Stevan Milivojevic is the new bearer of the Natalia Protective BraceletMilivojevic novi nosilac Natalija zaštitne narukvice

The executive director of LGBT Forum Progress, Stevan Milivojevic, became the new bearer of the Natalia bracelet. He is the second bearer of the bracelet in Montenegro, and the first LGBT activist who will use it.

Izvršni direktor LGBT Foruma Progres, Stevan Milivojević postao je novi nosilac Natalija narukvice.  On je drugi korisnik ove narukvice u Crnoj Gori a prvi kao LGBT aktivista.

 Natalia bracelet is a part of a “Natalia project” (https://natalia.civilrightsdefenders.org), and it represents the worlds first alarm system intended to human rights defenders exposed to high levels of risk, due to their work. When an incident occurs, in this case a homophobic attack, the bracelet is activated by a simple mechanism, and it sends a distress signal to friends, police as well as to the headquarters of the organization of the “Civil Rights Defenders” in Stockholm, Sweden.

The signal which is sent by the bracelet itself, alarms the persons who defend the human rights defender, the bearer of the bracelet, through a specially designed smartphone application as well as via SMS messages. The exact GPS location is distributed through the application, so with great precision, the location of the bearer and of the incident is determined.

The possibility of the imminent reaction often represents the difference between minor and major injuries, and in some cases it represents the difference between life and death. In the minutes following the activation of the bracelet, the signal is also sent through the global social network platforms, enabling people throughout the world to find out about the incident and to use their influence and pressure in the prevention of the frequency of the attacks.

Considering the fact that the frequency of the attacks on LGBT activists and LGBT persons is increased, in the times when public events of the LGBT community are organized, “LGBT Forum Progres” believes that the bracelet represents a new protective mechanism which will contribute to the enhancement of the security of Mr. Milivojevic. Since the moment he became the leader of “LGBT Forum Progress” a year ago, Milivojevic was a victim of 19 physical attacks (not counting verbal assaults, death threats, and the attacks to the facilities of the organization), out of which non was criminally prosecuted, but only as a misdemeanour, and on behalf of the perpetrators, from four incidents, a misdemeanour procedures have been finalized.

The project and the “Natalia” bracelet, have been named after Natalia Estemirova, a Chechnya human rights defender, who has been kidnaped and murdered in 2009 in Chechnya, due to her open fight for human rights in her country. Natalia project currently involves 20 persons throughout the world, and it is planned to expand this number to 50 persons by the end of 2014.

Milivojevic has, due to his recent study visit in Sweden, successfully finished a training on security organized by the “Civil Rights Defenders” and the visit of the delegation of “LGBT Forum Progress” was also used with the goal of establishing a program cooperation with a leading LGBT organization in Sweden – “RFSL Ungdom”.

Natalija narukvica dio je “Natalia projekta” (https://natalia.civilrightsdefenders.org) , i predstavlja prvi svjetski alarmni sistem namjenjen braniocima ljudskih prava izloženim visokom riziku, usljed posla kojim se bave. Kada dođe do incidenta, u ovom slučaju homofobnog napada, narukvica se aktivira jednostavnim mehanizmom, i šalje alarmni signal prijateljima, policiji kao i sjedištu organizacije “Civil Rights defenders” u Štokholmu, u Švedskoj.

Signal koji sama narukvica šalje, alarmira osobe koje štite branioca ljudskih prava, nosioca narukvice, kroz posebno dizajniranu aplikaciju za pametne telefone kao i putem SMS poruka. Tačna GPS lokacija se takođe distribuira kroz navedenu aplikaciju, te se sa velikom preciznošću utvrđuje sama lokacja nosioca narukvice kao i incidenta. Tada osobe koje štite nosioca narukvice, istog trenutka reaguju, preventivno djelujući na posljedice samog napada.

Mogućnost brzog reagovanja često predstavlja razliku između lakih i teških povreda a u nekim slučajevima, predstavlja i razliku između života i smrti. U minutima koji slijede nakon aktivacije narukvice, signal se takođe šalje kroz globalne platforme društvenih mreža, omogućujući ljudima širom svijeta da saznaju za sami incident i da iskoriste svoj uticaj i pritisak kako bi se preventivno djelovalo na učestalost samih napada.

Obzirom da se učestalost napada na LGBT aktiviste i LGBT osobe u Crnoj Gori povećada pri organizovanju javnih događaja LGBT zajednice, “LGBT Forum Progres” vjeruje da narukvica predstavlja novi zaštitni mehanizam koji će doprinijeti unapređenju bezbjednosti Milivojevića. Od kada je postao lider “LGBT Foruma Progres”, prije godinu dana, Milivojević je imao 19 napada, od kojih nijedan nije krivično procesuiran a protiv napadača, iz četiri incidenta, okončani su prekršajni postupci.

Projekat i narukvica “Natalija” ime su dobili po Nataliji Estemirovoj, čečenskoj braniteljki ljudskih prava koja je 2009. godine oteta i ubijena u Čečeniji, zbog otvorenog zalaganja za ljudska prava u svojoj zemlji. Natalija projekat trenutno obuhvata 20 osoba širom svijeta, a plan je da se broj nosioca narukvice proširi na 50 osoba do kraja 2014. godine.

Milivojević je prilikom nedavnog studijskog boravka u Švedskoj, uspješno prošao i trening o bezbjednosti, organizovan od strane organizacije “Civil Rights defenders” a posjeta delegacije “LGBT Foruma Progres” je iskorištena i u cilju uspostavljanja programske saradnje sa vodećom švedskom LGBT organizacijom – “RFSL Ungdom”.