Monitoring War Crime Trials Report – Reporting period: January – March 2013

THE BROADER CONTEXT – Spreading nationalistic rhetoric and justification for committed crimes;

The meeting of Croatian and Serbian Justice Ministers and the signing of the Protocol on Cooperation between the Prosecutor’s offices of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – suggest better cooperation in prosecution of war crimes;

Croatian Government has still not written-off the costs of lost lawsuits.

COURT PROCEEDINGS – Shortage of material and human resources by courts and state attorney’s offices dealing with war crime trial cases;

Accused persons’ unavailability – a characteristic of war crime trial cases; Monitored
trials in Croatia / Proceedings against members of Croatian military
units / Proceedings against members of Serb military formations;

Proceedings for restitution of damage for the death (killing) of a close family member – inadequate and exhausting path of getting the damages paid to the family members of the killed victims;

Investigations and charges pressed in the Republic of Serbia;

War crimes prosecution in Montenegro – dissatisfaction of the victims with the course of the proceedings for the crimes committed in the Morinj Detention Camp.

In the attachment below, there is the electronic version of the report.