Kosovo could launch lawsuits in DJND against Serbia for genocide

The Republic of Kosovo, a possible indictment at the International Court of Justice against Serbia, should focus on events that took place between last week of March 1999 and the first week of June 1999, when the displaced ethnic Albanian civilian population was subjected to an intensified campaign of crimes against humanity, which coincided with closing Kosovo's borders with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, is said on the Roadshow in RTK

During this period, those Albanians who remained in Kosovo were clearly targeted at physical annihilation as the form of punishment for launching NATO bombing campaign on 24 March 1999.

It is also undeniable that since the Federation Republic of Yugoslavia war and then Serbia has acted in opposition to Article 1 of the 1948 Genocide Convention, failing to condemn those responsible based on the provisions of the national legal system. The Republic of Kosovo has the opportunity to file a strong indictment against Serbia at the International Court of Justice, where it claims numerous violations of the Convention.

For current purposes, it is enough to register

(a) The prosecution's testimony to genocide in Kosovo's context is in a different quality and obviously stronger than evidence available in Croatia's Genocide case; and

(b) There is no doubt that Serbia would try to avoid responsibility for the actions of a subordinate administration, as it did in Bosnia's Genocide case, because crimes in Kosovo were committed by forces under the direct command of the Army and political leadership of the RFJ.

Therefore, a Kosovo request to the International Court of Justice is likely to succeed based on its merits.

The Court's jurisdiction to consider a request from Kosovo depends on answers to substantial questions of jurisdiction:

a. Was RFJ a signatory to the Convention on Genocide at the time of conflict?

Yugoslavia's Socialist Federation Republic (RSFJ) signed and ratified the Convention on Genocide in 1948, without any reservations, so that the Convention could be fully implemented all the time on Federation territory, including the territory and people of Kosovo.

As a successor state, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia then inherited these obligations automatically in 1992, without any qualifications in their area of application.

This applies not only to the substantial ban on genocide and crimes associated with it but also to Article IX, which gives jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice to determine alleged violations. This position was held during the time of the 1998 and 1999.

Article IX of the Convention on Genocide predicts:

“Disagreements between the Contract pals regarding interpretation, application or completion of this Convention, including those related to the responsibility of a state for genocide or any other acts listed at Article III, will be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any party in the dispute. ”

On February 4, 2003, RRF renamed itself “Serbia and Montenegro”, but this made no difference in its legal obligations in the area of international law.

When Montenegro declared independence on 3 June 2006, the existing legal obligations of the former state of “Serbia and Montenegro” were divided between the two new states. Those related to Kosovo were carried only to Serbia.

Has Kosovo automatically inherited the rights and obligations of the Federation Republic of Yugoslavia / Serbia when it declared independence in 2008?

It's clear- it inherited them. In the case of the Genocide in Bosnia, Judge Weeramantry provided a concrete explanation that explains why:

There may be circumstances when, after a new state declares its independence, the acceptance of its citizenship (recognition recognition) could be delayed by non-recognition by the state, from which it has departed. In such a situation, when the new state's arrival in citizenship is deliberately delayed by the actions of the former state, there can be no access to the breakaway state treaty for a considerable time.

During that period, it seems unreasonable for citizens of the breakaway state to be deprived of the protection that Convette can give, against acts of genocide committed by the State, from which they have been removed.

The longer delay in recognition, the longer the period during which those citizens would remain vulnerable.

Such a result, it seems to me entirely contrary to contemporary international law in connection with a treaty that defends internationally recognised rights under the Genocide Convention. ”

The acts of genocide committed by forces of Yugoslavia's Federation Republic against ethnic Albanian civilian population created mandatory legal claims under the Convention on Genocide RFJ.

Before the Kosovo Republic Declaration of Independence in 2008, there was no state available to bring this request to the Court in its right or as legal defender of citizens who cannot defend themselves, in the name of the victims. This situation changed in 2008.

Under the relevant rules of state heritage, the Republic of Kosovo was automatically ready to submit the application at the moment it became independent of its international relations. The operational event for this purpose was the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo on 15 June 2008.

The only way through which the actions of RFJ forces in 1998 and 1999 could ever be viewed as violators of the Convention on Genocide is for the Court to recognise both Serbia and Kosovo as the countries that inherited their rights and dues, agreed at the time RSFJ signed the Convention in 1948.

A newly formed state in a part of the territory of another (Previous) state takes on the obligations of the previous international state treaty when it becomes responsible for its international relations.

The Republic of Kosovo's Declaration of Independence, issued on February 17th 2008, includes the following vow (in paragraph 9:

“We take over Kosovo's international obligations, including treaties and other obligations of the former Socialist Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, which we owe as a former integral part of. ”

Similarly, Article 145 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, adopted on June 15, 2008, envisions that:

The international agreements and other acts involving international co-operation, which are in effect, on the day of the entry into force of this constitution, will continue to be respected until these agreements or acts are renegotiated or withdrawn, in accordance with their terms or until they are replaced by new international agreements or acts, covering the same areas and approved under this constitution. ”

The fundamental principle of the automatic heritage of treaties is defined at Article 34 of the 1978 Vienna Convention on the Heritage of the State in Respect of Tachts:

When one or some part of a divided state's territory forms one or more states, whether the previous state continues to exist or not: any treaty in effect on the date of the heritage of states regarding the entire territory of the previous state continues to be in force for each successive states formed thus. ”

RSFJ was a signatory of the Vienna Convention for the Heritage of State in the Respect of Tactics. Therefore, obligations according to treaties that existed at the time of RSFJ breakup were automatically carried to RFJ and other constituent states, which provided independence at the time.

Steps which the Republic of Kosovo must follow are:

1. A request/suit should be submitted under the Convention on Genocide from Kosovo against Serbia in connection with the genocide committed in 1998 and 1999.

2. Before depositing demand/suit, the Kosovo government must first submit two Verbal notes:

First one of the United Nations Secretary - General's Office in New York. After announcing that the document was accepted, then another verbal note is sent to the Office of the Court's address.