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

Kosovo: Time for EULEX to prioritize war crimes 21
8. MEASURES TO PRIORITIZE THE
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION
OF WAR CRIMES CASES
Amnesty International calls on the Council of the European Union, in their consideration of
EULEX’s mandate for 2012-14, to ensure that the investigation and prosecution of war
crimes is established as a priority for EULEX. In the preceding chapters Amnesty
International summarised the progress made by EULEX in the investigation of war crimes
cases, but identified how this fell far short of that required to address not only the backlog of
UNMIK legacy cases, but the full extent of crimes under international law which took place
in Kosovo.
In this section of the report Amnesty International makes a series of recommendations which
the organization considers will ensure that EULEX is provided with the personnel, and
resources needed to properly investigate and prosecute at least all outstanding war crimes
cases. Later in the report, the organization makes recommendations for the continued
prosecution of such crimes, so that impunity is no longer allowed to persist.
In October 2011, Bernard Rabatel, Deputy Head of the Justice component told Amnesty
International that EULEX’s objective was to try most of the war crimes cases: “Although war
crimes have been de-prioritized to some extent, they are still a priority for us … we [just] also
prioritized organized crime and corruption”. However, in interviews conducted in 2010 and
in July 2011, EULEX officials in Brussels informed Amnesty International that the
prosecution of war crimes was not one of EULEX’s priorities.
Calls for the prioritization of war crime prosecutions have previously been made by Amnesty
International, the UN Human Rights Committee, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
(OSCE) Mission in Kosovo and the Humanitarian Law Centre – Kosovo. 55 Amnesty
International also understands that that some prosecutors and others within EULEX would
also have preferred to see a stronger emphasis on the prosecution of war crimes.
8.1 INCREASE THE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL EULEX WAR CRIMES POLICE,
PROSECUTORS AND JUDICIARY
Amnesty International considers that the number of EULEX personnel dedicated to the
investigation and prosecution of war crimes is inadequate to the number of outstanding
cases. Investigations and trials have continued to be delayed in the absence of sufficient
international police, judges and prosecutors.
EULEX War Crimes Investigation Unit has the capacity to conclude, on average, two or three
cases per year. Only two of the 10 EULEX prosecutors within the SPRK are dedicated to the
investigation and prosecution of war crimes. Further, out of 51 international judges, only four
adjudicate in war crimes trials.
Index: EUR 70/004/2012 Amnesty International April 2012