Condemnation that turned hopes for justice to victims of sexual violence

The director of the Kosovar Centre for the rehabilitation of Torture Survivors, Feride Rushiti, has said the sufferings of Vukotic's victim succeeded in placing a war criminal behind bars.

“E has called it historic year because for the first time a survivor after many challenges, seizures, frustrations, frustrations from the time Kosovo was managed by the UN, and then by EULEX had sought justice. Justice for the crime exercised in her body during the war period. The woman who in that time period because of animal violence and the way this violence was exercised in her body, she lost two twins. That he carried the consequences both psychologically and psychologically. But there was a woman who was determined to seek justice”, Rushiti said.

As a result of expressing his displeasure with the sentence, Rushiti estimates that this decision has turned the hope for victims and family members.

This case has represented another 20,000 women and men who are still learning demand that justice be established. Justice, which for many women and girls had lost hope. So we feel that through this case, we have resurrected hope. And above all the cases in question has sent the message even to the sensitive group, such as victims, survivors of sexual violence, but, above all, family and society to encourage them to seek justice”, it added.

This is the first and only case when institutions in Kosovo have managed to pronounce convictions for Serbs who have committed sexual rape during the recent war in Kosovo. Thousands of others also seek justice in the way the circle is treated.

Kosovo Deputy Speaker Saranda Bogujevci has highlighted the need for Kosovo society to change its thinking and support victims of sexual violence.

The issue of victims of sexual violence during the war is not only the issue of justice, it is one of the elements women seek and that should happen. But we still have much work to do to change our thinking in our country about these victims. There are still those who unjustly attack them for the crime they've experienced, and we need to be the ones who stay behind and support them and help them, the same institutions. We need to focus from now on what their needs are, what the needs of other victims are, and”, Boguyevci has declared.

The investigation into war crimes, as Bogujevci has said, can hardly be done with the number of current prosecutors at the Special Prosecutor.

I was at a conference several years ago in Bosnia. 29 prosecutors only had them for war crimes, and they seemed few. We have so far had only three, to achieve the outcome we need, we need to add the necessary number of prosecutors, both human resources and others to courts, prosecutors, police and others. But I'm glad it's working in that direction, and I hope that in the next few years, we'll be able to build larger capabilities”, Boguyevci added.

The ombudsman has declared that the state has been delayed in documenting war crimes. According to Naim Ceyat, the institutions thus far have not enabled victims access to justice.

We have failed to establish or bring to justice the victims of crime in general, in this case even victims of sexual violence of war. And when we take into account the fact that there are over 1500 investigative files or the indictment that has left EULEX and the number of cases deemed it is not even two-way, no doubt the conviction that originally failed. U n NMIC, EULEX and then Kosovo justice”, has said.

The justice ministry has pledged that it is a priority to address war crimes. In this dictatorship, he said that working on the strategy of transitional justice and addressing the mechanism where war crimes will be documented.

“Brenda this year we have increased the capabilities of the Special Prosecutor, there have been only four prosecutors dealing with war crimes cases, we have added four prosecutors. We have added six professional associates and two translators who handle these cases and help prosecutors address these cases. We have also made changes to the Procedure Code where judgment will be allowed in absence for war crimes cases”, said the Justice Ministry's response.

In addition to legal justice, many survivors this year have applied for <x0 state recognition” of the status of the victim of sexual violence.

The QKRT has expressed disappointment with the work of the Commission for recognition and Verification of the status of victims of sexual violence.

There are about 1,500 cases that have applied to the Commission. Most of these cases come from nongovernmental organisations licensed. Q KMT has applied with a large number of cases. Some of them have the good fortune of enjoying retirement. However, there are also those who have lost their lives because of sickness, life - related hardships. And they have failed to enjoy the status of the fact that the process as such is delayed and has caused great disappointment in the group of survivors, family members. Once we have cases that have been delayed more than a year, about 44 cases are cases that exceed the one-year-old”, Rushiti said.

For three years, since this commission started working, over 1600 people have applied. In an answer to Kosovo, this commission has announced that during the past year, 218 women and men have deposited their testimony. In total, 1048 persons have been recognised as status, meanwhile, 224 requests have been rejected.

In July last year, Zoran Vukotic was sentenced to 10 years in prison, accused of committing sexual violence crime during the war in Kosovo. / KP