Amnesty International Report 2002 - Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Covering events from January-December 2001

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Head of state: Vojislav Kostunica
Head of government: Dragica Pesic (replaced Zoran Zizic in July)
Capital: Belgrade
Population: 10.5 million
Official language: Serbian
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice
2001 treaty ratifications/signatures: First and Second Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Optional Protocol to the UN Children's Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court


Both Federal and Serbian governments took steps to address some outstanding human rights concerns, although limited progress was made towards reform of the military, police and judiciary. Apart from the transfer of former President Slobodan Milosevic to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (Tribunal), the authorities largely failed to address impunity for alleged war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo. An amnesty law provided immunity to conscientious objectors and deserters from the VJ (Yugoslav Army) and provided for the release of around 200 ethnic Albanians imprisoned in Serbia. Impunity for perpetrators of "disappearances" and abductions in Kosovo continued. An estimated 230,000 Serbs and Roma, internally displaced from Kosovo, remained in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), along with 390,000 refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. In Kosovo ethnically motivated attacks on minorities continued and politically motivated attacks on moderate politicians occurred, particularly before the November elections, while tensions between Serb and Albanian communities resulted in abuses of human rights. The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO-led peace-keeping Kosovo Force (KFOR) failed to fully protect and promote human rights, particularly those of detainees.

Background

Following the election of FRY President Vojislav Kostunica in October 2000 and a new Serbian government headed by Zoran Djindjic in January 2001, political instability, accusations of corruption and the potential fragmentation of the Federation discouraged external investment and hindered the resolution of outstanding human rights violations.

In Montenegro, President Dukanovic announced in October that a referendum on independence would take place early in 2002. Increased demands for autonomy in Vojvodina province led to the drafting of a new constitution in November.

In southern Serbia, clashes between Serb security forces and the armed ethnic Albanian group, the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedje and Bujanovac (UÇPMB), continued until an agreement in May between FRY and Serb authorities, NATO and ethnic Albanian representatives. Under the agreement, the VJ and Serbian police returned to areas bordering Kosovo and the UÇPMB disbanded and disarmed under an amnesty brokered by KFOR. However, a political settlement was only partially implemented, and allegations of ill-treatment of ethnic Albanians by Serbian police continued.

In Kosovo, UNMIK promulgated in May a Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self Government which provided for an assembly with guaranteed representation for ethnic minorities and authority over domestic affairs. Powers were reserved for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo (SRSG) over major policy areas, including budgetary policy, law enforcement, the judiciary, external relations, and internal and border security, in conjunction with KFOR. November elections for the assembly were won by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Approximately 43 per cent of Serbs eligible to vote did so, encouraged by the signing on 5 November of the UNMIK-FRY Common Document, which sought to address their security and human rights concerns.

Serbia and Montenegro

Rule of law and administration of justice

Some progress was made to reform Federal and Serbian police forces but comprehensive measures, including human rights training, were not implemented. New appointment procedures for judges and prosecutors were approved in November. A report on prisons by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe recommended complaints procedures, inspection mechanisms and human rights training of prison staff.

In Montenegro, the Podgorica High Court passed two death sentences for murder in October. In November, Serbia abolished the death penalty and the government in Montenegro announced their intention to abolish it.

In May the UN Committee against Torture concluded that the FRY had violated its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture in failing to promptly or fully investigate the death of Milan Ristic who allegedly died as a result of police ill-treatment in February 1995.

The courts awarded compensation in five of the 66 actions brought against the Serbian police alleging harassment, unlawful detention and ill-treatment of members of the opposition group Otpor (Resistance) between January and September 2000.

War crimes

Following extensive international pressure, on 23 June the Federal Government adopted by decree a bill on cooperation with the Tribunal. Following an appeal by lawyers acting for the former President Slobodan Milosevic, the Constitutional Court froze the decree on 28 June, finally ruling it unlawful in November. The former President, who had been in custody on domestic charges of corruption since April, was transferred by the Serbian authorities to the Tribunal's custody on 28 June. In his first appearance before the Chamber in July, he refused to accept the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.

