European Commission: Serbia to demonstrate firmer commitment to resolving the legacy of war crimes

On 17 April 2018, the European Commission (EC) published the Serbia 2018 Report, which shows Serbia’s progress in meeting the political, economic and administrative criteria for joining the European Union (EU). The report reiterates that the dynamics of the negotiations depend on the quality of the reforms implemented, especially as regards establishing the rule of law and the normalization of relations with Kosovo. The EC’s assessment is that Serbia has reached a certain level of readiness to apply the acquis and European standards in the field of the rule of law, but further reforms are needed in several areas, including domestic war crimes trials. Compared to all previous EC reports on Serbia, in this report much more attention is devoted to problems in establishing criminal justice for crimes committed during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the period 1991-1999.

The EC Report reflects recommendations provided by the Humanitarian Law Center during the preparation of this document.

The Hague Tribunal a “gold mine” of facts pertaining to us all

From March 19 to March 28, 2018, the exhibition “ICTY: the Kosovo Case 1998-1999” was presented at the Belgrade Center for Cultural Decontamination. Through video materials and selected documents, the exhibition showed how the crimes committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo were investigated, reconstructed and prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The authors of the exhibition were SENSE-Center for Transitional Justice from Pula and the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, in cooperation with the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the Center for Dealing with the Past – Documenta. The exhibition relied on an interactive internet narrative, “ICTY: The Kosovo Case 1998-1999 – Investigation, Reconstruction and Prosecution of Kosovo Crimes“; and it is part of the permanent exhibition at the Kosovo Documentation Center in Priština.

The Global Reparations Summit

On 25-26 March 2018, the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GIJTR), of which the Humanitarian Law Center is a member, organized the Global Reparations Summit in Belgrade, Serbia.

(srpski) NAJAVA: Razgovor sa porodicom Bogujevci

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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Exhibition „ICTY: the Kosovo Case 1998-1999“

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), in cooperation with the SENSE Center for Transitional Justice (Pula), the Documentation Center Kosovo, and Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past, hereby invites you to the opening of the exhibition „ICTY: the Kosovo Case 1998-1999“. The opening will take place on March 19th 2018, at 7pm, at the Center for Cultural Decontamination (Birčaninova 21, Belgrade).

Through video materials and selected documents, this multimedia exhibition shows how crimes committed during the 1998-1999 armed conflict in Kosovo were investigated, reconstructed and prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It presents facts about the crimes committed by Serbian military and police forces against the Albanian population in 1999, as well as the crimes of the KLA during 1998.

Families of victims: solving fate of missing persons humanitarian rather than political issue

On Tuesday, February 13^th, 2018, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented to victims’ associations and representatives of the Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, its regional survey on the search for persons disappeared during the armed conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. This regional research was carried out during 2017 by Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past (Zagreb), the „Kvart“Youth Center (Prijedor), the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (Prishtina), and the Humanitarian Law Center (Belgrade), and included the situation in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

New EU enlargement strategy: reconciliation still prerequisite for membership

On Tuesday, 6^th of February 2018, the European Commission (EC) announced a package of strategic documents on the European Union (EU)-s enlargement perspective to the Western Balkan countries. These documents remind the Western Balkan countries that political, economic and administrative reforms are a prerequisite for membership in the EU, identify key issues and the expected results of reforms, and present ways of engaging EU institutions in providing the necessary political, financial and expert support. According to the EC, the path to membership for the Western Balkan countries is a realistic prospective option, but will require genuine political commitment, essential reforms and the resolution of all bilateral disagreements. If Serbia achieves this ambitious plan, it can become an EU member as early as 2025.

Public opinion poll on „The awareness of Serbian citizens about the wars and war crimes of the ‘90s, and war crimes trials“

A survey conducted by the Research and Publishing Center Demostat for the needs of the daily newspaper Danas, for the first time since 2011, presents the views of citizens about war crimes trials before domestic courts and the Hague Tribunal, as well as their views about the opening of archives, regional cooperation of judicial bodies, political rehabilitation of convicted war criminals, compensations to victims and raising of war memorials, and reform of the educational programme, and addresses in conclusion the perception of guilt and responsibility for the crimes committed and the general awareness of citizens about the wars and crimes committed in the ‘90s.

Presentation of the Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes and the Public Opinion Survey on Public Attitudes about the Wars of the 90s

The Initial report on the implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes, and the results of the opinion polls on „Awareness of the citizens of Serbia about the wars of the 90s, war crimes and war crimes trials“, were presented on Monday, December 18 2017, at a conference organized by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the daily newspaper ‘Danas’.

Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for War Crimes Prosecution

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) has been monitoring and providing support to war crimes trials since the first war crimes proceedings conducted in Serbia in 2002. The HLC is the only organization that has been continuously monitoring and analyzing war crimes trials in Serbia and informing the public at home and abroad about them. It has been representing victims in war crimes cases through an attorney, filing criminal complaints with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutors (OWCP) against suspected perpetrators, and sharing its documentation on war crimes.