Time for eULeX To prioriTize war crimes - Amnesty International ...

Kosovo: Time for EULEX to prioritize war crimes 19
informed me that they want to come and collect information about Krushe ë Vogël, and I was surprised. I said.
“What am I hearing for the first time in 12 years?” They said they wanted to meet with the representatives of
the village; they said they would take brief information about every case to send to the prosecutor, and then
the prosecutor will come and interview everyone. The greatest thing has happened”. 50 Amnesty International
interview with Agron Limani, October 2011.
The impact of war crimes investigations on the victims cannot be underestimated. Agron
Limani was one of the few adult males who survived a massacre by Serbian forces in the
village of Krushe ë Vogël (Mali Kruša) in western Kosovo, where on 26 March 1999, more
than 100 civilians were taken to a Serb-owned house and shot with automatic weapons by
Serbian police and army units; their bodies were then covered with hay and the house set on
fire. Despite the scale and notoriety of the massacre at a Krushe ë Vogël no previous
investigation had been opened.
As of March 2012, the SPRK had prosecuted 20 cases of war crimes, including in first
instance trials, and in appeals at the Supreme Court of Kosovo. According to EULEX, in
March 2012, out of 76 war crime cases, 51 were under preliminary investigation and 25
under “official investigation”. 51
Idriz Gashi, a member of the KLA was indicted for war crimes against the civilian population, and found guilty
of murdering on 12 August 1998, a Kosovo Albanian woman, Sanija Balaj, on suspicion that she had
collaborated with the Serbian authorities. Following the initiation of an investigation in 2005, Idriz Gashi was
extradited from Sweden in October 2006; he was found guilty by an international panel at Pejé/Peč District
Court of in June 2007 and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Kosovo the
verdict was overturned in June 2009, and in a retrial Idriz Gashi was again convicted in November 2009, and
sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court of Kosovo, in a mixed panel, confirmed the decision
of the second first instance retrial on 25 November 2010. 52
Amnesty International considers that this represents a significant improvement on the
UNMIK’s record. However, the majority of cases during 2009 and into 2010, were first
instance retrials in proceedings which had commenced under UNMIK. Most proceedings
before the Supreme Court in 2010 were concerned with the further adjudication of UNMIK’s
legacy cases, including appeals in war crimes cases on the basis of requests for protection of
legality, all of which were dismissed.
FURTHER CHALLENGES
Under UNMIK few investigations were conducted into allegations against Kosovo Albanians,
where the victims were Serbs, or members of other minority communities, or where the
alleged perpetrators were high ranking members of the KLA. Subsequently, while EULEX was
focussed on prosecuting cases of corruption in high places, many Kosovo Albanians
applauded EULEX, but on opening proceedings against the same suspects for war crimes, for
example, in the case of former Minister of Telecommunications and Transport, Fatmir Limaj,
the public’s attitude to EULEX significantly changed.
EULEX, to their credit, persisted with cases against leading Albanians, and on 30 January
2012, the trial opened in the case of Arben Krasniqi et al (also known as ‘Klečka/Kleçkë’ or
the ‘Limaj case’) for crimes against Serbian prisoners of war and war crimes against the
civilian population, including Kosovo Serbs. 53 Six of the defendants were acquitted in March
Index: EUR 70/004/2012 Amnesty International April 2012