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

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Kosovo: Time for EULEX to prioritize war crimes
progress in the prosecution of war crimes in Serbia has been relatively slow. While the court
has jurisdiction over all crimes against international law, including war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide, prosecutions to date have been brought only for war crimes,
including on the grounds that crimes against humanity was not a distinct offence in the
1976 Basic Penal Code in force during 1990s. 174
OPTIONS FOR KOSOVO
Both international and local prosecutors and judiciary interviewed by Amnesty International
were agreed on the necessity to retain an internationalized court for the prosecution of crimes
under international law for the foreseeable future.
In their 2010 report on war crimes in Kosovo, the OSCE advocated the establishment of a
Special War Crimes court or dedicated chamber. 175 A similar idea had been previously
proposed in 1999-2000 by the Technical Advisory Commission on Judiciary and Prosecution
Service which had recommended to UNMIK Department of Justice that a separate court be
established to try war and ethnically-motivated crimes. The Kosovo War and Ethnic Crimes
Court (KWECC) was proposed as an extraordinary court within the Kosovo legal system,
composed of local and international judicial personnel. It was to have jurisdiction over cases
involving grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war,
genocide, crimes against humanity and other crimes committed on political, racial or
religious grounds in Kosovo since 1 January 1998.
It was anticipated that the KWECC would have primacy over other domestic courts, and
would be able to assume jurisdiction, on the determination of the Chief Prosecutor, over a
case at any given point. The KWECC was to be composed of panels with both local and
international representatives, but its President, Vice President, Chief Prosecutor, Deputy
Chief Prosecutor, Registrar and staff would all be international. It was planned that the
KWECC would work together with Kosovar judges and prosecutors on these complex cases as
one form of capacity building.
The UNMIK Department of Judicial Administration spent a great deal of time and effort in
developing operational plans to establish the court and continued into 2000.By March 2000,
the UN Secretary-General in his report to the Security Council referred to the Court’s
establishment. It was then reported in June 2000 that the chief international prosecutor for
the KWECC had been appointed and had arrived in Kosovo and that the Court was expected
to start work in the summer. However, the KWECC never materialised. The reasons suggested
for its abandonment vary, but it seems concern as to the financial implications, United
States reluctance and the establishment of the International Judges and Prosecutors
Programme in February 2000 led to the proposal being quietly laid to rest by the end of
2000. 176
While Amnesty International does not propose that the KWECC be resuscitated, the
organization notes that, with the establishment of the SPRK, a formal structure allowing the
prosecution of war crimes and other serious crimes by a specialized prosecutorial body,
including both local and international prosecutors is already in place.
“The SPRK will be the main authority for war crimes and organised crime. But for this we
need to have a Special Chamber or such a court - with financial stimulation, better
Amnesty International April 2012 Index: EUR 70/004/2012