Decisions in cases of war crimes are not in line with international law, police officers who are suspected of torture are not punished, and independent journalists are still the targets of threats and attacks, the conclusions are from of Amnesty International's annual human rights report.
Crimes and international law
The Commission Against Torture and the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances established in June of last year that Montenegrin courts did not fully apply domestic laws and that they misinterpreted international humanitarian law in judgments in cases dating back to 2008.
The former commander and seven reservists of the JNA were acquitted on December 31, 2013 for the murder of 18 refugees from Kosovo in the village of Kaludjerski Laz near Rožaj in April 1999.
In February, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict against four former JNA reservists for torture and ill-treatment of around 250 Croatian prisoners of war in the Morinj camp in 1991-1992. According to AI, they were sentenced to prison terms that are less than the legal minimum and do not reflect the gravity of their crimes.
In March, seven former prisoners held in Morinje were awarded compensation in the amount of 20-30.000 euros. Another 200 ex-prisoners are seeking compensation.
Former police officials, acquitted of war crimes charges in 2013, filed a lawsuit against Montenegro in March demanding one million euros in compensation, on the grounds that they were illegally detained and denied their freedom.
In August, Montenegro signed a regional declaration on missing persons, which obligates them to determine the fate of 61 missing persons.
Freedom of speech
After the establishment of the Commission for Monitoring Police Investigations into Attacks and Threats against Journalists and Independent Media in 2013, investigations were reopened into the case of the murder of "Dana" editor Duško Jovanović in 2004.
Suspects for the attack on "Vijesti" journalist Tufik Softić in 2007 were arrested in July for attempted murder. Investigations into the series of attacks on the daily newspaper "Vijesti" continued. Arrests were made in the case of the journalist "Dana"
Lidija Nikčević, who was attacked by masked men in front of her office in Nikšić in January.
Torture and ill-treatment
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture announced in May that in 2013, in the cases of people who were detained or invited for "informational interviews", there was a "significant risk" that they would be mistreated by the police.
The board then demanded that police officers be regularly reminded that misconduct is illegal.
Amnesty states that in October, three police officers were found guilty and sentenced to a minimum sentence of three months in prison for participating in the harassment of Aleksandar Pejanović in Betonjerka in 2008, in which up to 10 masked men participated. members of the Special Intervention Police Unit, whose identities were not revealed to the prosecution by high-ranking police officials.
A true LGBTI person
Discrimination against LGBTI people continues, including threats and physical attacks. Attackers are rarely identified, and when cases do reach the courts, they are usually classified as misdemeanors. The legal provision, introduced in 2013, according to which the motive of hatred can be taken into account when passing judgments, is not applied either.
The LGBTIQ Social Center in Podgorica was attacked 26 times in 2014, even though it was under police protection; authorities did not conduct effective investigations and bring those responsible to justice.
Podgorica Pride, held in November, had adequate police protection and 10 opponents of the Parade were detained.
Discrimination against Roma
Displaced persons from Kosovo, members of the RAE population, were left without an adequate roof over their heads, and there are also those who live in containers in the collective center in Konik. h
In November, the cornerstone was laid for the construction of adequate accommodation for them in Konik. Roma families were threatened with eviction from Zverinjak for three years, they were promised adequate accommodation in 2015.
Rights of refugees and migrants
In July, eight people were acquitted of the illegal transfer to Italy of 70 Roma refugees from Kosovo in 1999. And 35 refugees drowned when the ship Miss Pat - registered for 6 people - sank in the waters of Montenegro.
About a third of the 16.000 refugees in Montenegro, most of whom are 4.000 displaced members of the RAE population from Kosovo, still have not resolved the issue of citizenship.
While a small number of them received the status of "foreigner with permanent residence", the rest have not yet applied or are facing obstacles in obtaining personal documents, which they need to apply for the status before the last deadline, which was December 2014.
Montenegro remains a transit country for migrants and asylum seekers. Asylum procedures are not efficient, as from January to November only two people were granted asylum.
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