The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serge Brammertz, in his regular six-month address to the UN Security Council on 7 June 2017, presented a report in which he warned of a growing trend of denial and revisionism of court- established facts in Serbia and the entire region, as well as of the burning issue of the slowdown in the process of war crimes trials before Serbian courts, and the difficulties of regional cooperation between specialized prosecution offices. At the same session of the UN Security Council, the Serbian representative Čedomir Backović rejected any words of criticism and opposed Brammertz’s substantive objections by presenting the supposed statistical successes of the Serbian government that he represents. The signatories to this appeal demand that the Serbian authorities consider carefully the objections addressed to Serbia during the UN Security Council session, and deal with problems that have in recent years resulted in the growth of nationalism in society and a drastic deterioration in relations with the countries of the region.
8th of June 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions, which prescribes the responsibility of a commander to prevent the commission of crimes and punish the perpetrators.
Article 87, paragraph 3 of the Protocol: „The High Contracting Parties and Parties to the conflict shall require any commander who is aware that subordinates or other persons under his control are going to commit or have committed a breach of the Conventions or of this Protocol, to initiate such steps as are necessary to prevent such violations of the Conventions or this Protocol, and, where appropriate, to initiate disciplinary or penal action against violators thereof.” Protocol I had been incorporated into national military legislation already back in 1988. Although there is legal basis, no one has ever been prosecuted for command responsibility in Serbia for crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a number of criminal complaints against commanders in whose areas of responsibility crimes had been committed. Apart from opening an investigation in the case of Dragan Živanović, HLC’s criminal complaints have been ignored. Not a single high-ranking person has been prosecuted by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of Serbia in 13 years since the beginning of its work.
In the new issue of the through ACCSESSION towards JUSTICE Bulletin, Attorney at Law Mr. Mihailo Pavlović, discusses a new attempt by Serbia to legally regulate the provision of free legal assistance. Free legal assistance represents more than a required obligation for harmonization with EU Acquis, but also an obligation towards society’s vulnerable citizens, who would be the greatest beneficiaries of this assistance: a number of which include victims of war crimes.
The News section highlights current developments in the areas of transitional justice and Serbia’s EU integration process, and the War Crimes Trials section offers an overview of recently held trials and rulings delivered.
Send us your opinions and comments on the newsletter and/or the topics discussed to the e-mail address towardsJUSTICE@hlc-rdc.org. Discussion is also welcome on Twitter/#towardsJUSTICE.
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On Saturday, May 27th 2017 the exhibition titled “Targeting monuments-Targeting history and memory” was opened in Belgrade. The exhibition consists of photographs, videos, eyewitness testimonies and documents that speak of the enormous scale of destroyed cultural heritage during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The exhibition is based on the eponymous narrative, which shows how serious crimes against the cultural, historical and religious heritage committed during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo were investigated, reconstructed and prosecuted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.
Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.
