Kosovo youth see Special Court with scepticism, distrust

These are questions that young people from the Albanian community have asked Specialised Chambers and Specialised Prosecutors in Kosovo officials, who are known as the Special Court for War Crimes in Kosovo, headquartered in The Hague, during discussions in Pristina regarding the mandate and work of this court.

Young people in Kosovo view the Special Court for War Crimes with scepticism and distrust. While young Albanians consider this court to be racist and that it will only deal with Kosovo Albanians, on the other hand, Serbian youths consider that importance and representation have lost this court since it has been called Kosovo's courts.

Specialised chamber officials, this year, have been staying in Kosovo every month, and it has happened in 2018. Through the programme for communication and an opinion approach called „Outreach“, Special Court officials intend to inform Kosovo's opinion of the court's work with consultations, tribunas and public discussions.

During this week, a series of such discussions were held with Albanian students, in the vicinity of Pristina and with Serbian students in North Mitrovica.

Their questions and comments regarding the Special Court are different.

If this court is Kosovo's, why should it have headquarters at The Hague? What can be expected from the Special Court when neither the UN mission (UNMIK) nor the EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX) contributed to the lighting of war crimes? Will only Kosovo Albanians or all citizens be tried, as well as who will respond to the massacres in Recak, Prekaz, for the murder of Adem Jashar's family?

These have been some of the Albanian students' questions to Specialised Chamber officials.

Kicina, a student at University College, has asked similar questions.

Will the court deal with crimes against Albanians? I don't trust this court and I think it's politics. Will Serbs also be the subject of the investigation? This is a racist court. We had UNMIK, EULEX and have done nothing for war crimes. Kosovo has formed this court because it has been forced. I want justice, no matter whether it comes to Albanians or Serbs. But it is not okay to be punished only by Albanians. So far only Albanians and no Serbs have been invited for interviews. Who's going to answer for the crimes in Dubrava prison?

Specialised chamber officials have largely been unable to provide answers regarding the investigation issue, stressing that this is in the prosecutor's domain.

Meanwhile, the questions of Serbian students from North Mitrovica concerned that: why the tribunal in The Hague is not international, but of Kosovo; what do the families of the victims of war need to do, so that they are part of the judicial programme; will members of the KLA, who during the time of conflict have had foreign citizenship; whether there is the co-operation of this court with the Prosecutor of Serbia; will Alb Kurti be the subject of the investigation as an associate of Adem Demaci: and whether someone can be protected near the tribunal by the name that doesn't work in the Dick's report?

The moment that the rank of such a court, set for war crimes, is released to the national level or to the pre-nationalist level when it comes to Kosovo automatically, in the eyes of the public, lost importance, value, the representation of this court. In fact, how serious will such a court be impressed in the opinion? Let's not talk about what would possibly have hybrid justice, which would create such a hybrid staff“, the Serbian Sudent Milos Damyanovic commented.

Special Court officials have clarified that this court has authority over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other criminal acts under Kosovo laws, which link to claims in the Dick Marty report. Also, according to them, there is the „category against the implementation of justice“, which has to do with crimes committed during judicial processes, such as the destruction of evidence, intimidation of witnesses and others.

EU talks with Kosovo have resulted in the tribunal being Kosovo, but with international staff, while its headquarters is located in The Hague due to sensitive nature, Michael Doyle, programme co-ordinator “Outreach“said.

It has also expressed conviction that the Special Court will work on the basis of international humanitarian law. Based on the law, the Prosecutor and Specialised Chambers can enter into bilateral agreements with states or organizations to cooperate.

However, specialised chamber officials have failed to provide information on possible investigations and charges, but Solene Moutier from the programme “Outreach” has clarified that four elements are taken into account when it comes to investigations and judgments near this court: what crime is, when it was committed, where and who committed the crime and who was the victim.

As she noted, in view of crimes that have been committed or started in Kosovo, between January 1998 and December 2000. The court has jurisdiction over those who committed crimes or who were victims of crimes, but who were citizens of Kosovo or of the former Yugoslavia. That is also true of those who currently have citizenship of any other country.

The court also allows the presence of victims in the process but only when the charges are made public. Anyone who wants to be part of the process must give evidence that he is suffering the certain consequences for which he has contributed crime from the acute.

It is also stressed that the court will follow individuals rather than organizations or similar ones. Moutier has declared witness protection to be one of the tribunal's top priorities.

Specialised Chambers spokeswoman Angela Greep has told Radio Free Europe that the officials of these sources have so far met with young people, students, lawyers, victims associations, civil society and non-governmental organisations in different parts of Kosovo.

Given the ongoing negotiations and debates, Greep stresses that concern over the tribunal exists on all sides.

“Some consider that the court is not fair, some are concerned that justice will not be achieved for all victims, because our mandate is limited. I think critical voices are everywhere, which is right. But what we're doing is people want to get information, no matter what they think about the court. So far, most have shown willingness to meet with us“, Greep stressed.

The Special Court for War Crimes is a temporary court with limited mandate and headquarters at The Hague. This court operates independently and is financed mainly by the European Union.

The court is founded with the Kosovo Assembly ruling after the 2011 Council of Europe report, in which Swiss Senator Dick Marty speaks of alleged crimes „members of the Kosovo Liberation Army to ethnic minorities and political rivals“from January 1998 until December 2000.

The specialised prosecution at The Hague, since January of this year, has been interviewing former Kosovo Liberation Army members, the quality of suspects, and the quality of witnesses. There's still no at all.