Humiliating Compensation for Kosovo Albanians Who Survived Torture by Members of Ministry of Interior

The First Basic Court in Belgrade rendered a judgment ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay compensation to the amount of 150,000 RSD each, to three Kosovo Albanians on account of its responsibility for the abuse and inhumane treatment these victims experienced by members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MoI) during their unlawful detention in 1999 and 2000. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) stresses that by granting petty compensation amounts in these cases, the courts in Serbia are trying to minimize the atrocities committed during the 1990’s against victims of serious violations of human rights for which representatives of state bodies bear responsibility.


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Report on Material Reparation for 2012 Presented

On Wednesday, June 13th, 2013, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented its report on material reparation for the year 2012, titled “Fulfilling the Right for Victims of Human Rights to Seek Reparation Before Serbian Courts – Serving Justice or Trivializing Crimes”. Tanja Drobnjak, an HLC attorney, who represents victims in lawsuits against the state of Serbia, Petar Žmak, Reparation Project Coordinator at the HLC, Dr. Saša Gajin from the Faculty of Law at Union University, and Senad Jusufbegović, a former prisoner at the Šljivovica and Mitovo Polje camps, spoke at the conference. Sandra Orlović, the Executive Director of the HLC, was the Moderator.


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Fulfilling the Right for Victims of Human Rights Abuses to seek Reparation before the Serbian Courts

This Report offers a review of 15 cases in which HLC represented victims and which resulted in court decisions in 2012. There were a total of 18 judgments, 12 of which were negative and six positive, which awarded a total of RSD 1.76 million to victims of human rights abuses.


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Victims’ Testimonies About Torture in Prisons in Serbia

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.


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Testimonies of torture survivors before First Basic Court in Belgrade

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.


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Compensation to five Kosovar Albanians for torture and unlawful detention in 1999

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.


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Constitutional Complaint because of Failure to Investigate Crimes Committed against Bosniaks at the Šljivovica and Mitrovo Polje Camps

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.


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Higher Court in Belgrade: State of Serbia Responsible for War Crimes in Kukurovići Committed in 1993

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.


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Kosovar Albanian awarded compensation for torture suffered in 1999

The Court of Appeals in Belgrade has delivered a judgement ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay 200,000 RSD to Sylejman Bajgora from Podujevo/Podujevë, in compensation for torture he  endured in 1999 at the hands of members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (the MUP of the RS). In the same judgment, the Court of Appeals upheld the trial court judgment turning down the compensation claim by Ekrem Nebihu from Glogogovac/Glogoc.


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20 Years after the Crime in Sjeverin

The anniversary of the suffering of the victims from Sjeverin was observed on Monday, October 22nd in Priboj.


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