The representatives of the Belgrade Group of Parents requested an urgent meeting with the Committee Chairman to appeal to the MPs and the public that the Bill on ascertaining the facts about the status of newborn babies suspected stolen from maternity wards in the Republic of Serbia be withdrawn from procedure.

Representative of the Belgrade Group of Parents Mirjana Novokmet said that the Bill is riddled with flaws. “Only minor and marginal suggestions we gave the Ministry of Justice were adopted which is no help to us who are affected by this issue”, said Novokmet.

The document should make it possible for the children themselves to petition to find their birth parents if they wish so, which the current Bill does not allow for, Novokmet explained. As one of the flaws of the Bill she mentioned the provisions introducing the option of extra-judicial procedure which, she believes, would bypass investigation. The Belgrade Group of Parents’ goal is to draft a law which would focus on an efficient investigation, not compensation which the Bill offers the parents.

“All the deadlines for the law have been broken so it is not difficult for us to wait a few more months to get a law which would serve its purpose, and we are aware that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg is pushing to pass this law”, said the representatives of the Belgrade Group of Parents.

“The Bill is essentially intended to provide compensation to the parents for the missing children which is unacceptable, not to start an investigation into what had happened to the children or where they had been buried if they are no longer alive”, said Mirjana Novokmet.

Meho Omerovic informed the attending about the correct procedure i.e. that only the submitter, the Serbian Government, can withdraw the Bill from procedure.

“I can see that you are unhappy with the Bill and though it is not in our Committee’s purview, the Bill concerns us as well because the right to life is the fundamental human right”, said Omerovic.

Omerovic stated that he would send a memo to Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Minister of Justice Nela Kuburovic about today’s meeting. He also mentioned the option to organize a roundtable and the option allowed by the National Assembly Rules of Procedure to have a joint sitting with the Committee on the Rights of the Child so as to take into consideration the Parent Group’s suggestions.

Omerovic added that the purpose of any law is to be practical and applicable and this Bill is no exception, especially since it deals with such a sensitive issue.

The abovementioned Bill entered Assembly procedure on 20 March 2018.