One of the most striking reactions of the authorities to the gathering and protest of high school students in response to the recent tragedy in Novi Sad are the numerous statements by officials of all levels, who qualify these events as “manipulation of children for ideological purposes” or “violation of the law” or “abuse of children for political purposes”.
The common characteristic of all these statements is that they are generic, given without any evidence to support the accusatory claims against the teachers and the opposition parties.
It is extremely irresponsible to accuse anyone of anything, let alone something as outrageous “manipulation of children” without providing literally any evidence to support the claim. But our government still allows itself to accuse schoolteachers or opposition political parties of manipulating children, without giving the public any facts about who, when, and how allegedly did it.
The Prime Minister, who started the avalanche of these statements, was the only one who even tried to do so, but, to put it mildly, very clumsily and unconvincingly. He claimed that his son was forced to participate in the protest by a teacher who later turned out not to be the boy’s teacher at all, and who had no contact with him.
It is undoubtedly very irresponsible to accuse teachers and opposition parties without evidence, but it is even more dangerous to deny high school students, young people aged 16-17, the capacity to form their own attitude and opinion about the tragedy that happened, about responsibility for it and respect for victims, as well as the opportunity to publicly express them. And that is exactly what the aforementioned statements do.
This is extremely hypocritical, especially coming from a representative of the same government which, in its National Strategy for Youth (which includes everyone aged 15 and over), has the stated goal of “creating an environment in which youth initiatives are encouraged and respected and conditions are created for empowering young people’s inclusion in society in accordance with their own choice and abilities” and added that “all policies should recognize young people and their needs and potentials, to enable them to participate in the making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategic decisions”.
But statements that present young people as witless and easy targets for alleged manipulation not only insultingly underestimate their intellectual and moral qualities, but also deny their guaranteed rights.
The Constitution of Serbia (Article 16) expressly provides that ratified international treaties are an integral part of the legal order of the Republic of Serbia and that they are directly applicable. Serbia is a member of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and, according to its Constitution, is obliged to respect and apply it.
According to the Convention (Article 13), children – persons under the age of 18, unless otherwise determined by law – have the right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to seek, receive, express and share information and ideas orally, in writing or in print, in an artistic or any other form.
The government of Serbia, as a member of the Convention, also has the obligation (Article 14) to respect the child’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the right to free association and peaceful assembly (Article 15).
The realization of these rights, according to the Convention and our Constitution, may be subject to certain restrictions, but only those that are determined by law and necessary in a democratic society.
If, despite this, state and public officials, without justified and proven, legally established reasons actually deny those rights, they are manipulating the public, consciously and irresponsibly, in the political interest of maintaining their rule.
Translated by Marijana Simić
Peščanik.net, 09.12.2024.
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