  • Three other indicted suspects voluntarily surrendered to the Tribunal, while another five were arrested and transferred to the custody of the Tribunal. Police officers protested that they had been tricked into arresting two suspects in November in the absence of a law on cooperation with the Tribunal.
  • On 19 December the European Court of Human Rights ruled inadmissible a complaint brought in October 1999 against 17 NATO member states by a survivor and five relatives of people killed in the bombing of Serbian television station RTS during NATO's military operation in 1999.
Identity-based violations

Racist attacks on Roma, Jewish, Albanian and other communities reportedly continued. Perpetrators were rarely brought to justice.
  • In April two people were convicted at Nis District Court of incitement to racial, religious or national hatred following an attack on a 15-year-old Roma boy in April 2000.
  • Police allegedly failed to provide adequate protection or to bring to justice those responsible for organizing violence in July when 40 civilians and eight police officers were injured after hundreds of supporters of nationalist organizations assaulted lesbians, gay men, journalists and bystanders and prevented the first Gay Pride celebration in the FRY.
Conscientious objectors and the Amnesty Law

In February, an Amnesty Law came into force providing immunity from prosecution to conscientious objectors and deserters who had refused to participate in wars between 1992 and 2000.
  • In January, Srdjan "Sicko" Knezevic, coordinator of the Network for Conscientious Objection, was arrested by military police at Belgrade airport and brought before Nis Military Court in connection with his alleged desertion from the VJ in 1999. He was subsequently released without charge. Despite the Amnesty Law, he was arrested four times between March and September while leaving the FRY to attend conferences abroad on conscientious objection.
A petition to the government in June by 30,000 voters seeking the provision of a genuine alternative civilian service was not debated in parliament as required by law. In December the Federal parliament passed a law reducing compulsory military service to nine months and alternative service in non-combatant sections of the military to 13 months.

Freedom of information and expression

Repressive provisions of the 1998 Information Law were ruled unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in January and repealed by the Serbian parliament in February. However, new regulations had not been adopted by the end of the year, and fines paid by, and equipment confiscated from, independent media under the previous government were not returned. Journalists critical of the government were reportedly called in for interview by the police.

Refugees and internally displaced persons

After a re-registration process, completed by June, approximately 390,000 refugees from the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia remained in the FRY. Following amendment of the citizenship law in February, refugees were not required to renounce their nationality to gain FRY citizenship. The Joint Committee on Returns to Kosovo identified areas to which some of the 230,000 displaced Serbs and Roma could return, although few returns took place.

An estimated 15,000 ethnic Albanians fled the fighting in southern Serbia to Kosovo; 5,500 had returned by the end of 2001. At least 65,000 ethnic Albanian refugees fled the conflict in Macedonia to Kosovo; another 11,000 fled to southern Serbia and elsewhere in the FRY.

Abductions and 'disappearances'

Little progress was made by either UNMIK or the FRY authorities respectively in investigating the alleged abductions of some 1,300 Serbs and Roma by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) since 1999, or the "disappearance" of around 3,000 ethnic Albanians feared arrested by Serbian security forces in 1999. The UNMIK Police Missing Persons' Unit reported that they had closed some 591 files.

In Serbia, in June the Belgrade District Court ordered the exhumation of unmarked graves discovered at a police training base at Batajnica near Belgrade. By November, over 400 of the estimated 1,000 bodies buried there and in mass graves in Petrovo Selo and Bajina Basta had been exhumed under the observation of international and domestic monitors. The bodies were believed to be those of ethnic Albanians transported from Kosovo and re-buried in Serbia during the 1999 NATO Operation Allied Force. Investigations have been opened, but as yet no charges have been brought.

Ethnic Albanian prisoners

By June some 200 ethnic Albanians held in Serbian prisons since July 1999 had been released under the Amnesty Law. The Law did not cover those convicted of "terrorism", many of whom were reported to have been convicted after unfair trials.
  • In April the Supreme Court ordered the release of the Djakovica (Gjakove) group of 143 men sentenced in May 2000 to between seven and 12 years' imprisonment for "terrorism", on the grounds that their trial had been marred by "serious violations of criminal procedure".
  • In April the Nis District Court convicted Luan and Bekim Mazreku of "terrorism", reportedly on the basis of forced confessions, after a trial which failed to meet international standards of fairness.
In November, under the UNMIK-FRY Common Document, it was agreed that the remaining prisoners would be transferred to Kosovo after a review of their cases in Serbia. Some 201 ethnic Albanians remained in custody at the end of 2001.

