Towards Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia – Session on the Protection of Witnesses and Victims of War Crimes

On Thursday, November 6th, 2014, in the Library of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), the third consultative session regarding the Draft Strategy for the War Crimes Trials in Serbia was held. The meeting was dedicated to the topic of protection of witnesses and victims of war crimes.

The meeting was attended by judges in war crimes cases, as well as representatives of the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia (OWCP), the EU Delegation to Serbia, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, a former member of the Protection Unit of the EULEX Mission, legal experts, and representatives of victims in war crimes cases.

The participants discussed the current practice and opportunities for improving the system of protection of victims and witnesses before, during and after testifying in war crimes cases, as well as the problems in the implementation of the Witness Protection Programme in Serbia.

The recommendations of participants will be incorporated in the Draft Strategy for War Crimes Trials in Serbia in the period from 2015 to 2025 , which will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia by the end of 2014.