This letter - signed by more than 200 civil society organizations in Serbia which represent rights of Roma women, women with disability, children, LGBT persons and other discriminated groups in society – is a request to repeat the procedure for selection of the Commissioner for Equality due to irregularities in procedure and neglecting criteria required for this position.
Open Letter to Members of Parliament Regarding the Selection of the New Commissioner for Equality[1]
Respected Members of Parliament,
Organizations and networks of civil society, which have signed this letter, are requesting that you repeat the procedure for selection of the Commissioner for Equality. We are deeply dissatisfied with the way in which the process of selection for the Commissioner for Equality was conducted since this position entails implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Law. Therefore, we are requesting that you not adopt the candidate proposal given to you by the Committee for Constitutional and Legislative Issues, and rather that in cooperation with civil society you find a candidate whose professional biography fulfills requirements set out in the Anti-Discrimination Law, as well as make their professional biographies public.
Media reporting on this situation has left an impression that everyone – civil society and the public, as well as members of the Parliament's Committee for Constitutional and Legislative Issues – was left out of the process of selection:
a) there were no prior consultations with civil society organizations – organizations that have been dedicatedly working for over 20 years to establish mechanisms for human rights protection and ceasing discrimination,
b) the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly[2] have been breached (the Committee did not receive the agenda, nor written documents three days before the meeting, as required by the Rules of Procedure[3])
c) the candidate suggested does not fulfill requirements set out in the Anti-Discrimination Law.
Even though Brankica Jankovic – the candidate proposed by the Committee for Constitutional and Legislative Issues – certainly has meaningful qualifications, we believe that these qualifications are not the key qualifications for the position of Commissioner for Equality[4] and cannot be deemed to be “experience in legal affairs in human rights protection”[5]. One of the main requirements is 10 years experience in work on legal affairs in human rights protection. From her professional biography we concluded that she has never worked in the field of protection from discrimination, nor has she worked on directly supplying help and support to those who have been discriminated. She has also not worked on said issues through academic activity. Furthermore, she holds a high ranking position in a political party which brings into question her independence and neutrality.
Organizations and networks of civil society propose and support the candidate Slavoljupka Pavlovic for the position of Commissioner for Equality. Through her 10 year engagement in human rights protection, through direct work and systemic advocacy for minority social groups, Pavlovic fulfills all requirements set out in the Anti-Discrimination Law. As a person unaffiliated with any political party and as someone who is dedicated to human rights protection, she can guarantee that the Commissioner's work will be done conscientiously and professionally. All parliamentary groups have received her professional biography.
We are appealing to Members of Parliament and to all parliamentary groups, to advance the credibility of the office of the Commissioner for Equality by supporting our initiative, and insuring that the best possible candidate gets selected in accordance to the clear standards and requirements set out for this post.
For the Network of Women against Violence
Aleksandra Nestorov
For the Roma Women's Network
Vera Kurtic
For the Network for a European Women's Lobby
Lepojka Carevic Mitanovski
For the Network of Organizations for the Children of Serbia – MODS
Sasa Stefanovic
For the Coalition against Discrimination
Milan Djuric
Jovanka Todorovic
[1]This letter is signed by: Network of Women against Violence; Roma Women's Network; Network for a Women's European Lobby; ..Out of Circle Network (Association of organizations for the protection of rights and support of women with disability); Network of Organizations for the Children of Serbia; Coalition against Discrimination.
[2]Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, Article 72.
[3] The meeting where this candidate was suggested was made without prior notice and out of schedule. A video tape of the meeting is available at http://www.parlament.gov.rs/prenosi/arhiva.2090.html
[4] 2006 – 2012 director of the Gerontology Center Belgrade; 2012 – 2014 state secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policies; 2014 – assistant director of the Gerontology Center Belgrade
[5]Anti-Discrimination Law, Article 28 – Procedure for Selection of the Commissioner, Requirements for Selecting a Commissioner