Yugoslav Soldiers Accused of Killing Kosovo Albanians
A Serbian rights group has filed charges against several former Yugoslav Army troops over the killings of 21 Kosovo Albanians during the conflict in 1999.
A Serbian rights group has filed charges against several former Yugoslav Army troops over the killings of 21 Kosovo Albanians during the conflict in 1999.
The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint on July 2nd, 2013 with the Republic of Serbia Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor against Duško Šljivančanin, former Commander of the 53rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army and currently a representative of the Commander of the Yugoslav Army Land Forces Training Centre, and Vasilij Rangelov, a Sergeant in the Yugoslav Army and the Commander of the Goden Watchtower, and a number of unidentified soldiers from the 53rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army, with regard to the war crime against the civilian population committed on March 25th, 1999 in the villages of Goden and Zulfaj/Zylfaj (the Municipality of Đakovica/Gjakovë).
The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint on July 2nd, 2013 with the Republic of Serbia Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor against Duško Šljivančanin, former Commander of the 53rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army and currently a representative of the Commander of the Yugoslav Army Land Forces Training Centre, and Vasilij Rangelov, a Sergeant in the Yugoslav Army and the Commander of the Goden Watchtower, and a number of unidentified soldiers from the 53rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army, with regard to the war crime against the civilian population committed on March 25th, 1999 in the villages of Goden and Zulfaj/Zylfaj (the Municipality of Đakovica/Gjakovë).
A group of attorneys and human rights activists from Burma visited the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) on Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013. They are currently on a study visit to Belgrade organized by Civil Rights Defenders, during which they will visit a number of non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights and obtain information about the process of Transitional Justice in Serbia and the region.
The President of the Republic of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolić, has appointed Judge of the Appellate Court in Belgrade Siniša Važić his personal envoy to the RECOM’s Regional Expert Group. Croatian President Ivo Josipović appointed Zlata Đurđević, Professor at the Faculty of Law of University of Zagreb, as his personal envoy to RECOM; Macedonian President Gjorgje Ivanov appointed Luben Arnaudoski, Deputy General Secretary for Legal and Organizational Affairs at the Office of the Macedonian President; Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law in Podgorica and his personal Adviser on Minority and Human Rights, Sonja Tomović-Šundić; Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga appointed her personal Legal Adviser Selim Selimi; Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegović appointed Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo Aljoša Čampara; Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić appointed Goran Mihaljević, a legal expert on cooperation with the Hague tribunal. No personal envoys have been appointed by the third Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nebojša Radmanović, and Slovenian President Borut Pahor.
A group of students and professors from the New York University Centre for Global Affairs graduate program visited the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) on Thursday, June 26th, 2013. Sandra Orlović and Marijana Toma presented the work of the HLC and its contribution to the establishing of mechanisms of Transitional Justice in the region. They also discussed the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and its contribution to the process of dealing with the past, war crimes trials in Serbia, reparation program, the consultative process for establishing of the RECOM, and the compiling of the record of human losses in the former Yugoslavia as a mechanism of the fight against the denial of crimes in the societies of the former Yugoslavia.
Balkan rights activists have asked the UN to investigate alleged political influences on recent Hague Tribunal acquittals after controversial allegations by one of the court’s judges.
BH journalists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Humanitarian Law Center, Humanitarian Law Center – Kosovo, Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Croatia and Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Serbia have sent a letter supported by more than 100 organizations and individuals from the region of the former Yugoslavia, relating the recent developments at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, for the attention of His Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations.
Mats Mattsson, Head of the Executive Division of EULEX, and Jarosava Novotna, Chief EULEX Prosecutor, visited the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) on June 25th, 2013. Sandra Orlović, the HLC Executive Director, met with the EULEX delegation on behalf of the Organization. The topics discussed in the meeting were related to the issues of missing persons and the prosecution of war crimes committed during and after the conflict in Kosovo.