Serb Duško Arsić sentenced to 13 years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo

Serb Duško Arsić sentenced to 13 years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo

fdh_kosovo_logoOn February 2, 2024, the Trial Panel of the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina pronounced the verdict against the accused Duško Arsić, declaring him guilty of war crimes against the civilian population and sentencing him to 13 years in prison.

According to the court, the accused Duško Arsić, in collaboration with other members of the Serbian forces during the period from January to June 1999, participated in the expulsion, looting, burning of property, mistreatment, and killing of Albanian civilians in the municipality of Pristina, with a particular focus on the mistreatment of Artan Krasniqi.


(srpski) Markale

(srpski) Markale

Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.

Debate: Decade of Remembrance

Debate: Decade of Remembrance

Untitled design - 1As part of the RECOM Reconciliation Network project, the Humanitarian Law Center is organising a debate on memory politics and commemorative practices in post-Yugoslav countries under the title Decade of Remembrance.

Researchers will present the results of monitoring commemorations of five events over the past ten years in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The discussion will focus on the conflicting narratives of the same events, which, instead of becoming less contentious over time, are showing increasing differences in the interpretation of judicial facts. The goal is to discuss ways to reconcile different perspectives and enhance the influence of the academic community and civil society in creating a culture of memory based on judicial facts and personal experiences.

The debate is taking place in hybrid format on January 25 2024 from 11:00 to 15:00 CET. It is open for public on Zoom, with language interpretation provided, with mandatory registration on the link.

Ready for Memory Wars: The Case of the HOS Memorial Plaque in Croatia

Ready for Memory Wars: The Case of the HOS Memorial Plaque in Croatia

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This paper focuses on Croatia and the use of hate speech and controversial symbols for the maintenance of symbolic boundaries, the reinforcement of a one-sided version of the past, and the mobilization of voters. The presence and use of the Ustaša salutation, “Ready for the Homeland” (Za dom spremni – ZDS) is a consistent example of those tendencies. In recent years, the salutation has become increasingly intertwined with the legacies of World War Two and the 1990s Croatian War of Independence, while simultaneously reflecting the rise of nationalism and radical-right parties and movements in Croatia as well as abroad. The paper presents insights into the ways ZDS is used to reify national identity, while centering around some of the main actors perpetuating this dynamic, such as politicians and war veterans. Accordingly, it focuses primarily on the case of the memorial plaque erected in 2016 by former members of the Croatian Defence Forces paramilitary unit, which included the ZDS salutation. At one point threatening to topple the government, the case demonstrates how the salute is used to maintain the dominant narrative of the Homeland War.


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