A/HRC/37/55/Add.1 39. The Special Rapporteur deplores the pattern of attacks against events held by the renowned organization Women in Black when they carry out activities to commemorate atrocities committed during the 1990s and the Second World War, including through “engaged art” and video activism. 7 These efforts are critical for the creation of a dialogue about the past, which is key to improving the climate for the enjoyment of cultural rights for all and for the protection of cultural heritage today. 8 Notwithstanding significant articulated commitments to the “culture of remembrance”, the authorities have not undertaken sufficient measures to combat these attacks, and must do so. 40. The Special Rapporteur was also concerned about an incident in 2016 in which stones were thrown through the windows of the Human Rights House in Belgrade. To date, there has been no investigation into this particular incident. 41. The Special Rapporteur is likewise concerned about repeated media campaigns declaring human rights defenders to be traitors and “foreign mercenaries”, and promoting their exclusion from Serb and Orthodox identities. One human rights defender described the situation as a “climate of fear and self-censorship” in which it was at times more difficult to do their work than during the 1990s. 5. Resurgence of ultranationalism 42. The Special Rapporteur takes note with grave concern of the resurgence of ultranationalism and other forms of far-right extremism in Serbia and its harmful impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights, which must be urgently addressed. 9 For example, the planned screening in Niš on 22 June 2017 of a documentary film, Albanian Women Are Our Sisters, about resistance to the war in Kosovo and solidarity between citizens of Serbia and Kosovo during the 1999 conflict, was cancelled by the organizers for safety reasons because of a protest by far-right organizations in front of the cinema during which protestors threatened and insulted those seeking to attend and reportedly threw stones at them, in the presence of police. A subsequent screening in Kraljevo was also cancelled. 43. The Special Rapporteur was disappointed that in the prosecution of Radomir Počuča, a spokesperson for the Special Police Unit of the Serbian Military Intelligence Agency, for his vitriolic Facebook posts about Women in Black, including graphic calls for violence against them, the defendant’s claimed patriotic motive was given as a mitigating explanation for his conduct and when he was acquitted in December 2016. This result, and its claimed justification, sends precisely the wrong message. IV. Kosovo: enjoyment of the right to take part in cultural life A. Domestic legal framework 44. In accordance with section 1.3 of UNMIK regulation No. 1999/24 on the law applicable in Kosovo, persons undertaking public duties or holding public office are required to observe the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 45. In its 2008 Declaration of Independence, the Assembly of Kosovo stressed the following: “We hereby undertake the international obligations of Kosovo, including those concluded on our behalf by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and treaty and other obligations of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to which we are bound as a former constituent part.” 7 8 9 8 See “Repression against human rights defenders: attacks on Women in Black”, dossier No. 8, September 2016−January 2017; and dossier No. 9, February−July 2017. See A/HRC/25/49. See Ivana Sekularac, “Ultra-nationalist resurgence could complicate Serbia’s EU path”, Reuters, 17 April 2016.