In Serbia, Justice Overruled: 25 Years after NATO Intervention, a Pass for Atrocity Crimes

In Serbia, Justice Overruled: 25 Years after NATO Intervention, a Pass for Atrocity Crimes

OpinioJuris-logo[Fred Abrahams covered the Kosovo conflict for Human Rights Watch. He wrote the book Modern Albania and co-wrote A Village Destroyed: War Crimes in Kosovo. Marija Ristic covered Serbian war crimes trials as a journalist for local and international media.]

This April, a modest courtroom in Belgrade, Serbia, offered a lens into the global debate on justice for atrocity crimes. The case dealt with mass killings in Kosovo committed 25 years ago but the topic has relevance for Sudan, Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and other conflicts today.


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REPORT ON WAR CRIMES TRIALS IN SERBIA DURING 2023

REPORT ON WAR CRIMES TRIALS IN SERBIA DURING 2023

Online razgovor SLIKA EN - 32The HLC has monitored all war crimes trials conducted in the territory of Serbia in 2023, namely a total of 27 cases conducted before the War Crimes Departments of the Higher Court and the Court of Appeal in Belgrade. For each of the cases, the Report provides an overview of the proceedings and the HLC’s basic findings which are of public relevance. A large number of the war crimes cases covered by this Report have been ongoing for a several years, hence the previous HLC’s annual trial reports are also relevant for a full grasp of the course of the proceedings and the pertinent HLC findings.

The report focuses on the work of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (POWCP) and of the courts in those parts of the judicial proceedings open to the public, primarily by analysing the indictments and the judgments in each case. An analysis of the work of other bodies involved in the prosecution of war crimes – the War Crimes Investigation Service of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), the Witness Protection Unit and others, cannot be undertaken in respect of the individual cases, as no information on their activities is publicly available.


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