{"id":7059,"date":"2024-07-25T13:02:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T12:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/?p=7059"},"modified":"2024-07-25T13:02:51","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T12:02:51","slug":"dhomat-e-specializuara-te-kosoves-ndjekja-penale-e-krimeve-te-luftes-dhe-ruajtja-e-drejtesise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/opinion\/dhomat-e-specializuara-te-kosoves-ndjekja-penale-e-krimeve-te-luftes-dhe-ruajtja-e-drejtesise\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo Specialist Chambers: Prosecuting War Crimes and Upholding Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) was established in 2017 following the Council of Europe\u2019s <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> and the EULEX mission\u2019s <\/span>conclusion<\/span><\/a> that sufficient evidence existed for the prosecution of \u201cwar crimes, crimes against humanity as well as certain crimes against Kosovan law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kosovo authorities have agreed with the EU on modalities of dealing with those serious allegations. In 2015, the Kosovo Assembly adopted Article 162 of the Kosovo Constitution and the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office, following the <\/span>Exchange of Letters<\/span><\/a> between the President of Kosovo and the EU in 2014. These constitutional and legislative changes paved the way for the establishment of KSC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To date, a total of 11 individuals have been indicted in the KSC, all of whom have been arrested and transferred to the Chambers' custody. Among the most notable cases are those against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and political leaders such as Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi and Kadri Veseli.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the KSC is part of Kosovo\u2019s judicial framework, it operates at each level of the court system in Kosovo (Basic Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court and Constitutional Court) but is based in The Hague, Netherlands.<\/span><\/p>\n

KSC functions according to relevant Kosovo laws as well as customary international law and international human rights law, however, it is <\/span>staffed<\/span><\/a> by EU personnel and only has international judges. The <\/span>court<\/span><\/a> is funded by the EU as well as other Western partners such as the U.S., Switzerland, Canada, Norway, and Turkey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KSC also has its seat in Pristina, but it is an <\/span>independent organ<\/span><\/a> that does not receive instructions and does not share information with other Kosovo authorities. The establishment of the KSC was driven by international pressure, while its hybrid format can be explained by the Western aim to ensure KSC\u2019s independence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A key driver for establishing KSC was the fact that local courts in Kosovo were inactive when it came to prosecuting war crimes committed by KLA. Many crimes against innocent individuals, Albanians, Roma, Serbs and other ethnic and religious communities remained unaddressed by the judiciary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KSC has a <\/span>specific mandate and jurisdiction<\/span><\/a> over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under Kosovo law, which were commenced or committed in Kosovo between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000 by or against citizens of Kosovo or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KSC\u2019s role in delivering justice<\/b><\/p>\n

In September 2021, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) delivered its judgment in its first war crimes prosecution. The KSC <\/span>sentenced<\/span><\/a> former KLA commander Salih Mustafa for the crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and murder on 26 years in prison. This sentence was upheld after an appeal but the sentence was <\/span>reduced<\/span><\/a> to 22 years of prison time in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In its latest judgment in July 2024, the KSC <\/span>found<\/span><\/a> former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Pjeter Shala guilty of three war crimes charges, including the arbitrary detention and torture of at least 18 detainees at the Kukes Metal Factory in Kukes, Albania, and the murder of one prisoner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The court found that Shala, also known as \u201cCommander Wolf,\u201d was \u201cindividually criminally responsible as part of a joint criminal enterprise\u201d in the arbitrary detention, torture and murder of prisoners held at the factory, which the KLA used as a detention center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shala\u2019s victims were Kosovo Albanians and Roma who were apprehended and detained on vague allegations of \u201cbeing traitors, collaborators of Serbian authorities \u2026 or not sufficient supporters of the KLA, financially, militarily, or politically\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It should not be stressed how important this decision is to the families of victims, who will not only find peace, but may also get <\/span>compensation<\/span><\/a> for their losses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The judgments against Mustafa and Shala confirm the necessity of establishing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and its role in delivering justice 25 years after the war ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the KSC did not address it in its judgment, Shala\u2019s verdict may raise questions about the responsibility of Albania, on whose territory the war crimes occurred.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the good progress made by the KSC in prosecuting war crimes so far, it is important to note that all convictions for crimes against civilians are only against Kosovo Albanians, Roma or Bosniaks, overlooking crimes against ethnic Serbs. The ongoing trial before KSC against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, Serbs are among the victims.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is no sentence in this trial which started in 2020 as Serbs are still waiting for justice. It cannot be stressed enough how important the role of KSC is in terms of transitional justice and delivering justice for families of all victims regardless of their ethnicity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Yugoslav authorities in Kosovo were persecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (<\/span>ICTY<\/span><\/a>) Serbian victims of war in Kosovo are still awaiting justice.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dhomat e Specializuara t\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs u themeluan m\u00eb 2017, pas raportit t\u00eb K\u00ebshillit t\u00eb Europ\u00ebs dhe konkluzionit t\u00eb misionit t\u00eb EULEX-it se ekzistojn\u00eb prova t\u00eb mjaftueshme p\u00ebr ndjekjen penale t\u00eb \u201ckrimeve t\u00eb luft\u00ebs, krimeve kund\u00ebr njer\u00ebzimit, si dhe krimeve t\u00eb caktuara kund\u00ebr ligjit kosovar.\u201d\u00a0 Autoritetet e Kosov\u00ebs jan\u00eb pajtuar me BE-n\u00eb mbi modalitetet e trajtimit […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1044,1015,972,624],"ppma_author":[25],"class_list":["post-7059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-dhomat-e-specializuara-te-kosoves","tag-kie","tag-kosove","tag-kryesore"],"authors":[{"term_id":25,"user_id":15,"is_guest":0,"slug":"milos-pavkovic","display_name":"Milo\u0161 Pavkovi\u0107","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MP_cropped-150x150-1.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MP_cropped-150x150-1.jpg"},"user_url":"","last_name":"Pavkovi\u0107","first_name":"Milo\u0161","description":"Milo\u0161 Pavkovi\u0107 \u00ebsht\u00eb nj\u00eb shkenc\u00ebtar politik me specializim n\u00eb rajonin e Evrop\u00ebs Juglindore, politik\u00ebn krahasuese, regjimet hibride dhe politik\u00ebn e BE-s\u00eb. Studimet bachelor dhe master p\u00ebr shkenca politike i kreu n\u00eb Universitetin e Beogradit. Ai kaloi nj\u00eb vit n\u00eb Universitetin e Grazit si student n\u00eb Erasmus dhe mbrojti tez\u00ebn e magjistratur\u00ebs (De)konsolidimi i shtet\u00ebsis\u00eb s\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs n\u00eb kontekstin e negociatave bashk\u00ebkohore nd\u00ebrmjet Qeverive t\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs* dhe Serbis\u00eb. Ai kreu masterin e dyt\u00eb n\u00eb shkencat politike n\u00eb Universitetin e Evrop\u00ebs Qendrore (CEU). Ai \u00ebsht\u00eb bashk\u00ebautor i publikimit Elementet kryesore t\u00eb nevojshme p\u00ebr p\u00ebrparimin n\u00eb normalizimin e marr\u00ebdh\u00ebnieve nd\u00ebrmjet Kosov\u00ebs dhe Serbis\u00eb. Milo\u0161 aktualisht \u00ebsht\u00eb i pun\u00ebsuar si studiues n\u00eb Qendr\u00ebn e Politikave Evropiane (CEP), Beograd dhe sh\u00ebrben si Ambasador i Ri i Evrop\u00ebs n\u00eb Ballkanin Per\u00ebndimor."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7060,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions\/7060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7059"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=7059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}