Press release: Minister Vulin continuously in the company of war crimes convicts

Press release: Minister Vulin continuously in the company of war crimes convicts

vulin-saopstenje-enAccording to some media reports, Saša Cvjetan, a member of the “Scorpions” unit who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005 for war crimes against Albanian civilians during the Kosovo war, was an honoured guest at the commemoration of Srebrenica Municipality Day on March 11 this year. At the ceremony, seated  in the same row as Cvjetan, was Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, who also gave a speech on that occasion.

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) believes that it is inadmissible that state officials of Serbia be found in the company of war criminals, thereby knowingly affording them the legitimacy to participate in political life. It is in this way that the rehabilitation of those convicted of the most serious crimes during the wars of the 1990s and historical revisionism of court-established facts are carried out.


Share

Call for Proposals: Media and Revisionism

Call for Proposals: Media and Revisionism

mar-enIn Serbia’s public discourse, the dominant interpretations on the Yugoslav wars not only ignore or devalue judicially-established facts about crimes committed during the wars, but deny and falsify the facts into distorted narratives. Media work in a context of increasing monopolisation by revisionist memory politics from above. At the same time, media themselves are becoming a crucial instrument in revisionist memory politics.

Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) is hiring a consultant who will write a programmatic paper on the topic “Media and Revisionism”. The paper should identify and analyse revisionist trends in media reports on the wars of the 1990s (on the occasions of anniversaries, important decisions, etc.), and provide tools and resources for an alternative, critical role of media in dealing with the past. Therefore, the HLC is inviting scholars and researchers to submit their paper proposals on the topic “Media and Revisionism”.

All submissions are required to include the applicant’s CV (up to 3 pages) and a paper proposal (up to 300 words). Submissions should be made electronically to office@hlc-rdc.org with the subject line: “CfP Media and Revisionism”. The deadline is April 5, 2022. Only successful applicants will be contacted by the HLC.

Share

Ethnic Violence in Kosovo

Ethnic Violence in Kosovo

etnicko-nasilje-enFollowing June 1999 the Serbs in Kosovo have been having a hard time. After the withdrawal of the Serbian army and the police, they became the targets for the KLA and criminal groups. Numerous murders, abductions and property destruction happened in the presence of the international forces. The absence of KFOR’s reaction persuaded even those Albanians who were against the violence that the international community was supporting the idea of the extreme political groups that Kosovo should be free of the Serbs. On 17 March, with the exception of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, UNMIK and KFOR, once again and primarily through their omission to act, encouraged the Albanian extremists.

Download report

Share

Serbian War Criminal Campaigns to Win Back Parliamentary Seat

Serbian War Criminal Campaigns to Win Back Parliamentary Seat
BalkanInsight_logoSerbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj is running for a seat in parliament again at general elections next month, despite having a war crime conviction that should have legally barred him from sitting as an MP.

Ultranationalist politician Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party, is attempting to win back a seat in the Serbian parliament at elections on April 3 – even though, after being convicted by the UN war crimes court, he should have been barred from being an MP.

Seselj was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague in April 2018 for inciting war crimes against ethnic Croats in the Serbian village of Hrtkovci in 1992. However, because of the years he had already spent in custody, he did not have to serve the sentence.


Share

Call for Applications: Memory Activism Fellowship

Call for Applications: Memory Activism Fellowship

maf-enThe Humanitarian Law Center accepts applications for the first round of Memory Activism Fellowships, including two fellowships of up to 6 months, starting in May and October 2022. We welcome fellowship applications from researchers, journalists, practitioners and artists who work on the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia from different perspectives. The fellowship is non-residential and does not require a presence in Belgrade. During the fellowship, the fellows are expected to generate outputs that will be published and promoted by the HLC. The outputs can be in the form of analysis, a report, a series of blogs or organisation of events.

Applications should be sent by email to memoryprogram@hlc-rdc.org and must include a CV and a cover letter outlining your plans for the fellowship period and expected outputs, indicating the preferred beginning of the fellowship (May or October). The applicants should also specify their topic of interest and expertise. The deadline for applications is 20 March and successful candidates will be informed in early April.


Share