Kosovo Albanians Kabashi and Bytyqi Acquitted of Charges for War Crime in Opterusha

The District Court in Prizren mixed trial panel presided by international Judge Mariola Pasnik[1], rendered a judgment on February 1^st, 2013, acquitting the accused Ejup Kabashi and Sokol Bytyqi of charges for the commission of a war crime against civilian population from Article 142 in relation to Article 22 of the Criminal Code of Yugoslavia (the criminal offence which is also incriminated by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo in Article 152 in relation to Article 31).

Reagovanje FHP Kosovo: Da kosovska policija istraži navode o maltretiranju Srba

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General comment no. 3 UN Committee for the Prevention of Torture

The Committee against Torture, the United Nations treaty body entrusted with monitoring compliance with the Convention Against Torture as well as the interpretation of its provisions, adopted the General Comment No. 3, which defines the obligations of States towards torture victims. These include states obligation to ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible, guarantees of non-repetition, and right to truth. Although general comments are not legally binding, they exceed the advisory nature when dealing with the interpretation of international norms, and when determining the scope and content of certain articles of the Convention.

Although the verdict is founded on evidence, it has not brought justice for the victims

On the occasion of the acquittal by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the partial re-trial in Haradinaj et al, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) holds that neither the initial trial nor the partial re-trial in this case have brought justice to the victims of the crimes listed in the indictments. In addition, this procedure has been particularly burdened by a number of deficiencies with regard to witness protection and  lack of professionalism of investigators in gathering evidence.

Judgment in Mark Kashnjeti Case based on unconvincing evidence

Statement by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Croatia on the ICTY Appeals Judgment in the operation “Storm” case

After the Appeals Judgment for Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Croatia highlights that even 17 years later, the most serious crimes committed during the operation “Storm” are without punishment while the victims are without justice and recognition.

Centar za građansko obrazovanje: Pravda za žrtve mora biti prioritet

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HLC on the Acquittal of Gotovina and Markac

The ICTY’s final judgment in the trial of General Gotovina and General Markac brings no justice to the victims. According to the appellate decision for acquittal, no form of state responsibility of the Republic of Croatia has been established for the crimes committed during and after  Operation Storm. Accordingly, no joint criminal enterprise has been established, nor even the generals’ individual criminal responsibility.

Statement on the occassion of non-appealable judgment to generals Gotovina and Markač

On the occasion of adopting a non-appealable verdict, brought by the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY, which releases Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač from custody, Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past wants to, once more, emphasize the need to bear in mind families of victims and not let the crimes committed during the operation ‘Storm’ remain a tragedy without an epilogue.

The Coalition for Access to Justice greatly concerned over statements of current and former Presidents of Serbia regarding Srebrenica

The Coalition for Access to Justice has expressed great concern over the statements of Serbia’s current President Tomislav Nikolic, and its former President Boris Tadic, which deny the facts established by courts about the genocide in Srebrenica. The Coalition would like to direct the current and former Presidents’ attention to Serbia’s obligation as a member of the UN, of the Council of Europe and of the OSCE, to respect court verdicts, and to request that in their public appearances and statements they cease bringing  the Republic of Serbia into disrepute and doing harm to the process of reconciliation in the region.