The eminent international non-government organisation published its Report 2020/21: the State of the World’s Human Rights. The Report documents the human rights situation in as many as 149 states, focusing on the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on human rights across the world.
As per the human rights situation in Serbia, Amnesty International noted the weakening of the rule of law, the authorities’ control over the police and the judiciary, the situation regarding transitional justice, excessive use of force, freedom of expression, discrimination and measures imposed in response to the pandemic.
In regard to the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, Amnesty International noted the pushbacks of refugees and migrants both to Serbia by the neighbouring EU Member States and by Serbia to other states. It mentioned that, in April 2020, 16 foreigners, believing they were being moved to another temporary reception centre due to COVID-19, were driven by police to the southern border and forced at gunpoint to walk into North Macedonia. Amnesty International also said that the camps for asylum seekers and migrants were overcrowded and that their residents’ freedom of movement was restricted on several occasions during the reporting period.