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Pogodak!
In the period from September until December 2008, the Humanitarian Law Center – Kosovo (HLC-Kosovo) conducted a research on the implementation of the Law on the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Communities and Their Members in the Republic of Kosovo, with special focus on the creation of the Consultative Council for Communities within the Kosovo President’s Cabinet. This law was passed on 13 March 2008 and entered into force on 15 June 2008, while the decree of the President of Kosovo, on establishment of the Consultative Council, was made on 15 September 2008.... >>
HLC-Kosovo is the only nongovernmental organization monitoring trials of war crimes and ethnically motivated criminal offences in Kosovo. In 2007, HLC-Kosovo monitored 117 main hearings in 21 cases before municipal and district courts, as well as four cases before the Supreme Court of Kosovo. The persons examined in these [monitored] cases included 119 witnesses (two of whom were protected witnesses) and five ballistic experts and neuropsychiatrists. In all cases the indictments were brought and represented by international prosecutors. All the chamber presidents are international judges, with local judges serving as trial chamber members.... >>
In the period following the toppling of Slobodan Milošević, the transitional government supported domestic war crimes trials, but it soon became clear that serious impediments existed. Police was not willing to share its data on war crimes perpetrators with prosecutors, primarily because most of them belonged to the police.... >>
Every government assumes political responsibility for the deeds and misdeeds of its
predecessor, and every nation for the deeds and misdeeds of the past.
Hannah Arendt, ''Eichmann in Jerusalem''
Conferences / Press Conference of the Humanitarian Law Center Steering Board /
 
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Florence Hartmann

1.  To Investigate Allegations about the Fate of the Missing in Kosovo
For more than three years the Humanitarian Law Center has been researching and collecting information about the killed and missing in Kosovo in the period 1998 - 2000. According to the data of the International Committee of the Red Cross, there are still approximately 1,900 persons missing in Kosovo: 1,400 Albanians and 500 Serbs and other non-Albanians.

The lack of information on the fate of the missing can only prolong the suffering of their families, deepen the doubts, and encourage different accusations and allegations. That is why it is in the best interest of all to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Governments have a duty to open investigations and take all necessary measures to find, as soon as possible, the mortal remains of the missing in order to establish the truth about the circumstances of their disappearances and identify the perpetrators of these crimes.

The present discussion about the claims regarding the alleged taking of body organs from kidnapped Serbs shows that the most significant issue concerning the missing persons in Kosovo is to find their mortal remains.

That is why we want today to remind the public once more of the obligation of Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania to conduct a prompt investigation and publicly disclose the facts about the fate of the missing, especially in the context of allegations on transfer of Serbs and their detention in camps in Albania.

We would also like to call upon the international community to encourage the inter-governmental cooperation and to provide help to the respective investigative bodies, if they possess information that could accelerate these investigations.

2.   The Hague Archive
Large archives collected during the fifteen-year mandate of the Hague Tribunal will remain after the Tribunal is closed. These documents are of great significance for the entire territory of the former Yugoslavia.

The Hague archives contain a detailed account of almost all events, which took place on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1990 and they certainly represent a unique and irreplaceable source of documents. It contains original documents, court experts’ reports, testimonies of the main actors and ordinary people from the entire area affected by the armed conflicts, which no one succeeded to collect in one place. The fact is that most of The Hague archives consist of public elements, which are part of the recent past of this area.  Therefore, they are crucial for moulding historical memory based on facts free from prejudice and denial. Hence, it is necessary to make these archives available to researchers, victims’ families and the interested public from the area of the former Yugoslavia in a direct and simple manner.

Easy access would enable every nation or ethnic community to learn about the past and obtain information about its own criminal behaviour and, therefore, to understand the perceptions of others. This is the only way to remove obstacles, which are in the way of raising awareness about crimes committed against others and to find a way out of the cycle of denial of crimes.

It is certainly painful to deal with the dark pages of history of the nation, but it is more than necessary, if we want to relieve new generations of the burden of the dishonourable part of history.

On the other hand, the return of the Hague archive must not become a chance for new politicisations and manipulation of the recent past. Therefore, it is important that these archives are turned over to independent institutions and nongovernmental organizations, which have experience and knowledge in the collection and administration of documents.

For centuries Europe has been built through reconciling rival countries. This year, France and Germany published a common history textbook covering the period from 1814 until 1945, the period in which these two countries fought each other the most. Other countries in Europe and outside Europe want to follow this role model. Poland and Czech Republic intend to implement such a project with Germany; Ukraine with Russia; and Japan with Korea. The Hague archives should become the most important source of documents for countries and societies in the region of the former Yugoslavia, according to which interpretations of history since the 1990s should be harmonized with the intention of using truth to prevent recurrence of violence and crimes against others.

People and countries of the former Yugoslavia can remove the burden of the dark past and restore trust only by learning the truth, and not by concealing the facts about the past.