Humans Right Watch puts Kosovo and Serbia in a report, what it says about women's rights, the account for war crimes

Unlike other countries, which this organisation has handled separately, for developments in Kosovo, HRW has announced within a joint report with Serbia.

In its report, various issues include women's rights and war crimes accountability are discussed.

For women's rights, in Serbia's case, it is stressed that, despite the fact that there are protection laws for women, their implementation is weak, and that gender-based violence remains open.

Women's rights

While there is legal protection for women, including the Strategy for Gender Equality 20215030, their implementation is weak; gender-based violence remains widespread, wage gaps and economic inequalities continue, while women from marginalised groups, particularly Roma, face multiple discrimination and uneven access to healthcare, the report says.

For Kosovo, HRW, notes that the commission's mandate responsible for recognising the survivors of sexual violence during the war has been extended, and that known survivors are eligible for a monthly pension of 230 euros, free health care and employment benefits, but that only about 2,000 people have received this status from some 20,000 estimated survivors.

Women's rights

In April, Kosovo extended until May 15th 2028 the commission's mandate responsible for recognising the survivors of sex violence during the war and extended the application deadline until May 15th, 2027. President Vjosa Osmani and survivors' rights groups had requested a period of short-term application to better accommodate survivors. Known survivors are eligible for a monthly pension of 230 euros, free health care and employment benefits, but only about 2,000 have received the status of some 20,000 estimated survivors. The April 14th sign as the Day of Sex Violence Survivors during the war also included the first public testimony by a male survivor, said in the HRW report on Kosovo.

On the war crimes case, HRW in Serbia's case, notes that, between January and September, the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office launched eight new war crimes investigations with alleged suspects, as well as 15 other investigations.

War Crimes Accountability

Between January and September, the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office launched eight new war crimes investigations with appointed suspects, as well as 15 other investigations. By September, 20 cases against the 44 defendants were under investigation before Serbian courts. The ongoing procedures were accompanied by considerable delays. In September, Belgrade's Supreme Court acquitted former Bosnian Serb Army Corps Commander Milenko Zivanovic of ordering and participating in the forced displacement of Bosnian civilians from Srebrenica in July 1995, which ended with the genocide of over 8,000 Bosnian men and boys and the expulsion of about 40,000 women, elderly and children. Also in September, the Belgrade Court of Appeals increased Danko Vladicovic's sentence from nine to 12 years after the prosecution's complaint. He was convicted in 2022 of the murder of two Bosnian civilians on Brod na Drini in 1992, the victims' bodies still missing, the report said.

While in Kosovo, the report emphasises, the Constitutional Court in Pristina in July condemned Milos Pleskovjcin, a former Serbian paramilitary, for war crimes in 1999 of three ethnic Albanians near the town of Gjakova, and that the Foundation in Pristina sentenced two Serb citizens in absence for rape during the war of an ethnic Albanian woman, condemning each to 20 years in prison.

War Crimes Accountability

The Constitutional Court in Pristina in July sentenced Milos Pleskovic, a former Serbian paramilitary for war crimes in 1999 to the murder of three ethnic Albanians near the town of Gjakova, serving as a 15-year prison sentence. The court found that Pleskoviqi had been detained and then executed the victims.

In July, the Constitutional Court in Pristina sentenced two Serbian citizens in absentia for rape during the war of an ethnic Albanian woman, condemning each to 20 years in prison. Earlier that month, the court sentenced a former member of Serbia's security service to 15 years in prison for the disappearance in 1998 of an ethnic Albanian doctor. Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in The Hague in February gave the 15-year prison sentence to former Kosovo Liberation Army commander (UÇK), Salih Mustafa, confirming his guilt for war crimes committed during the 1999 Kosovo war. Mustafa was found guilty of arbitrary detention, torture and murder of a detainee in an KLA-run facility in Zlath.

In July, Kosovo's Specialised Chambers reduced the sentence of former KLA fighter Peter Shala, from 18 to 13 years, leaving in force sentences for arbitrary bans, torture and the killing of at least 16 detainees during the 1999 Kosovo War. The court found that Shala had no command role in one of the murders and that the initial sentence was unproportional.

Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in February sentenced three former KLA fighters, Haxhi Shala, Sabit Januzin and Ismet Bahitari, to two years in prison for obstructing justice and fearing witnesses. In February, though, the rooms were awarded bail to two of the convicts, based on the time they suffered. The negative impact of witness intimidation on efforts for accountability in Kosovo was an important factor in the establishment of specialised Chambers, the HRW report said.