The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint on June 18th, 2013 with the Republic of Serbia for the alleged commission of a war crime against the civilian population of Vučitrn/Vushtrri in late April and early May 1999.
On Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, Nazmi Spahiu and Behxet Rrmoku, both victims of torture and unlawful detention, gave statements in the compensation lawsuit initiated by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in April 2010 against the Republic of Serbia on account of the state’s responsibility for their torture in unlawful detention during 1999 and 2000. Nazmi Spahiu and Behxhet Rrmoku testified about the arrest and torture they experienced in prison, as well as about the consequences of the torture, from which they still suffer, and the long medical treatment they have had to undergo.
On 4 June 2013, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor against several members of the Yugoslav Army (VJ) for a war crime against civilians committed on 12 May 1999 at Savine Vode (Peć/Pejë municipality).
On Thursday 30 May 2013, Agim and Sadik Limani from Glogovac/Gllogoc testified before the First Basic Court in Belgrade, in a case brought on their behalf by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in April 2010 against the Republic of Serbia, seeking compensation for the torture they experienced in 1999 and 2000 while in unlawful detention. Agim and Sadik Limani testified about the torture they endured in Serbian prisons in 1999 and 2000 and the mental after-effects from which they still suffer.
The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has handed down a judgment finding Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, leading Serbian State Security (SDB) officials, not guilty on all counts of the indictment which charged them with the crimes that the units under the control of the SDB committed in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) between 1991 and 1995. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) considers this ICTY judgment to be a trivialisation of the role of Simatović and Stanišić – and consequently, of the role of the then leadership of Serbia in the wars in Croatia and BiH.
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The Court of Appeals in Belgrade has affirmed the judgment of the First Basic Court ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay a total of 1.3 million RSD to Kosovo Albanians Tahir Bytyqi, Smajl Gashi, Rrahman Elshani, Hysni Podrimçaku and Bekim Istogu, in compensation for the torture they were subjected to by members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) during their unlawful detention in 1999 and 2000. While being one of the few final judgements that have recognised the right to compensation of victims of the Serbian security forces, the HLC considers that the sums awarded to each of the victims – 200,000 or 300,000 RSD – do not contribute to ensuring justice for misdeeds committed during the 1990s.
With regard to the statement made by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolić, in the “Interview 20” show on Radio Television Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) calls on President Nikolić, together with the other institutions concerned, to take concrete steps which will show that this symbolic act represents the beginning of an honourable and responsible stance by the state of Serbia when it comes to dealing with the legacy of crimes committed in the name of the Serbian people. This is the only way for President Nikolić to wipe away the justified suspicion that many people entertain relating to the honesty of his apology, which has been reinforced by repeated denial that genocide was committed in Srebrenica.
On 4 April 2013, the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) filed a Constitutional Complaint to the Serbian Constitutional Court (USS) on behalf of 78 Bosniaks, former inmates of the Šljivovica and Mitrovo Polje camps, and the families of those killed in these camps, after the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia (TRZ) failed to carry out an adequate investigation into war crimes committed at these camps in 1995 and 1996. By omitting to do so, the rights of those concerned, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia – the right to life, the right to inviolability of their mental and physical integrity, the right to equal protection before the law and the right to legal remedy – have been violated.
The Higher Court in Belgrade rendered a judgment establishing the responsibility of the State of Serbia for the war crime committed in the village of Kukurovići (the Municipality of Priboj) on February 18th, 1993. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) would like to stress that this is the first judgment to establish the responsibility of the state for a war crime committed by members of Serb forces on the territory of Sandžak during the nineties.