Communication No. 1355/2005 Submitted by: Humanitarian Law Center Alleged victim: X State party: Serbia Declared inadmissible: 26 March 2007 Subject matter: Sexual abuse of a minor three other men named Aleksandar Janković, Maksim Petrović and Vojislav Brajković joined the table and the child was obliged to perform fellatio on all five men. The men and the child then left the bar and went to a discotheque where Radović urinated on the child’s head. Thereafter, the men took the child to another bar where they obliged him to perform fellatio on all of them and urinated in his mouth. They threatened him not to say a word to anyone. Procedural issues: Standing to represent the victim Substantive issues: Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; rights of the child Articles of the Covenant: 7, 17 and 24, para. 1, taken alone and read in conjunction with article 2, paras. 1 and 3 Article of the Optional Protocol: 1 2.2 W, a public health nurse working in A, learnt about the incident two days later. She met with X who recounted the events described above. The nurse noticed that the boy’s mouth was swollen. The following day, she persuaded X to report the incident to the police. In early December 2002, Miroslav Lukic, President of the Municipal Court of A, mentioned X’s case to the Public Prosecutor who had not yet been approached by the police. 1.1 The author of the communication, dated 23 December 2004, is the Humanitarian Law Center, a non-governmental organization which monitors and investigates human rights violations in Serbia. It submits the complaint on behalf of X, a minor, born in 1992, a citizen of Serbia. The author claims violations of articles 7, 17, and 24, paragraph 1, each taken alone and read in conjunction with article 2, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Covenant by Serbia. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Serbia on 6 December 2001. 2.3 On 27 December 2002, the victim submitted a complaint against the five men to the police. As a result, on 9 January 2003, the Office of the Požarevac District Public Prosecutor requested that the Požarevac District Court investigate the case. From 13 January 2003 onwards, the Humanitarian Law Center (hereinafter the HLC) acted as X’s counsel. On 14 January 2003, the District Court decided to investigate Vladimir Petrašković and Miodrag Radović. By then, both men had already fled the country. Miodrag Radović was arrested in Austria and extradited to Serbia. On 24 January 2003, the District Court heard 13 witnesses amongst whom only X’s parents confirmed his story. After the victim changed his testimony on 5 February 2003, the District Public Prosecutor dropped the charges on 5 March 2003 and the District Court cancelled its investigation on 10 March 2003. 1.2 On 31 January 2005, the Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Interim Measures rejected the requests for interim measures to urge the State party to offer protection to the witnesses named in the complaint, to encourage the State party to prevent further interaction between the perpetrators of the sexual abuse and the victim, and to urge the State party to provide to the victim adequate counselling and continued supervision, as may be necessary. 1.3 On 27 September 2005, the State party requested that the admissibility of the communication be examined separately from the merits of the communication. On 27 September 2005, the Special Rapporteur on New Communications, on behalf of the Committee, determined that the admissibility and the merits of this case should be considered together. 2.4 According to the State party, the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence: the victim had entirely changed his original statement to the police, telling the investigative magistrate that the accused had in fact not committed any offence. Moreover, the witnesses either gave accounts based on hearsay from local residents whose names they did not know, or denied the allegations altogether. Finally, no witness, including W, requested protection from the Office of the Public Prosecutor. According to the author, W testified before the investigating judge on 5 February 2003. She also The facts as presented by the author 2.1 On 15 November 2002, X, a Roma boy aged 10, entered a bar in the village of A, where he met Vladimir Petrašković and Miodrag Radović. Petrašković invited X to drink beer, as a result of which he became intoxicated. Both men then obliged X to perform fellatio on them. Shortly afterwards, 29