Political Elites in Serbia Show no Responsibility for Legacy of the Past
The government of the Republic of Serbia seriously limits the efforts to re-establish the rule of law by not arresting the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indictees who are still at large and hide on the territory of Serbia and by not carrying out reforms of the police, military and security services. The government continues to influence the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office to prevent establishment of the truth about participation of Serbian institutions in planning, ordering and execution of crimes during armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The government ignores its obligation to provide the victims’ families with the full truth on the fate of their loved ones and establish an appropriate reparation programme for the victims. What is more, the government fails to accept the need to establish a public platform for truth-seeking and truth-telling on the harms done to others in the name of Serbia, which is a condition for restoring dignity off all victims, including Serbian ones.
On December 11, 2006 the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a compensation lawsuit against the Republic of Serbia on behalf of Šefćet Mehmedović, a Bosniak from Novi Pazar, for ethnically motivated torture committed against him by police inspector Bratislav Gerić, an unidentified inspector known by his nickname “Nino”, and several other unidentified members of the Novi Pazar Internal Affairs Secretariat (SUP Novi Pazar) in May of 1994. As a result of the beating, the health of Šefćet Mehmedović is permanently damaged.