The National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) has published a revised Report on Violations of Youth Rights and Threats to the Safety of Young Activists in Serbia, covering the period from November 2024 to January 2025. This document comes in the wake of previous recommendations being ignored by the relevant institutions, while pressures on young activists have further intensified.

The continued repression of fundamental civil and political rights and freedoms between November 2024 and January 28, 2025, indicates a worsening state of the rule of law in Serbia.

Due to this situation and the lack of an adequate institutional response to violations of youth rights and restrictions on civil society activities, KOMS, together with its member organizations, has unanimously decided to suspend its membership in the Government of Serbia’s Council for Creating an Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development.

KOMS, therefore, urges the fulfillment of the same measures outlined in the initial report, along with additional measures that constitute the state’s obligation to uphold national and international law:

• Ensure legal protection against unauthorized surveillance and data misuse, holding those responsible for leaking sensitive information to the media accountable.
• Establish an independent Regulatory Body for Media (REM) tasked with overseeing media operations in Serbia. This body must be autonomous, impartial, and empowered to effectively address violations of professional standards, ethical norms, and human rights in the media.
• Promote transparency in data collection, surveillance, and interference with civil society activities.
• Align Serbia’s legislative framework with EU youth policy, focusing on youth rights protection, transparency, and their inclusion in decision-making processes.
• Uphold the Reykjavik Declaration of the Council of Europe, signed by Serbia in 2023, by supporting a safe environment for civil society and human rights defenders.
• Follow the Council of Europe’s recommendations for protecting young people’s rights to advocacy, peaceful assembly, and free expression, while preventing politically motivated violence and detentions.
• Ensure the physical safety of all protest participants through the presence of law enforcement and other competent authorities.
• Implement timely and standardized prosecution and criminal liability determination for perpetrators of attacks on activists.

KOMS will continue to monitor and document violations of youth rights, urging the responsible institutions to take appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and freedom of expression of young people in Serbia.