
OPINION
The Municipality of Priboj has not undertaken the measures within its
area of responsibility to introduce the Bosnian language and Latin script
into official use, equal with the Serbian language and Cyrillic script,
despite over 15% of those living in the territory of the Municipality of
Priboj being members of the Bosniak national minority, according to the
latest population census, thus committing discrimination on the basis of
national identity, prohibited by Article 24 of the Law on the Prohibition
of Discrimination.
The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, pursuant to article 33
paragraph 1 point 1 and article 39 paragraph 2 of the Law on the
Prohibition of Discrimination, issues to the Municipality of Priboj the
following
RECOMMENDATION
1. The Municipality of Priboj shall, without delay, undertake all
necessary measures to introduce the Bosnian language and Latin script into
official use alongside the Serbian language and Cyrillic script.
2. The Municipality of Priboj shall inform the Commissioner for
Protection of Equality, within a 30-day period of receiving this Opinion
with Recommendation, about the measures undertaken in order to act in line
with the Recommendation.
R a t i o n a l e
E. D?. ... of the Executive Board of the Bosniak National Minority
Council on 29 July 2011 contacted the Commissioner for Protection of
Equality with a complaint. In the complaint, he alleges that the Bosnian
language has not been introduced into official use despite the requirements
stipulated by law existing and the local self-government unit's obligation,
because of which the Municipality of Priboj and the president of the
Municipality, L. R., are committing a severe form of discrimination against
the Bosniak national minority. In the complaint, it is emphasised that,
according to the 2002 census and the statutes of the local self-government
units in Novi Pazar, Tutin, Sjenica and Prijepolje, it is stipulated that
the Serbian and Bosniak languages and the Cyrillic and Latin scripts have
equal official use, but not in the Municipality of Priboj. It is also
alleged that the Municipality of Priboj has not fulfilled its legal
obligations in terms of allocating budgetary funds to support the
activities of the Bosniak National Minority Council, thus preventing its
functioning and violating Articles 114 and 115 of the Law on National
Minorities Councils. In the complaint, it is also alleged that the
Municipality of Priboj was contacted on several occasions by the Bosniak
National Minority Council to carry out amendments and additions to the
Statute, as well as to foresee funds to support the work of the Bosniak
National Minority Council, but the Municipality has not responded to these
requests.
The following evidence was submitted with the complaint: the requests
sent to the president of the Municipality of Priboj dated 5 January 2005,
10 February 2010 and 4 February 2011, Ombudsman Recommendation no. 16-
1566/09 dated 31 March 2010 that establishes the violation of national
minorities rights guaranteed by the Constitution in the work of the
Municipal Administration of the Municipality of Priboj and the
recommendation given aimed at the pursuance of the right of the Bosniak
national minority to use their language and script officially in the
territory of the Municipality.
The Commissioner for Protection of Equality conducted the procedure to
ascertain the legally relevant facts and circumstances in accordance with
Article 35 paragraph 4 and Article 37 paragraph 2 of the Law on the
Prohibition of Discrimination and, during the course of the procedure,
L.R., the president of the Municipality of Priboj, was asked for a
statement, however, the response to the complaint was not delivered within
the deadline provided.
The Commissioner for Protection of Equality shall first state that the
Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (Official Gazette of RS, no.
98/2006) in Article 21 sets forth that all are equal before the
Constitution and the law and that any form of discrimination on any basis
is prohibited. Under Article 76 of the Constitution, persons belonging to
national minorities are guaranteed equality before the law and equal legal
protection and any discrimination on the grounds of affiliation to a
national minority is prohibited. In the provisions of Article 79 of the
Constitution, it is laid down, inter alia, that national minorities, in
line with the law, have the right to use their language and script, that
state bodies, organisations with delegated public powers, bodies of
autonomous provinces and local self-government units also conduct
proceedings in their language in areas where they form a significant
majority of population; and to have traditional local names, names of
streets, settlements and topographic names also written in their language
in areas where they form a significant part of population.
Article 4 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities (Law on Ratification of the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities, Official Gazette of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia - International Treaties, no. 6/98), prescribes that the
State shall guarantee members of national minorities equality before the
law and equal legal protection and prohibit any discrimination on the
grounds of being a member of a national minority, whereas Article 10
stipulates that the State shall acknowledge the right of every member of a
national minority to use any minority language in private or public, in
oral or written communication, in a free and undisturbed manner.
The Law on Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages (Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro -
International Treaties, no. 18/2005), legally binds the Republic of Serbia
to also protect the Bosnian language, among ten minority languages.
The protection of national minority rights was established by the Law
on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities
(Official Gazette of FRY, no. 11/2002). Article 11 paragraph 2 of this law
prescribes that local self-government units shall equally introduce the
official use of the language and script of a national minority if the
percentage of the persons belonging to one national minority, in comparison
to the total population in its territory, reaches 15 percent, according to
the results of the latest census. A similar provision is stipulated in
Article 11 paragraph 2 of the Law on Official Use of Language and Script
(Official Gazette of RS, no. 45/91, 53/93, 67/93, 48/94, 101/05 and
30/2010) whereby local self-government units shall equally introduce the
official use of the language and script of a national minority in their
statutes if the percentage of the persons belonging to one national
minority, in comparison to the total population in its territory, reaches
15 percent in accordance with the results of the latest census.
The provision of Article 20 point 33 of the Law on Local Self-
Government (Official Gazette of RS, no. 129/2007) stipulates that a
municipality, through its bodies and in line with the Constitution and the
law, shall establish the languages and scripts of the national minorities
that are in official use in the territory of the municipality.
Additionally, according to the provision of Article 20 point 32 of the Law
on Local Self-Government, a municipality is responsible for the pursuance,
protection and advancement of the individual and collective rights of
national minorities.
Also relevant is the provision in Article 24 of the Law on the
Prohibition of Discrimination that forbids discrimination against national
minorities and their members on the grounds of religious affiliation,
ethnic origin, religious beliefs and language.
The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, while deciding on the
complaint, bore in mind the fact that, according to the results of the 2002
census, over 18% of the population living in the territory of the
Municipality of Priboj are members of the Bosniak national minority.
Bearing in mind the aforementioned regulations, the Municipality of Priboj,
as a local self-government unit in which over 15% are members of one
national minority, according to the latest census results, was obliged to
introduce the official use of the language and script of that minority into
its Statute.
Having inspected the Statute of the Municipality of Priboj (Official
Gazette of the Municipality of Priboj, no. 12/08), it was established that