Government committed to respect for human rights and prohibition of discrimination, Adviser to PM Kojičić says

Podgorica, Montenegro (14 June 2012) -- Adviser for Human Rights and Protection against Discrimination to Prime Minister Jovan Kojičić took part in the conference titled “Stop the Violence: LGBT Rights are Human Rights”, which takes place in Tirana, Albania, on 13 - 15 June.

Participating in the panel debate “Cooperation with Government Institutions”, Adviser Kojičić highlighted that the policy on respect for human rights and prohibition of  discrimination is one of the Montenegrin Government's top priorities, which includes its full commitment to safeguarding the human rights of  LGBT persons and their equal treatment in the society. Montenegro is at the beginning of the process, the Adviser to Prime Minister remarked, but the Government, through the training programmes for judges, prosecutors, police officers, public administration and civil society, makes continuous efforts to establish best practices and standards in this field. 

By the same token, he stressed the important role the civil society plays in that process, as well as the Government  and NGOs' joint efforts with the view to developing a strategy for combating homophobia, which, in Mr Kojičić's words, will be adopted by the end of 2012.

The Government will also initiate, he continued, a one-year pilot project that will concentrate on public/expert debate related to the comparative analysis of legal recognition of same-sex partnerships in Europe, in order to define what are the best practices that can be useful to Montenegro when adopting international standards in this area.

He also announced that the Government will continue to organise training programmes for the competent institutions and to enforce the European Court for Human Rights’ highest standards when it comes to the fights against all forms of discrimination.