Map source: Human Rights Watch

last updated April 12, 2004

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The breakup of the Yugoslav federation in 1989 left both Montenegro and Serbia in precarious positions. The war in the Serbian province of Kosovo, which ended in 1999, left behind its own legacy of violence and displaced persons, contributing largely to the unstable human rights situation in Serbia and Montenegro. According to a Human Rights Watch World Report 2003, "Over half a million refugees and displaced persons continued to live in Serbia and Montenegro. Statistics from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for February 2002 showed that two hundred thousand displaced persons from Kosovo lived in Serbia and thirty thousand in Montenegro; it was generally acknowledged that the actual numbers were higher."

The state union of Serbia and Montenegro was established on February 4, 2003, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Parliament adopted a new Constitutional Charter. The Constitutional Charter brought about many changes in criminal and judicial law in the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. Criminal proceedings now fall under the control of the constituent republics, and both Serbia and Montenegro have their own criminal codes. Legislationline provides a detailed explanation of the criminal code system in Serbia and Montenegro.

Recent events such as the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic have added to the political instability of the region. Serbia announced a state of emergency on March 12, 2003, and assumed state of emergency powers that suspended various rights of its citizens immediately following the Prime Minister's assassination. Due to the current grave state of affairs, human rights, and particularly women's rights, have not been given priority by the government. According to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, there are two main factors that have contributed to the present situation of violence against women. First, as aforementioned, armed conflict, international isolation, political and economic crises, and constant fear over the past decade have all served to undermine the importance of human rights issues. Second, traditional societal perceptions and the lack of legal and social protections have also impacted victims of violence. The issue of violence against women is generally treated as a private issue for which women are often blamed.

At the time of publication of the Women 2000 report, there were no laws specifically criminalizing domestic violence. However, according to a SEELINE Criminal Code Report, "family violence" was declared by law to be a criminal act under the federal criminal code in March of 2002 under the newly adopted Article 118a, "Violence in family" which states that "Who uses force or seriously threatens to attack life, bodily integrity, hurts or endangers physical or mental integrity of a family member, will be fined or sentenced to a prison term up to three years. If the perpetrator uses a weapon, dangerous tool or other thing, which may seriously hurt body or health, he will be punished by a prison term from 6 months to 5 years. If serious bodily damage or lasting and serious undermining health of a family member occurred or the act was committed against a juvenile, the perpetrator will be punished by a prison term from 2 to 10 years. If, as a result of the act, death of a family member occurred, the perpetrator will be punished to a prison term lasting minimum 10 years."  According to the U.S. Department of State report, the federal criminal code was also amended to punish spousal rape in March 2002.

The 2003 Constitutional Charter of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro provides various guarantees to its citizens of their human rights, including rights relating to gender equality. Article 9 states that both member states are to regulate, ensure and protect human and minority rights and civil liberties. Article 8 provides for the Charter of Human and Minority Rights and Civil Liberties to be adopted and constitute part of the Constitutional Charter. The Charter of Human and Minority Rights and Civil Liberties provides equality before the law and equal protection without discrimination (Article 3). Article 3 also prohibits direct and indirect discrimination based on protected grounds, including gender. 

Serbia and Montenegro is mainly a country of transit, and to a lesser degree, destination, for trafficking in persons. Women are trafficked from Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Russia through Serbia and Montenegro to western European countries. No official numbers were available, but trafficking has been increasing steadily in recent years. Trafficking in persons is prohibited act under the criminal codes of both Serbia and Montenegro.  See the sections on Legal Developments in Serbia and Legal Developments in Montenegro for more information.  

Compiled from:

Women 2000- An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 5 November 2000. (PDF, 30 pages).

2003 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Serbia and Montenegro, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2004.