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Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes

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Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes 1 ISBN 978-86-7932-089-6 ISBN Initial Report on the Implementation of 1 the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Belgrade, December 2017 Embassy of Switzerland in the Republic of Serbia The project was supported by the European Union and the Embassy of Switzerland to the Republic of Serbia and to Montenegro. The views herein expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Union or the Embassy of Switzerland to the Republic of Serbia and to Montenegro. Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes 2 Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Content Acronyms and Abbreviations............................................................................................................................4 Preface....................................................................................................................................................................5 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................7 General Findings on the Implementation of the National Strategy Implementation............................9 I. Case Prosecution Based on the Priorities Established in Accordance with the Criteria Defined by the Prosecutorial Strategy............................................................................................................10 II. Increase in the Number of Indictments in Relation to the Number of Investigations...................11 III. Increase in the Number of Finalized Proceedings in Relation to the Number of Indictments...12 IV. Shorter Average Duration of War Crimes Proceedings.......................................................................13 V. Positive Evaluation by the European Commission on the Alignment of the System of Protection and Support to Victims and Witnesses in the Republic of Serbia with the European Union Standards.......................................................................................................................14 VI. Increased Number of Initiated and Resolved Cases due to Regional Cooperation.......................14 VII. Reduced Number of Missing Persons Whose Fate Has Not Been Clarified..................................16 VIII. Reports of the Chief Prosecutor and the President of the ICTY to the Security Council.........17 3 IX. Positive Reports from Other Relevant Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations.....................................................................................................................................................19 Areas Covered by the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes.......................................20 INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF THE WAR CRIMES PROCEEDINGS..............................................20 PROTECTION OF WITNESSES AND VICTIMS.....................................................................................34 SUPPORT TO VICTIMS AND WITNESSES..............................................................................................44 DEFENSE OF THE ACCUSED.......................................................................................................................51 WAR CRIMES TRIALS AND THE ISSUE OF MISSING PERSONS....................................................54 COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA...................................................................................................................................................63 REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION........................................................................66 IMPROVING THE SOCIETY’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ISSUE OF WAR CRIMES TRIALS................................................................................................................................................................73 Overview of the Implementation of Activities.............................................................................................83 Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Acronyms and Abbreviations Action Plan Action Plan for Chapter 23 in the framework of Serbia’s accession negotiations with the European Union Commission The Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia CPC Criminal Procedure Code (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, nos. 72/2011, 101/2011, 121/2012, 32/2013, 45/2013 and 55/2014) CPD Criminal Police Directorate Deputy Prosecutor Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor EU European Union Government Government of the Republic of Serbia HJC The High Judical Council HLC Humanitarian Law Center ICTY United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Law on War Crimes Proceedings Law on Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in War Crimes Proceedings (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, nos. 67/2003, 135/2004, 61/2005, 101/2007, 104/2009, 101/2011 and 6/2015) 4 MICT United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals MoD The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia Model Strategy Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed during and in relation to the Armed Conflicts in the former Yugoslavia MoI The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia National Strategy National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OWCP Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor Prosecutor War Crimes Prosecutor Request Freedom of information request RPP Republic’s Public Prosecutor SPC State Prosecutorial Council UN United Nations Unit Witness Protection Unit U.N. Security Council United Nations Security Council VWISS Victim and Witness Information and Support Service WCIS War Crimes Investigation Service YA Yugoslav Army Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Preface The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) has been monitoring and providing support to war crimes trials since the first war crimes proceedings conducted in Serbia in 2002. The HLC is the only organization that has been continuously monitoring and analyzing war crimes trials in Serbia and informing the public at home and abroad about them. It has been representing victims in war crimes cases through an attorney, filing criminal complaints with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutors (OWCP) against suspected perpetrators, and sharing its documentation on war crimes. Relying on its intimate knowledge of the subject of war crimes prosecutions in Serbia, acquired over a number of years, during 2013 and 2014 the HLC carried out research into key aspects of the work of institutions specialized in the prosecution of war crimes and the problems in their work during the first ten years of their existence. The findings of the research were presented in the publication “Analysis of the Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia 2004-2013“. On the basis of the Analysis and a series of consultative meetings with representatives of government authorities and other relevant stakeholders, the HLC in 2015 published a Model Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes Committed during and in relation to the Armed Conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. 5 The National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes, a document that the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted in February 2016, is based, among other things, on the Model Strategy developed by the HLC. Given the fifteen years of the HLC’s active engagement in monitoring war crimes, but also the HLC’s long-time advocacy for the adoption of a national strategy and addressing the key problems in the areas covered by it, the HLC has a unique capacity to monitor its implementation, and will exercise this capacity throughout the period of implementation, until 2020. This is the first report on the implementation of the National Strategy. The HLC’s research and findings show that in the one and a half years since its adoption, no significant progress in war crimes prosecutions can be reported. Quite the reverse: the situation has, in some respects, worsened even further. Not only has implementation started with an enormous delay, but some key activities have not yet been implemented at all. The prosecutorial strategy has not been adopted, only eight indictments have been raised, war crimes trials continue to be unduly delayed, no progress has been made regarding victims’ procedural rights, the search for missing persons continues to be inefficient, cooperation with the ICTY has been discontinued, and the relevant international governmental and non-governmental organization have negative opinions about Serbia’s progress in the prosecution of war crimes. Initial Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes The HLC thinks that Serbia’s evident regression in war crimes prosecution and in dealing with the past clearly demonstrates that adopting a national strategy on its own is not enough to solve the numerous continuing problems in this area. Without genuine commitment and political will, all reforms are doomed to failure and the problems identified will remain unsolved. The HLC wishes to draw attention to the fact that unless some critical steps are taken immediately,
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