{"id":1518,"date":"2014-08-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/13-08-2014-investigation-of-war-crimes-against-the-rroma-in-kosovo\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T13:57:25","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T12:57:25","slug":"13-08-2014-investigation-of-war-crimes-against-the-rroma-in-kosovo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/13-08-2014-investigation-of-war-crimes-against-the-rroma-in-kosovo\/","title":{"rendered":"13.08.2014 Investigation of war crimes against the Rroma in Kosovo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ernst (2014) reports on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe legal and political investigation of the war crimes committed against Rroma, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSerbs and other minorities during the Kosovo War. The accused are the leaders \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the liberation movement of Kosovo (UCK), who, according to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjust-concluded report of the American judge John Clint Williamson, but also according \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto the findings of the Swiss correspondent of the council of Europe, Dick Marty, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twere involved in systematic acts of violence against ethnic minorities in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKosovo. The Kosovo ministry of foreign affairs stated that the actions of the UCK \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twere correct and committed for the sake of the independence of the Kosovo. Williamson\u2019s \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treport contains no new facts or insights, it stated. Nevertheless, a trial on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe responsibility of the UCK, built on the insights of Williamson\u2019s report, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twill be held: \u201cIn the coming year \u2013 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprobably in the Netherlands \u2013 a special tribunal will be initiated. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInternational judges will then evaluate Williamson\u2019s allegations on the basis \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Kosovar law. This court will formally report to the European rule of law \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmission EULEX in Kosovo. The unpublished accusations are directed against a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tring of high functionaries of the UCK, which are accused of crimes against \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thumanity. It is a matter of a \u201cbrutal attack on almost all Serbs who wished to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tremain in the Kosovo, the Roma and those Kosovo-Albanians who opposed certain UCK \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgroups.\u201d Large parts of the minority population of the Kosovo south of the Ibar \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\triver were displaced. The crimes were so numerous and so systematically committed, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat they meet the statement of facts of a crime against humanity.\u201d<\/em> Ernst \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsees the continuity of former warlords as current policy makers in Kososvo as a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdecisive factor for the slow investigation of war crimes. These policy makers were \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot held accountable for these facts not for the intimidation or even murder of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twitnesses of the war crimes, and is due in part on the inadequate work of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinternational Kfor peacekeepers and international police and judicial \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tauthorities, which neither were able to prevent the atrocities nor did pursue \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthem. Regarding the fate of the Rroma, their persecution and displacement is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tonly known among very few. However, their discrimination and marginalisation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontinues to the present day (compare \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEcho der Zeit 2014, Robelli 2014, Rroma Foundation Reports 2008, Schulte von \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDrach 2014).<\/p>\n