Brown Undergraduate Law Review -- Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 2020)

The Kosovo War: Wartime Sexual Violence Jurisprudence and State Action Toward Recovery
Moreover, the tribunal indicted only seven Serbian acknowledge the violations committed, the global
officials for crimes committed in Kosovo, and ?not a single community fails to fully recognize and mete out justice for
one of these seven indictments included an explicit count Kosovo?s more than 20,000 victims of weaponized rape.
of rape as a crime against humanity,? including The staggering violence committed during the war has
Milo?evi?. 28 Concurrently, the United Nations Interim multi-generational repercussions, and the vast majority of
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) created Kosovar victims add their violators?impunity to their own
hybrid international?domestic courts in order to investigate set of burdens.
and prosecute war crimes cases in local courts. Because
Kosovo's Recovery: A Mixed Success
UNMIK lacked resources and time during its eight-year
mandate, only a small number of its more than 1,000 cases
Beyond the tragic loss and displacement faced by Albanian
were actually prosecuted. In addition, the European Union
Kosovars, many of the 20,000 survivors of weaponized
Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) was established
rape are still struggling to recover 20 years after the
in 2008 in order to support Kosovar legal institutions with
conflict. However, the governance of the former President
the prosecution of war crimes, yet left 900 case files
of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga was ?critical in advancing the
unresolved at the end of its mandate in 2018. Frustratingly,
recognition of survivors of sexual violence as civilian war
?as Kosovo and EULEX only have jurisdiction over
victims, demanding more support for them from both the
individuals within Kosovo?s territory, they can take
government and society.? The approach she spearheaded
extremely limited action to prosecute? war criminals who
can be looked to as a model for how to address the needs
are abroad. 29
of survivors in a post-conflict era, despite the opportunity
for improvement. 31
Additionally, the Serbian War Crimes Chamber has done
little to advance accountability for crimes committed by
Jahjaga was Kosovo?s first female, first non-partisan, and
Serbian forces during the conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia, and
youngest president, serving from 2011 to 2016. Her
Kosovo during the 1990s. Its war crimes units have
presidency filled a power vacuum left by the truncated
chronically suffered from ?lack of political will, adequate
term of her predecessor due to a constitutional crisis over
resources, and weak witness support mechanisms.? 30 Very
the validity of the previous election. 32 She rose out of
few of its prosecutions have been of high-ranking officials,
relative obscurity by earning recognition for her service as
and only a handful of cases have addressed crimes
Deputy General Director of the Kosovo Police force, in
committed in Kosovo or wartime sexual violence.
which she held the highest law enforcement rank ever
occupied by a woman in Southeastern Europe. In a 2019
Thus, despite the presence of international and domestic
interview with the Brown Journal of World Affairs,
legal institutions, perpetrators of war crimes during the
Jahjaga described the broken the state of country that she
Kosovo War continue to evade justice. By failing to
28. Ending Impunity in Kosovo, 6.
29. Ibid., 9.
30. ?World Report 2019: Serbia/Kosovo Events of 2018,? Human Rights Watch, January 17, 2019,
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/serbia/kosovo.
31. Valerie Plesch, ?A Dark Legacy: The Scars of Sexual Violence from the Kosovo War,? Politico, April 18, 2019,
www.politico.eu/interactive/a-dark-legacy-the-scars-of-sexual-violence-from-the-kosovo-war/.
32. Valerie Plesch, ?On the Road with Kosovo's First Female President,? Al Jazeera, October 21, 2015,
www.aljazeera.com/programmes/women-make-change/2015/10/road-kosovo-female-president-151021070704139.html.
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