UN Human Rights Council Working Group adopts draft report on human rights in Montenegro

Geneva, Switzerland (1 February 2013) – The UN Human Rights Council Working Group adopted yesterday the draft report containing the Council member states’ recommendations for advancing human rights in Montenegro. The draft report will be submitted to the Government of Montenegro to consider it and take its stand on the document.

The Montenegrin delegation, headed by Minister for Human and Minority Right Suad Numanović, presented on 28 January the Universal Periodical Report on Human Rights in Montenegro, first time as a member state of this important UN body.

During the presentation and interactive discussion, all the Council’s member states assessed that Montenegro had showed significant improvements in building institutions of the system and in safeguarding human rights since 2008 until now.

In their recommendations, they paid special attention to further strengthening the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms’ capacity, implementation of legislation, strategies and action plans in the area of fight against discrimination, in particular when it comes to children, persons with disabilities, refugees and displaced persons, minorities, women and LGBT persons. The recommendations also stressed the necessity to strengthen fight against human trafficking and violence against women, and to guarantee freedom of expression and opinion.

Apart from the undeniable assessment on the progress in advancing human rights and freedoms in Montenegro, a number of countries, such as the USA, Germany, Netherlands and Austria, pointed out the need to reinforce judiciary and fight against corruption and organised crime, which is in line with Montenegro’s EU integration efforts and national key priorities related to strengthening the rule of law.

The countries participating in the discussion praised Montenegro's efforts in establishing legal and institutional framework for advancing human rights and freedoms, and pointed to the work that is needed to be done in order to further advance these freedoms. Unlike the previous report which put emphasis on adopting legal framework for advancing human rights, this report focuses on legislation and strategic documents’ enforcement, confirming the Montenegrin Government's commitment to address these issues efficiently.