Open Call for Mentorship Program on Transitional Justice Deadline to apply: 08 May 2025

Are you a young person (18–25 years old) from Kosovo1 or Serbia passionate about dealing with the past and exploring Transitional Justice? The Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLC Kosovo) and the Humanitarian Law Center Foundation (HLC) invite you to apply for a three-month mentorship program focused on research and writing. 

What is the program about?
This mentorship opportunity is designed to support youth from Kosovo and Serbia to deepen their understanding of Transitional Justice through guided research. Selected participants will work on short research papers (5–10 pages) on relevant topics and will receive personalized mentorship from staff members of HLC Kosovo and HLC. 

Open Letter to the High Prosecutorial Council Regarding the Appointment of the War Crimes Prosecutor

Dear Members of the High Prosecutorial Council,

We are writing to you regarding the appointment of the Chief War Crimes Prosecutor, considering your responsibility to appoint a person with professional integrity to this critical position, whose leadership will enhance the work of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the War Crimes (OWCP) and contribute to the more efficient prosecution of war crimes. Given that more than thirty years have passed since the beginning of the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the upcoming mandate of the Chief Prosecutor is of exceptional importance, as there is less and less time to bring those responsible for crimes to justice.

In this context, we express concern that Ms. Snežana Stanojković is again among the candidates for this position despite the serious shortcomings and erosion of the OWCP’s credibility during her previous term.

Silence for 756 Victims of NATO Bombings

The Humanitarian Law Center calls on citizens, university and high school students to mark March 24 with a moment of silence lasting 7+5+6 minutes, in memory of the 756 individuals who lost their lives during the 78 days of NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999.

A total of 756 people were killed in the NATO attacks: 451 civilians (217 Albanians, 204 Serbs, and 30 Roma and others), 276 members of the Yugoslav Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, and 29 members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Urgent: End the Political Persecution of Activists from the STAV Youth Group and Members of the PSG

On Friday, March 14, activist and student Lazar Dinić was arrested in Belgrade, while in Novi Sad, members of the Free Citizens Movement (PSG) were detained: Lado Jovović, Marija Vasić, Davor Stefanović, Srđan Đurić, and Mladen Cvijetić. On March 16, the Higher Court in Novi Sad ordered a 30-day detention for these six individuals, and today, searches were carried out at the apartments of activists who are currently out of the country.

The arrests followed the release of an audio recording made by eavesdropping on a meeting attended by members of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG), as well as activists from the STAV group. According to information received from the attorney of the arrested individuals, the recording was made by the Serbian Security Information Agency (BIA), and the order was signed by the president of the Higher Court in Belgrade. The attorney did not have access to the contents of the order, he only obtained the information that it exists.

(srpski) Osumnjičeni zločinci u Pionirskom parku

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Statement on the First-instance Judgement in the Labljane Case

On February 28, 2025, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade delivered a judgement finding Tefik Mustafa guilty of the criminal offense of organizing and inciting to commit genocide and war crimes. He was sentenced to one year in prison.

In delivering the judgement, the presiding judge, Snežana Nikolić-Garotić, stated that the court had determined that Tefik Mustafa, as a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), during the international armed conflict between the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the NATO military alliance, and at the same time the non-international armed conflict between the armed forces of the FRY and the organized armed formation the KLA, was part of a group organized to commit war crimes against Serbian civilians in the villages of Labljane, Slivovo, and the surrounding areas. On June 19, 1999, the group set up a checkpoint near the village of Labljane. There armed with automatic wheapons, they where forcibly stopping the Serbian civilians leaving their homes, taking them out of their vehicles, and frightening them by shooting. On that day, they stopped a truck with civilians Goran Marinković, Živojin Pavić, and Predrag Miljković. Miljković and Pavić were last seen at that checkpoint. Goran Marinković was taken to the Kačikol camp for a prisoner exchange, but was never seen again.

HLC Governing Board Members

• Tihomir Loza, Director, South East European Network for Profession­alization of Media
• Florence Hartmann, a political analyst and expert on Balkan issues and frozen conflicts
• Bekim Blakaj, Executive Director, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo
• Heleen Habraken, a human rights and international criminal justice analyst
• Midhat Izmirlija, an Associate Professor at the Law School of the University of Sarajevo
• Jelena Stevančević, a human rights activist and rule of law expert
• Nedim Sejdinović, a journalist, writer and essayist
• Ana Milošević, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Criminology at the Faculty of Law, University of Leuven

HLC Files Criminal Complaint for Killings of Civilians in Jezero

On February 25, 2025, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of the Republic of Serbia against Milorad Vukašević, Commander of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade of the Army of the Republic of Srpska (VRS), and other members of this unit for killings of 34 Bosniak civilians in June 1992 in Jezero (Jajce municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

In early June 1992, members of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade (hereinafter 1st PartBr), part of the 30th Partisan Division of the First Krajina Corps VRS in whose zone of responsible the municipality of Jajce was located, carried out an artillery and infantry attack on the civilian population of Jezero, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Milorad Vukašević. Mortars and anti-tank rockets were used in the attack. The poorly organized Bosniak population of Jezero, mostly armed with hunting rifles, resisted the Serbian forces. However, shortly after the attack began, they decided to flee. As all roads leading out of Jezero were blocked, most residents escaped during the night between June 1 and 2, 1992, crossing Pliva Lake by boat and fleeing toward Jajce. Those who remained in Jezero were mostly elderly individuals and those unwilling to leave their homes.

(srpski) Slučaj porodice Klapuh – ratni zločin između dvije obale Pive

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(srpski) Balkanski hladni slučajevi #1: Hrvatski časnik ubijen zbog razotkrivanja ratnih zločina

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