EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Presentation of the Third Report on the Implementation of the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy and “Regional Judicial Cooperation in the Prosecution of War Crimes: Analysis and Improvement Recommendations”

On Thursday, 20 December 2018, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) will present the “Third Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes” and the Analysis “Regional Judicial Cooperation in the Prosecution of War crimes: Analysis and Improvement Recommendations”. The presentation will take place at 11:00 in the Great Hall of the Media Centre (Terazije 3, 2^nd Floor).

On 20 February 2016, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the first National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes 2016-2020. The HLC has been monitoring the implementation of the National Strategy since its adoption, in order to offer its assessment of and findings on the state of implementation of this Strategy. The third HLC Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy (Report) provides an overview of the implementation of activities in the period from 1 June 2018 to 01 December 2018, in eight areas covered by the National Strategy. The report points to key deficiencies and identifies recommendations for improving the situation in these areas.

The HLC will also present its Analysis, “Regional Judicial Cooperation in the Prosecution of War crimes: Analysis and Improvement Recommendations”, which examines the existing normative framework for regional cooperation and the challenges it faces, with a view to proposing a set of recommendations for the improvement of regional cooperation and enhanced effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms.

Speakers: 

• Ivana Žanić, Humanitarian Law Center
• Višnja Šijačić, Humanitarian Law Center
• Erna Mačkić, BIRN
• Jelena Đokić Jović, Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past
• Bekim Blakaj, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo

Simultaneous interpretation into English will be provided.

27 years since crimes in Škabrnja and Nadin

On Sunday, November 18, 2018, we mark exactly 27 years since the commission of the crimes by members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and Territorial Defence (TO) of Benkovac against Croatian civilians in the villages of Škabrnja and Nadin. Although the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed criminal charges for these crimes with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) in November 2017, to date the HLC has no information as to whether the OWCP has taken any legal action that would lead to the trial of those responsible for this crime.

Early in the morning on November 18, 1991, the JNA, together with the Benkovac TO, entered the village of Škabrnja from the nearby village of Smilčić, which was predominantly inhabited by Serbs. After entering the village, they destroyed the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After that, 41 Croat civilians were killed in various locations in Škabrnja. The next day, in the nearby Nadin, seven more civilians were killed. Most of the locals killed were elderly people, including 16 women, one of whom was a person with disabilities.

Two years after the filing of the criminal complaint against Dušan Lončar, the OWCP has still not taken action

Today, exactly two years have passed since the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) against Dušan Lončar, former Commander of the Second Proletarian Elite Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA 2^nd PEMBR), for the crime committed in the village of Lovas (Croatia) in October 1991. The HLC informs the public that since the lodging of the criminal complaint, the OWCP has done nothing to investigate this crime and prosecute those responsible.

(srpski) Novi rok: 17.12.2018 – Poziv za dostavljanje koncepta projekta

Sorry, this entry is only available in Shqip and srpski.

Criminal charges for the murder of Matijević familly in April 1992

On October 16, 2018, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) of the Republic of Serbia against several unknown persons, for killing three members of the Matijević family in April 1992 in Kukujevci (Municipality of Šid, Serbia).

In the late evening hours of April 20, 1992, several unknown persons entered the courtyard of the Croatian family Matijević in Kukujevci. They took Ana, Joza and their son Franjo Matijević, a minor, from the house, and drove them to an unknown destination. Several years later, their mortal remains were exhumed from the cemetery in Mohovo (Municipality of Ilok, Croatia). To date, no one has been charged for this crime before the courts in Serbia.

For the first time in Belgrade: “Besieged Sarajevo”

From September 25 to October 6, 2018, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented in Belgrade a part of the museum’s permanent exhibition, entitled “Besieged Sarajevo”. With photographs, documents, and hand-made items made by citizens of Sarajevo, the exhibition depicts life in the city that the Republika Srpska Army (RSA) kept under siege for 44 months. Visitors could see what life in a city without water, electricity and heating looked like, how schools operated, how children played, and how food was procured, along with other daily activities in the city that, despite everyday sniper attacks from the surrounding hills, sought to preserve the illusion of a normal life.

Invitation to a book launch and a discussion

On October 5^th, on the occasion of the presentation of her new research published in the book “Some Kind of Justice – The ICTY’s Impact in Bosnia and Serbia”, the Humanitarian Law Center will host professor Diane Orentlicher.

