Yesterday, a group of five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) sent a request to the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Naida Nišić, to inform the public of the reasons for her department's three-month delay in drafting the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Veterans and Disability Protection.
This was announced by Human Rights Action (HRA).
The request was signed by Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Action for Human Rights (HRA), Demir Ličina, Association "Strepci - Against Forgetting", Daliborka Uljarević, Center for Civic Education (CGO), Ervina Dabižinović, Center for Women's and Peace Education ANIMA and Velija Murić , Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights.
The announcement states that the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić and the Deputy Prime Minister for Labour, Education, Health and Social Affairs Srđan Pavićević were informed about the content of the letter.
"The earlier draft of the law - by which only the victims of the armed conflict with NATO in Montenegro were considered as civilian victims of war, and not those from Montenegro who suffered from armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Kosovo - was criticized by the European Parliament as selective. After the protest organized by HRA and the Association 'Strpci - Against Forgetting' on December 29th last year, which was supported by other non-governmental organizations and individuals, that bill was withdrawn from the procedure, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare was is tasked with drafting a new text proposal that would include all civilian victims by March 1, 2024 at the latest," the statement said.
The HRA added that the new decision should regulate the status and compensation of family members of all Montenegrin citizens who died as civilian victims during the wars of the 90s, if they did not exercise that right in other countries, as well as those who were wounded in armed conflicts. for example NATO bombing in 1999.
"In addition, it was planned to increase the income of existing beneficiaries of veterans' and disability protection. At the session of the Second Regular Session of the Parliament of Montenegro in 2023 - December 29, it was announced that, in the event that such a Proposal is absent, representatives of all parliamentary clubs to propose and adopt its Bill by June 1. Both deadlines have passed. The Ministry is already three months late in drafting the Bill. This causes particular concern, as the proposals for regulating the status of civilian victims have been long overdue give - the Bosniak party offered the proposal to the Parliament of Montenegro in December 2023, and the HRA to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in January of this year," the announcement reads.
It is stated that they demanded from Nišić to inform the public about the reasons for such a delay in proposing the law and when the proposal can be expected.
"We emphasize that NGOs were not involved in the work of the working group for drafting the Bill. We appreciate that regulating the status of civilian victims of wars is one of the key issues for dealing with the past, and we will continue to advocate for this issue to be resolved in a way that does not discriminate against anyone." , the announcement concludes.
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