Conference: Prosecuting War Crimes in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia – A Twenty-Year Review

The Humanitarian Law Center is organizing an international conference titled “Prosecuting War Crimes in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia – A Twenty-Year Review” to evaluate the results of the trials so far and provide concrete recommendations for improving these processes, especially in the area of prosecuting sexual war crimes and the position of victims in legal proceedings.

The societal repercussions of historical revisionism, the media’s glorification of convicted war criminals, and the relativization of judicially established facts will also be discussed during the conference.

This is the first conference in over a decade that brings together war crimes prosecutors, judges, ministry representatives, victims’ families, NGOs, and the media from the region for a discussion and analysis of the prosecution of war crimes in the courts of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The organizer of the conference, the Humanitarian Law Center, is the only organization that has been continuously monitoring and analyzing war crimes trials in Serbia since the first trial.

War crimes trials before national courts provide an opportunity to approach the difficult legacy of the recent war past of the region in an impartial manner, applying the law in accordance with democratic principles and European values. This conference enables a discussion of how this opportunity has been used so far and how it can be improved.

Special attention will be given to the prosecution of wartime sexual violence, regional cooperation, trials in absentia, and support for victims and witnesses. Additionally, two debates will focus on the issue of fugitives from justice in the region and the lack of visibility of trials in the public sphere.

The conference will also give a voice to victims, allowing them to share their experiences of justice.

The “Prosecuting War Crimes in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia – A Twenty-Year Review” conference will be held in Belgrade on November 28–29, 2024, and is being implemented as part of the project “Justice for Victims of Wartime Sexual Violence,” supported by the European Union.