Include victims’ rights to reparation in Chapter 23

The European Commission (EC) Screening Report for Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Human Rights, does not contain information on the rights of victims of the war crimes and of mass violations of human rights committed during the 1990’s to material compensation and other types of reparation. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) calls upon all participants in Serbia’s European Union (EU) accession negotiations to include all norms and international standards relating to the rights of victims of human rights violations, including the requirements of the EU Acquis, into the process of the harmonization of domestic regulations with  EU law.

Racist Positions of the Court of Appeals in the Judgment in the Skočić Case

The War Crimes Department of the Court of Appeals in Belgrade (Court of Appeals Department) has quashed the judgment rendered by the Higher Court in the Belgrade War Crimes Department (Higher Court Department), by which seven members of “Simo’s Chetnicks”, a paramilitary unit, were found guilty of committing war crime in the village of Skočić (in the Municipality of Zvornik, B&H), and sent the case back for a new trial. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) holds that the judgment rendered by the Court of Appeals contains a number of controversial findings, and that the rationale based on racist positions are particularly unacceptable and utterly inappropriate for a court, as well as being highly offensive to the victims.

(srpski) 11. jul – Dan sećanja na genocid u Srebrenici – proglasite!

Sorry, this entry is only available in srpski.

15 years after the murder of the Bytyqi brothers: individuals responsible still above the law

On July 9th, 2014 it will be 15 years since the brothers Mehmet (21), Agron (23), and Ylli (25) Bytyqi were murdered by members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). The failure of institutions to punish this crime points to the fact that justice in Serbia is selective and that the individuals responsible for the execution of the Bytyqi brothers are above the law.

The belated dismissal of Miloš Perović is insufficient

Miloš Perović, the former Head of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) Protection Unit for Participants in Criminal Proceedings, was dismissed from this position on Friday June 6th, 2014. He had been holding this position since 2008. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) holds that his dismissal, even though late, is significant for the reform of the witness protection system in cases of war crimes, but that it has to be followed by serious reforms of the Unit and the protection system.

Srebrenica Genocide Denial Under Auspices of Serbian Army and Ministry of Defence

For Thursday, April 10, the promotion has been scheduled, on the premises of the Serbian Army Centre, of the book “The Srebrenica Fraud”, authored by Ratko Škrbić, who denies the Srebrenica genocide and the facts established in the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Serbia.

Suspended member of Gendarmery accused of war crimes

The Commander of the Gendarmery, Milenko Božović, has suspended Vladan Krstović, a serving officer of this unit, who was indicted by the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) in the Ljubenić case, at the request thereupon submitted by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC). The HLC points out that the Serbian Army and the Ministry of Defence have declined to remove from active duty Serbian Army (SA) officer Pavle Gavrilović and serviceman Rajko Kozlina, who stand trial for the crime against civilians in the village of Trnje in March 1999.

Court of Appeal in Belgrade does not give credence to Bosniak victims

The Court of Appeal in Belgrade has quashed the interim judgment of the Higher Court in Belgrade, which found the Yugoslav Army (YA) responsible for the war crime which occurred in the village of Kukurovići on 18^th February 1993, and remanded the case for retrial. The Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) notes that this decision shows that Serbian courts are continuing with their practice of shielding the state institutions from responsibility for past human rights violations.

Anonymization of Judgments in Cases of War Crimes is Illegal

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, acting upon the appeal filed by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), has found that the practice of anonymization of judgments is in violation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance and the Law on Personal Data Protection. In his Decision, the Commissioner issued an order to the Higher Court in Belgrade to deliver to the HLC the judgment without illegal anonymization, under the threat of the imposition of a fine.

Human losses in NATO bombing of Serbia and Montenegro

In Serbia (without Kosovo) and Montenegro, 275 people lost their lives as a result of the NATO bombing: 180 civilians, 90 members of the Yugoslav Army (YA) and five were members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Except three Chinese nationals, all were citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).

In Kosovo, 484 people were killed: 267 civilians (209 Albanian and 58 non-Albanian), 171 members of the YA, 20 members of the Serbian MUP and 26 members of the KLA (19 of whom died in the NATO bombing of the Dubrava prison, near Istok).

Here you can see list of names of people who lost their lives in NATO bombing.