U.S. report: Cases of Undeserved Corruption

The government, said the report, took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute and punish officials who committed human rights violations, but sometimes there was no stability in action. Many people in government, opposition, civil society, and the media reported cases of senior officials involved in corruption or acting unpunished. The government sometimes suspended, removed violators from office or transferred the accused, and the justice sector sometimes took steps to prosecute and punish those officials who committed violations and crimes. However, many corrupt officials continued to hold office in the public sector.

War Crimes

The report mentions the work of Kosovo's Special Court for War Crimes at The Hague and actions to prosecute war crimes cases by courts in Kosovo.

By September, Kosovo Special Prosecutor (PSRK) had 12 war crimes cases under official investigation. During the year P The SRK has issued a decision to launch investigations. A high-profile war crimes case known as “Drenica I” was sent for retrial in 2017, but was delayed several times. No hearings were held until December.

The report notes that in July, a court in Pristina sentenced former Serbian police officer Zoran Vukotic to three and a half years' removal for the rape of a pregnant Albanian woman and for participating in the expulsions of Kosovo Albanian civilians from the town of Vushtrri in 1999. Since 2019, Vukotic has been in pain with the six-and-a-half-year sentence for war crimes of ban and unlawful torture of Albanian prisoners from Kosovo in the Mitrovica region. The additional sentence marked the first time a Kosovo court sentenced a defendant for rape during the war.

The report included the March prison sentence of the Serb from Kosovo, Zlatan Krstic and Albanian Dean Shabani, both former Serbian police officers, with 14 and a half years and seven years in prison respectively, for war crimes against Albanian civilians in 1999. While in February, a court in Pristina sentenced Kosovo Serb Zoran Djokic to 12 years of lifting freedom for war crimes against Kosovo Albanians committed between March and April 1999 in the Pec region.

The government Commission for Missing Persons said in September that a thousand and 632 people still account for missing during the 1998-99 war and the subsequent political violence. Under the law, the government's database of missing persons does not include ethnic affiliation of missing persons unless they are voluntarily reported by their family. The Commission hinted that about 70 percent are Albanians, while 30 percent were Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Bosniaks, Goran, Montenegrins and others.

Mistreatment of Prisoners

The report also included complaints about the mistreatment of prisoners and the use of violence by members of the law bodies.

The government sometimes investigated violations, although mechanisms to do so were not always effective or subject to political interference during the period involving the report. Security forces, said further, failed to ensure the court's orders when local officials failed to comply. Although several police officers were arrested on charges of corruption during the year, impunity remained a problem.

The report included data from the Kosovo Police Inspectorate, which by November had accepted 1,862 complaints, 617 of which have been sent for criminal investigation. The incidents were mainly for mistreatment during the exercise of official duty, misuse of official duty, bodily injury, tingling and domestic violence. The inspector reported that 158 policemen were under investigation, 78 were suspended and 31 were arrested.

Judicial Independence

The report stresses that according to the European Commission, nongovernmental organisations and the House of Peoples Institution, the administration of justice was slow and lacked the means to ensure the accountability of judicial officials. Judicial structures were subjected to political interference, controversial appointments and unclear mandates.

Among other things, the report stresses that authorities sometimes failed to comply with court orders, including the Constitutional Court. Some Kosovo Serb representatives claimed government institutions failed to execute judicial decisions in favour of Kosovo Serbs, particularly in property-related disputes. Central and local authorities in Decani continued to reject implementation of the 2016 Constitutional Court ruling confirming ownership of the Serbian Orthodox Church over more than 24 hectares of land in the vicinity of the Decani Monastery. In September, the Constitutional Court noted the government's continued refusal to implement the court ruling and referred the case to the state prosecutor. By December, the prosecutor had not begun criminal proceedings. None of the officials who have not implemented the court order have been sanctioned, the report said.

Freedom of Speech

The report stresses that although the government in general respected the right of expression, reliable reports say some public officials, politicians, businesses and religious groups tried to intimidate media representatives. Funding problems also damaged media independence. Journalists faced difficulties getting information from the government and public institutions, despite laws offering access to public documents.

Independent media, said further, were active and expressed a variety of views, generally without restrictions. However, there were reports that government officials, some political parties, businesses associated with government, religious groups and disgruntled individuals pressured media owners, editors and journalists not to publish certain confessions or materials. Some journalists refrained from critical investigative reporting because of fear of their physical safety or their workplace.

While some self-resistant media adopted editorial policies and independent broadcasts from political and business interests, those with less resources sometimes accepted financial support in exchange for positive coverage or to refrain from publishing negative confessions harmful to funders' interests. According to some editors, financing was partially limited because the government was reluctant to buy advertising in the media that published critical materials to government policies.

By December, the Kosovo Journalists' Association reported 26 cases when government officials, business people or representatives of community groups or religious groups violated freedom of the press by physically attacking or physically threatening journalists.

The report notes that some journalists complained that owners and media managers prevented them from publishing or broadcasting critical material to the government, political parties, or individual officials.

Corruption and government transparency

The report stresses that officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices without punishment and that the lack of effective judicial supervision and general weakness in rule of law contributed to this problem. Corruption issues were routinely submitted to repeated appeals, and the judicial system often allowed for prescription or expiration of the deadline to judge cases.

The report says that the Special Prosecution filed nine charges regarding corruption by December 2021, but a small part of the corruption cases that were investigated and charges filed ended with sentences.

Local non-governmental organisations and international organisations, said the report, claimed numerous failures by the judicial system to prosecute corruption, noting that very few cases filed against top officials resulted in sentences and the condemnation of high-level officials for corruption was often mild.

Rape and Violence in the Family

The report cites the European Union's Mission for Rule of Law, under which courts often implemented sentences easier than the minimum legal in cases of rape and that law - rule bodies rarely took steps to protect victims and witnesses.

The Prosecutor's Office for Protection of Victims reported an increase in domestic violence from a thousand and 145 reported cases in 2020 to a thousand and 374 cases from January to August 2021. Sexual violence and rape that occur inside or outside the family were rarely reported by victims, often because of fear of social stigma or lack of trust in authorities.

The report refers to women's rights organisations, under which sexual harassment was common in both public and private workplaces, including public institutions of higher education.