Human Rights Organizations Doubtful about Trial of Florence Hartmann

Concerning the trial of journalist Florence Hartmann conducted before the Hague Tribunal for the alleged publication of confidential Appeals Chamber decisions in the Slobodan Milosevic case, human rights organizations from the successor states to the former Yugoslavia would like draw attention to the fact that the content of these decisions was the subject of many press reports and public debates after the International Court of Justice delivered it judgment in February 2007 in the case of BiH versus Serbia on charges of genocide and it is not clear why Ms. F. Hartmann has been singled out by the Hague judges.

16 Year Commemoration of the Death of 16 Bosniaks from Sjeverin

On Wednesday, 22 October 2008, it will be 16 years since 16 Bosniaks from Sjeverin, citizens of the Republic of Serbia, were kidnapped and murdered. Their mortal remains have not yet been found. The state of Serbia does not participate in the commemoration of the death of these Bosniaks from Sjeverin and is not ready to grant pecuniary compensation to the victims’ families for the suffering they have endured all these years.

HLC: Results of the List of Individual Direct Victims in Kosovo in the Period from 1998-2000 on 15 October 2008

In view of the HLC information on the number of killed and the missing in Kosovo that the Serbian media have falsely relayed, we are making the following statement:

By 15 October 2008, HLC had individually registered a total of 13,472 victims [9,260 Albanians, 2,488 Serbs, 470 victims of other ethnic background, and 1,254 victims whose ethnic background has not been determined] of murders and disappearances in Kosovo prior to, during the armed conflict, and immediately after the deployment of international troops in Kosovo (January 1998 – December 2000). Of the total number, HLC has confirmed the circumstances in which 8,879 victims were killed, or went missing by at least two independent sources. Of these 8,879 victims, 7,707 are Albanians, 822 are Serbs, and 350 victims are of another ethnic background.

Serbian Supreme Court Obstructs War Crimes Trials

The Serbian Supreme Court verdict in The Scorpions case showed once more that the Serbian Supreme Court, deciding in the second instance in war crimes trials, was guided by political and not legal considerations. Namely, in the first instance verdict rendered by the Belgrade District Court War Crimes Chamber on 10 April 2007, defendants Slobodan Medić, Pero Petrašević, and Branislav Medić were found guilty of a war crime against the civilian population, Aleksandar Medić was found guilty of abetting the same crime, while Aleksandar Vukov was acquitted of all charges. Slobodan Medić and Branislav Medić were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, Pero Petrašević to 13, and Aleksandar Medić to five years of imprisonment.

Human Rights Organizations React to Government’s Position on The Jewel of Medina

We the undersigned human rights organizations are alarmed at the expression of support of the Government of Serbia for the Islamic Community, which used pressure and threats to force the publisher of The Jewel of Medina to withdraw it from shops, thus showing ignorance and disrespect for human rights, and disregard for the state’s obligation to provide guarantees for the freedom of expression as “one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and for each individual’s self-fulfilment.”

Povodom Međunarodnog dana nestalih osoba

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Nongovernmental Organizations Demand That The Jewel of Medina Book Be Brought Back to Readers

By pressuring the Beobuk publisher to withdraw the book: The Jewel of Medina and by requesting an apology and repentance, the Islamic Community in Serbia has prescribed what books must not be read, thus violating every citizen’s right to freely make their own judgment.

Trinaest godina od masovnog egzodusa Srba iz Hrvatske

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BiH Court Correctly Ruled in Case of Srebrenica Genocide

The BiH Court War Crimes Chamber in Sarajevo, presided by local judge Hilmo Vučinić, rendered a guilty sentence on 29 July 2008 convicting seven defendants, former members of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of Interior, for genocide committed against Muslims in Srebrenica. The primary defendant Miloš Stupar was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment, Milenko Trifunović to 42, Aleksandar Radovanović to 42, Brano Džinić to 42, Slobodan Jakovljević to 40, Branislav Medan to 40, and Petar Mitrović to 38 years of imprisonment. Velibor Maksimović, Dragiša Živanović, Milovan Matić, and Miladin Stevanović were acquitted of all charges.

Pecuniary Compensation for Murder of Albanian Behram Gigollaj committed in Serbia during NATO Air Strikes

The First Municipal Court in Belgrade rendered a verdict on 12 June 2008 ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay damages to Ryvi, Gani, Haki, Lumnije, and Asman Gigollaj, the wife and children of late Behram Gigollaj, who was beaten to death by unidentified assailants on 24 March 1999 in Mataruška Banja, in the amount of three million dinars, because of the state’s responsibility for failing to prevent the assault.