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Human Rights Reports
Montenegro, Rwanda
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution and law prohibit such actions without court approval or legal necessity and prohibit police from searching a residence or conducting undercover or monitoring operations without a warrant. The law requires the National Security Agency and police to obtain court authorization for wiretaps. Similarly, a 2018 Constitutional Court decision proclaimed that some provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code regarding secret surveillance measures were unconstitutional. Prosecutors can no longer independently decide on application of those measures; instead, all requests must now be approved by a court. That decision was the result of a case in which a state prosecutor, with prior information from and the consent of one of the participants, ordered the recording of a telephone conversation without first obtaining judicial authorization.
There were no official reports the government failed to respect these requirements for conducting physical and property searches. Human rights activists, such as the NGOs MANS and Institute Alternativa, continued to claim, however, that authorities engaged in illegal wiretapping and surveillance.
External judicial and parliamentary oversight bodies, including the opposition-controlled inspector general, did not report any violations of the law. However, in early February the IN4S news portal published a leaked recording of an alleged telephone call between assistant director of police Administration and the chief of sector for the fight against organized crime and corruption, Zoran Lazovic, and senior police officer Dusko Golubovic in which one of the speakers said Serbian Orthodox Church believers rallying over Christmas would "get their asses kicked if they make trouble during the church gathering." According to local media, the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica opened an investigation into the case the Electronic Communications and Postal Services Agency was collecting information about the leaked recording. In addition, in an effort to discourage those under mandatory self-isolation from leaving their homes, the National Coordination Body for Communicable Diseases (NCB) on March 21 published the names and address of individuals who were required by authorities to stay home since March 18. Shortly afterward, the NGO Civic Alliance filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court. Civic Alliance claimed that the government's decision to publicize the names, surnames, and addresses of the persons put in isolation was illegal and infringed upon citizens' right to privacy. The government said it had received the consent of the Agency for Data Protection to publish the list, as COVID-19 endangered the survival and the functioning of the state. A number of prominent legal professionals supported the government's position, including law professor and former judge of the European Court of Human Rights Nebojsa Vucinic who countered that the right to privacy may be restricted when required by the general public interest. On April 3, a list with the names and identification numbers of persons who had tested positive for COVID-19 was published after being leaked by an official at the Podgorica Health Center. On April 8, the Prosecutor's Office announced it had arrested the person responsible for the unauthorized collection and use of personal information, an offense punishable by up to three years in prison. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the suspect sent the list of names to colleagues who were not authorized to have access via Viber.
NGOs focusing on women's and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) issues were particularly concerned with the government's publication of this medical information due to fears that it would identify members of vulnerable populations and expose them to potential discrimination or other adverse treatment. According to the NGO SOS Hotline Niksic, the NCB measures could result in the publication of the names and addresses of women and children residing in safe houses and shelter, violating the anonymity they needed to protect them from reprisals or other harmful actions from abusers. Similarly, the NGO LGBT Forum Progress reported the NCB required they provide the names and addresses of LGBTI persons who received food assistance in order to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns to the Municipality of Podgorica and the Red Cross before the NCB would consent to continue providing food services. While the NCB stated the purpose of this requirement was to collect additional contact tracing data, the NGO expressed concerns about privacy and how the government might store and use the information in the future.
In July the Constitutional Court overturned the NCB's decision to publish the names of individuals in self-isolation to curb the spread of the virus. It found the decision unconstitutional as it violated citizens' right to privacy and for their personal data to be protected. The court expressed concern that the publication of personal data on persons in self-isolation created a precondition for their stigmatization by the broader community and that their data could be used by an unlimited number of citizens. Of even greater concern to the court, the publication of personal data could also deter those who needed medical help from seeking such help, which would have the contrary effect of endangering their health and increasing the risk the coronavirus could spread to other persons.
Although the constitution and law prohibit such actions, the government continued to monitor homes, movements, telephone calls, email, and personal and institutional communications. Private text messages were sometimes used as evidence in criminal cases. Government informants continued to work within internet and telephone companies, international and local NGOs, religious organizations, media, and other social institutions.
The law requires police to obtain authorization from a state prosecutor prior to entering and searching citizens' homes. According to human rights organizations, state security forces at times entered homes without obtaining the required authorization.
The law provides legal protection against unauthorized use of personal data by private entities, although officials did not enforce these provisions during the year.
The government blocked some websites, including media outlets, that included content considered contrary to government positions.
a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings
b. Disappearance
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Trial Procedures
Political Prisoners and Detainees
Politically Motivated Reprisal against Individuals Located Outside the Country
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
Property Restitution
g. Abuses in Internal Conflict
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association
c. Freedom of Religion
d. Freedom of Movement
e. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons
f. Protection of Refugees
g. Stateless Persons
Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process
Elections and Political Participation
Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Members of National/Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups
Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
HIV and AIDS Social Stigma
Promotion of Acts of Discrimination
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
Section 7. Worker Rights
a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining
b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
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