Kosovo (Kosova)

UNMIK continued to administer Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99.

Rule of law and administration of justice

The police and judiciary failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for human rights violations and to ensure international standards for fair trial.

UNMIK and KFOR failed to fully protect and promote human rights, particularly the rights of detainees, and AI and other organizations raised concerns about accountability, property rights and executive detention orders. There was inadequate training of the international civilian police force (CIVPOL) and a lack of resources for forensic investigation. UNMIK failed to guarantee detainees the assistance of legal counsel, including during interrogation. The failure to establish a comprehensive witness and victim protection program compromised CIVPOL's ability to conduct thorough investigations and prosecute those suspected of trafficking in women.

Detentions

In August UNMIK established a Detention Review Commission (DRC) to review administrative detentions authorized by the SRSG in violation of international standards. However, the DRC failed to provide detainees with the means to challenge their detention.
  • After a remote-controlled bomb killed 10 Serb civilians and injured 40 others on a bus in a KFOR-escorted convoy of buses near Podujevo (Podujeve) on 16 February, four suspects were detained. This followed an earlier attack on 13 February on another convoy (see below). Despite an order by Pristina District Court for the release of three of them – Avdi Belhuli, Qele Gashi and Jusuf Veliu – the SRSG ordered their continued detention under successive Executive Orders from March until September, when their detentions were reviewed by the DRC. Following an in camera hearing the DRC authorized their continued detention until December. Their lawyer was excluded from the hearing and not provided with the evidence justifying their further detention. They were released in December by order of the Supreme Court.
Detentions without judicial authority were also authorized by the KFOR Commander. Detainees were not always informed of the reasons for their detention or their right to counsel, and were denied access to the courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

Up to 1,500 men were believed to have been detained on suspicion of membership of an armed opposition group, unlawful border crossing or weapons possession following the UÇPMB amnesty in May and during the conflict in Macedonia between June and September. The majority of detainees were released within 24 hours, although others were detained for over 30 days. Most were believed to have been released without charge.
  • In October, 10 men were convicted of unlawful possession of firearms at Gnjilane District Court – the only detainees known to have been brought to trial.
War crimes trials

Some court proceedings conducted against Serbs suspected of war crimes, including those presided over by international judges, failed to meet international standards.
  • In October, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Miroslav Vuckovic, member of a Serb paramilitary group, sentenced in January to 14 years' imprisonment for genocide by a panel of one international and four Albanian judges. The Supreme Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support such a conviction for genocide, and returned the case to the Mitrovica (Mitrovice) District Court for retrial on arson and aggravated theft charges.
The UNMIK-FRY Common Document included a commitment to review proceedings conducted by members of the ethnic Albanian judiciary in which Serbs had been convicted for serious crimes.

Minorities

Violent crimes against Serbs, Roma, Muslims and other minorities remained disproportionately high, and few perpetrators were brought to justice.
  • On 13 February a KFOR-escorted convoy of buses between Strpce (Shterpce) and Serbia came under sniper-fire; a driver was killed and several passengers injured.
  • Inter-ethnic human rights abuses in the divided town of Mitrovica resulted in violent disturbances in which members of the international community and KFOR troops were among those targeted. KFOR responded on some occasions with excessive use of force.
A lack of security and freedom of movement, the absence of an impartial judiciary and outstanding cases of missing persons continued to affect minorities and prevented return. The UNMIK-FRY Common Document committed UNMIK to establishing an Office for Return, to improve the processing of property claims for returning displaced persons and to address other human rights concerns expressed by Kosovo Serbs.

AI country reports/visits

Statements
  • FRY (Kosovo): Amnesty International protests the unlawful detention of Afrim Zeqiri (AI Index: EUR 70/004/2001)
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Milosevic must be transferred to The Hague (AI Index: EUR 70/005/2001)
  • FRY (Kosovo): Amnesty International calls for an end to Executive Orders of detention (AI Index: EUR 70/017/2001)
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Kosovo elections: Time to right the wrongs (AI Index: EUR 70/018/2001)

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