ICTY Hague court in turmoil amid claims of manipulation
The court set up to make sure the worst Balkans war criminals faced justice is under unprecedented scrutiny.
The court set up to make sure the worst Balkans war criminals faced justice is under unprecedented scrutiny.
A Serbian human rights group has filed war crimes charges against four serving police officers over the killings of nine Albanians in the Kosovo town of Vucitrn/Vushitrri in 1999.
The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint on June 18th, 2013 with the Republic of Serbia for the alleged commission of a war crime against the civilian population of Vučitrn/Vushtrri in late April and early May 1999.
The wars in the former Yugoslavia during the nineteen-nineties left behind a difficult legacy of mass atrocities committed in the countries formed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Around 130,000 people lost their lives, more than 12,000 are still missing and tens of thousands of victims suffered torture and sexual violence. All this is just a part of the horrific outcome of these wars. After a decade of destruction and the collapse of the rule of law that unleashed the violence and systematic violations of fundamental human rights, these countries still face the challenges of consolidating their legal systems, and building democratic institutions which will adopt a responsible attitude towards the violent past and foster a culture of human rights.
Complete analysis of the existing legal framework can be downloaded here.
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.
The compensation granted to torture and abuse victims from the 1990s war is meagre, while trials are long and the state is attempting to cover up its role in the conflict, says a new report.
Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.
Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.