Case Study: Courts in Serbia in Service of Abolition of State’s Responsibility

Study created with regard to the Ruling delivered by the Supreme Court of Cassation quashing the final judgement granting compensation of damages to two former detainees in Šljivovica camp

The Republic of Serbia Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC), deciding upon the request for revision, quashed the final judgement by which the Republic of Serbia was obliged to pay the compensation of damages to Enes Bogilović and Mušan Džebo, because of the torture and inhuman treatment they suffered by members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) during their detention in the Šljivovica detention camp located near Bajina Bašta during 1995. The case, which has already been pending for more than eight years, is now sent for a new retrial and the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), which represents Mr. Bogilović and Mr. Džebo in this case, holds that the ruling delivered by the Court of the highest instance in Serbia quashing the judgement represents clear proof that judicial bodies have an intention to abolish the state from responsibility for the serious violations of law and international law committed by its officers during 1990s.

Initiative for Assessment of the Constitutionality of the Law on the Rights of Civilian Invalids of War

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed an initiative for the assessment of the constitutionality of the Law on the Rights of Civilian Invalids of War with the Constitutional Court of Serbia, due to the non-compliance of its provisions with the Constitution of Serbia and international human rights conventions. The HLC expects the Constitutional Court to act upon this initiative and declare the disputed legal provisions (Articles 2 and 3 of the Law) unconstitutional and annul them, which would then open a path for the passing of a new law which would guarantee comprehensive rights to civilian victims of armed conflicts, in line with the Constitution and the international obligations undertaken by the state of Serbia.

The first judgment on the responsibility of the state for the crimes in Kosovo: Compensation to families of victims of the crime in Podujevo

The First Basic Court in Belgrade delivered the judgment obliging the Republic of Serbia to pay compensation in the total amount of 25.9 million dinars to 24 closest relatives of fourteen women and children who were killed in front of their own houses in Podujevo in March 1999 by members of the Ministry of Interior unit “Scorpions”. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), which represents the families of victims, considers the court made the right decision after a nine-year proceeding adding that in the second instance proceeding, due to the nature of the case, the court must compare the amount of compensation to standards of the European Court of Human Rights in similar cases.

New Text of the Bill on Civilian Victims of War further Degrades their Status

The state secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, Dragan Popovic, has recently said that the state respects and fulfils the rights of victims of war and that the Bill on the Rights of Veterans, Disabled Veterans, Civilians Invalids of War and their Families, which, as it has been announced, will be submitted to the Government, is aligned with the European acquis. As regards this statement and having reviewed the revised text of the Bill, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the organizations comprising the Coalition Against Discrimination and the Coalition for Access to Justice call on this Ministry to stop deceiving the international and domestic public and above all more than 20,000 civilian victims of war living in Serbia, and to explain why the state refuses to respect their rights guaranteed by international conventions to which Serbia is a signatory.

State Shows Overt Negligence towards Civilian Victims of War

On January 22^nd, 2016, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) presented the report “Victims’ Right to Reparation in Serbia and the European Court of Human Rights Standards”. The Report sums up the findings about the legal framework and the practice of respect for the right of victims of human rights violations committed during the 1990s to reparation, as evidenced during 2014 and 2015, in relation to the standards of the European Court of Human Rights. Approximately 40 representatives of civil society, victims’ associations, the media, embassies and international organizations participated in the Conference.

Victims’ Right to Reparation in Serbia and the European Court of Human Rights Standards

For societies that have experienced periods of massive human rights violations, the issue of reparations for victims is one of the most important elements for the establishment of the rule of law and creating solidarity and a human rights culture.

Bill on Rights of Civilian Victims of War Still Hidden from Public Eye

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Veterans and Social Policy (Ministry) has refused to deliver the amended text of the Bill on the Rights of Veterans, Military Invalids, Civilian Invalids of War and Members of Their Families (Bill) to the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), which the HLC demanded on the basis of the Law on the Free Access to Information of Public Importance. The HLC notes that, by doing this, the Ministry has not only violated the right to free access to information of public importance, but has also continued with the practice of hiding the process of passing a new law regulating the rights of civilian victims of war from the public eye and from all interested parties.

To Withdraw Discriminatory Bill on Rights of Civilian Victims of War

With regard to the announced passing of the Bill on the Rights of War Veterans, Disabled War Veterans, Civilian Invalids of War and their Family Members (Bill), human rights organizations use this opportunity to draw the attention of the public and international community once more to the lack of harmonization of the provisions in this Bill with the mandatory provisions for the protection of human rights, and they call upon the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Veterans and Social Policy (Ministry) to withdraw the Bill from the adoption procedure, and the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the National Assembly to draft and pass a new Bill based on the Model Law on the Rights of Civilian Victims of Human Rights Violations Committed during and in Connection with Armed Conflicts in the Period 1991-2001, which contains normative solutions for the realization of the rights of victims in accordance with international agreements on the protection of human rights and other international standards in the provision of reparation to victims.

State Obliged to Pay Compensatory Damages for Murder of Two Croats from Vojvodina

The First Basic Court in Belgrade delivered a first instance judgment upholding the lawsuit filed by Stjepan Oskomić from Kukujevci in its entirety, and ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay the amount of 1,000,000 RSD in compensatory damages for the ethnically motivated murder of his parents Agica and Nikola Oskomić, which was committed in July 1993 in Kukujevci (the Municipality of Šid). The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), which represents Stjepan Oskomić in this case, states that, after more than nine years of proceedings, justice has finally been served by the judgment delivered in this case, and the responsibility of the state for serious ethnically motivated violations of human rights has been established correctly and in line with domestic and international law.

Serbia violates international law by refusing to grant the status of civilian war victims to the victims of Sjeverin

Regarding the 23^rd anniversary since the crime in Sjeverin

On Thursday, 22^nd of October, the opening of the memorial to the victims in Sjeverin will mark the 23^rd anniversary of the abduction and murders of 16 Serbian citizens of Bosnian nationality. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and the Sandžak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (the Sandžak Committee) caution that, from the point of view of international law, it is unacceptable for the Republic of Serbia not to approve the status of civilian war victims to the victims of Sjeverin. At the same time, the HLC and the Sandžak Committee state that the engagement of the local community and the municipality of Priboj in the commemoration of this crime and their help in constructing the monument are a rare example of responsible attitude on part of the institutions in the former Yugoslavia towards the victims, who come from an ethnic minority community.