Diane Orentlicher, Professor of International Law at American University, has been described by the Washington Diplomat as “one of the world’s leading authorities on human rights law and war crimes tribunals.” She has lectured and published widely on issues of transitional justice, international criminal law. Professor Orentlicher has served in various public positions, including as the Deputy for War Crimes Issues in the U.S. Department of State; United Nations Independent Expert on Combating Impunity, and Special Advisor to the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

In her new book, Professor Orentlicher offers a groundbreaking and timely account of how an international criminal tribunal affects local communities and the factors that account for its changing impact over time. Through an in-depth case study, „Some Kind of Justice“ offers fresh insights about two questions now the subject of robust debate: What goals can we plausibly assign to international criminal tribunals? What factors determine the impact of distant courts on societies that have seen vicious violence? The book explores the influence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, launched in 1993 by the UN Security Council at the height of ethnic conflict accompanying the breakup of Yugoslavia, in two countries directly affected by its work. One, Bosnia-Herzegovina, experienced soaring levels of ethnic violence, culminating in the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica. The wartime government of the other country, Serbia, plunged the region into conflict. Scheduled to close at the end of 2017, the ICTY is the longest-running war crimes tribunal in history, and thus offers an incomparably rich case study of how a Nuremberg-inspired tribunal influences societies emerging from ruinous violence.

This will be an opportunity to discuss how the ICTY also impacted other post-Yugoslav states. Our interlocutors will include:

• Hrvoje Klasić, Historian, University of Zagreb, Croatia
• Erna Mačkić, BIRN, BH
• Adriatik Kelmendi, journalist, Kosovo
• Nemanja Stjepanović, journalist, Serbia

The book presentation and a debate will take place on October 5^th 2018, at the Cultural Center „Parobrod“, starting at 7 p.m.

Invitation to the Exhibition “Besieged Sarajevo“

The “Besieged Sarajevo” Exhibition is the story of the life of the citizens during the siege of Sarajevo, and about the persistence, resourcefulness and creativity of the Sarajevans who lived 1,335 days without electricity, water or heating.  At the exhibition you can see how daily life in the city flowed, where and how Sarajevans procured food and water, how the markets and streets looked, how people communicated, how hospitals and schools operated, and how cultural life was fostered and developed… The story of the siege is told through photographs, documents and objects made by the citizens. This is a permanent exhibition of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Citizens of Sarajevo also participated in the process of its creation, donating war items to the Museum, and sharing their war stories and memories.

In cooperation with the History Museum of BiH, the Humanitarian Law Center will open the exhibition on September 25^th 2018 at the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Stari grad “Parobrod” in Belgrade (Kapetan Mišina 6a), starting at 7 p.m. Until October 6, 2018, several accompanying events will be organized as part of the exhibition, including:

Programme

27. IX at 5 p.m. Public lecture on the Siege of Sarajevo

• Nemanja Stjepanović

4. X at 6 p.m. Movie “The Siege”, Remy Ourdan

• A talk with the author and the citizens of Sarajevo
• (reserve your seat at: events@hlc-rdc.org)

5. X at 7 p.m. Book launch and discussion

“Some Kind of Justice – The ICTY’s Impact in Bosnia and Serbia”, Diane Orentlicher

Discussants:

• Diane Orentlicher, Washington College of Law, US
• Hrvoje Klasić, Historian, University of Zagreb, Croatia
• Erna Mačkić, Balkan Investigative Research Network, BH
• Adriatik Kelmendi, journalist, Kosovo
• Nemanja Stjepanović, journalist, Serbia

The entrance to the exhibition is free of charge. For any additional information please send an email to events@hlc-rdc.org or call (011) 3349-766.

The exhibition is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland to Serbia and to Montenegro, the Civil Rights Defenders, and the Heinrich Böll Foundation – Office in Belgrade

(srpski) Javni poziv za učešće u programu razmene Sarajevo-Beograd

Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.

School of Transitional Justice: To know facts, not myths

On Monday, July 30, 2018, the Fifth National School of Transitional Justice organised by the Humanitarian Law Center completed its course. The School participants were 25 students of law, security, political science and history, activists from NGOs, journalists, law apprentices and history educators from Belgrade, Surdulica, Mladenovac, Smederevo, Ribarica, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Požarevac, Pančevo, Bor and Niš.

They acquired knowledge about the concept of transitional justice and its mechanisms, and its application in Serbia in the context of the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, and considered the case studies of Srebrenica, Kosovo, Vukovar, Oluja, Hrtkovci, Skočić, and Zvornik. Besides the opportunity to learn about the court-established facts regarding these crimes, the participants were also able to assimilate some of the facts from the victims’ perspective. In this manner, they had the opportunity to hear about the experiences of Suvada Selimovic, from the town of Djulići near Zvornik, and Zijo Ribić, from the town of Skočić near Zvornik, who talked about pre-war life in their villages with their neighbours, about the war events they witnessed, and their fight for truth and justice after the war ended. The agenda also included a visit to monuments in Belgrade which bear witness to the currently dominant ethnically-biased manner of remembering victims’ suffering during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.