Progress Needed on Justice Reform, Missing Serbs, Plight of Roma
President George W. Bush should use his meeting with Kosovo’s prime minister to press for improvements to its poor human rights record, Human Rights Watch said today. Bush is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu in Washington, DC, on Monday, July 21....
Official Dismissals Premature
Additional information has emerged that bolsters allegations of abductions and cross-border transfers from Kosovo to Albania after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kosovar and Albanian governments should open independent and transparent investigations to help resolve the fate of approximately 400 Serbs who went missing after the war....
EU Members Should Not Backtrack on Their Commitment to Justice
The European Union’s (EU) signing of the Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia today despite Belgrade’s failure to arrest accused war criminal Ratko Mladic is a setback to those seeking justice for genocide in Srebrenica, Human Rights Watch said today. EU member states should refuse to allow Serbia to take additional steps toward EU membership without full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including the surrender of Mladic....
Inadequate Witness Protection Key Challenge for Authorities
Kosovo’s government should fully cooperate with the European Union’s newly deployed rule-of-law mission in reforming Kosovo’s criminal justice system that remains extremely weak, despite efforts to strengthen it over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The EU mission (known as “EULEX”) is expected to lead justice reform efforts. The riots in Mitrovica on March 17, 2008, underscore the need for Kosovo to build a strong and effective criminal justice system to deter, investigate and prosecute any such acts of violence....
Success Will Depend on Effective Scrutiny of Human Rights Record
The new European Union-led international mission to Kosovo must be subject to much greater scrutiny and accountability than its predecessor, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), if it is to succeed, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee said today. The NATO-led Kosovo Force should also be subject to much greater scrutiny....
Government Should Unequivocally Condemn and Quell Violence
Serbia’s government should act quickly to reduce the dangerously hostile climate for human rights groups, independent journalists and ethnic minority communities in the country, Human Rights Watch said today....
Protecting Minority Rights Key to Kosovo’s Future
As Kosovo is poised to declare independence, the new government and its international partners should build a state based on democratic principles and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said in a seven-point human rights agenda for Kosovo issued today. The European Union-led mission charged with stabilizing the breakaway province once it secedes from Serbia should take urgent steps to prevent human rights abuses, particularly against minorities and women....
EU Should Insist on Full Cooperation With Yugoslav Tribunal
The European Commission’s decision to move ahead with an association agreement with Serbia despite Belgrade’s failure to arrest a key suspect could threaten efforts to bring war criminals to justice, Human Rights Watch said today....
EU Foreign Ministers Should Insist on Serbia’s Full Cooperation
The European Union (EU) should emphasize that Serbia’s full cooperation with the Yugoslav tribunal includes arresting fugitive Ratko Mladic, charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and transferring him to The Hague, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent this week to the EU’s foreign ministers....
When EU leaders meet with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica this week, they should insist on Serbia’s full cooperation with the Yugoslav tribunal, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent today. The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the Commissioner for Enlargement, and the President of the European Commission will meet Kostunica in Brussels on Wednesday, September 12, 2007....
Council of Europe to Adopt Report on Balkans Prosecutions Today
Serbia’s War Crimes Chamber has made significant progress in domestic prosecutions since its establishment in 2003, but the Serbian government must increase its support for the chamber if it is to end impunity for war crimes in Serbia, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today....
Firm and Consistent Pressure Needed to Ensure Handover of Mladic
The European Union shortsightedly undercut its own influence by announcing the resumption of talks with Serbia following the recent arrest of a war crimes suspect while his commander, Ratko Mladic, remains at large, Human Rights Watch said today....
from UNICEFBELGRADE, 8 February 2007 – Despite the important steps that have been taken to improve the status of children in Serbia since the late 1990s, there are still over 300,000 children today who are living in poverty or are at risk of poverty according to a UNICEF Report released today.The State of Children in Serbia 2006 Report – Poor and Excluded Children, produced jointly by the Republic Statistical Office in Serbia, the Council for Child Rights of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF Belgrade Office, is based on the unique information and statistics derived from the unpublished “Research on Family Beliefs and Care Practices” and “Survey on Child Poverty”, and includes the most recent striking indicators and data from the 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey...