The human rights organisations strongly condemn the racist protests that erupted in Resnik on 7 April 2012 after the announced relocation of Roma from the informal settlement Belvil. At the same time, we use the opportunity to point out to the seriousness of this problem, and to send a message to those who are responsible for its deepening that they must assume responsibility for populist statements that encourage racist violence. Racism is encouraged, to a great extent, by the populist statements of politicians who collect cheap political points by inciting an anti-Roma sentiment.

In this sense, although the Mayor of Belgrade publicly condemned the attacks against the police that provided security during the installation of containers, the last two months he has been constantly and publicly stigmatising the persons of Roma ethnicity in the context of their right to adequate housing and protection against forced evictions. We are hereby reminding that in his response to the Mayor of Laarne, a Belgian city, Dragan Djilas sarcastically and arrogantly offered to deport the Belgrade Roma, residents of informal settlements, for whose rights the aforementioned Mayor advocated. Thus, Dragan Djilas sent a clear message that Roma were not welcome or considered to be the equal citizens of Belgrade and Serbia. Repressive measures and calling on the application of laws cannot produce the expected results if at the same time the politicians send mixed signals through demagogic rhetoric aimed at attracting voters.The human rights organisations strongly condemn the racist protests that erupted in Resnik on 7 April 2012 after the announced relocation of Roma from the informal settlement Belvil.
 
At the same time, we use the opportunity to point out to the seriousness of this problem, and to send a message to those who are responsible for its deepening that they must assume responsibility for populist statements that encourage racist violence. Racism is encouraged, to a great extent, by the populist statements of politicians who collect cheap political points by inciting an anti-Roma sentiment.

In this sense, although the Mayor of Belgrade publicly condemned the attacks against the police that provided security during the installation of containers, the last two months he has been constantly and publicly stigmatising the persons of Roma ethnicity in the context of their right to adequate housing and protection against forced evictions. We are hereby reminding that in his response to the Mayor of Laarne, a Belgian city, Dragan Djilas sarcastically and arrogantly offered to deport the Belgrade Roma, residents of informal settlements, for whose rights the aforementioned Mayor advocated. Thus, Dragan Djilas sent a clear message that Roma were not welcome or considered to be the equal citizens of Belgrade and Serbia. Repressive measures and calling on the application of laws cannot produce the expected results if at the same time the politicians send mixed signals through demagogic rhetoric aimed at attracting voters.

At the same time, we emphasise that racist attacks are rarely prosecuted, and that hatred is rarely taken into account as a perpetrator’s motive, while the pronounced sentences are either probationary or below the legal minimum. This statement is supported by an extremely alarming fact that the six perpetrators of multi-day racist violence in the village Jabuka in 2010 were sentenced to probation.

On this occasion, we repeat that the containers are not an adequate solution, not only because they cannot provide the basic material conditions for a dignified human life, but also because the segregated container settlements neither contribute to the substantial integration of Roma nor promote interculturalism and coexistence of different ethnic groups.

We demand that the perpetrators of this violence be prosecuted and that the government officials unambiguously condemn this behaviour. At the same time, we request from those who have been spreading racist messages for months to take responsibility for the consequences of their statements.

The members of Anti-Discrimination Coalition are: Centre for Advanced Legal Studies, Civil Rights Defenders, Labris – Lesbian Human Rights Organisation, Anti-Trafficking Centre, Network of the Committees of Human Rights in Serbia (CHRIS Network), Association of Students with Disabilities, Gayten LGBT, PRAXIS and Regional Centre for Minorities.

The statement is also supported by:

Youth Initiative for Human Rights - YIHR
Humanitarian Law Centre - FHP
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM
Women in Black – WiB
Roma Women's Rights Center – Nis
Minority Rights Centre