REGIONAL WAR CRIMES PROJECT- RWC Justice for the missing and victims of war crimes in the Western Balkans

The Regional War Crimes Project (RWC) - aims to improve cooperation among prosecution services and

institutions for the search of misisng persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia

so they can efficiently process war crimes and accelerate the search for missing persons from the armed

conflicts of the 1990s.

Specifically, the project seeks to:

➢ Strengthen and consolidate the platform for regional cooperation among the prosecution services and institutions for the search of missing persons for increased efficiency in the processing of war crimes cases and search for missing persons and address legal and structural obstacles for such cooperation.

➢ Establish cross-border victim and witness support to facilitate victims and witnesses’ participation in cross-border judicial processes and facilitating regional dialogue among prosecution services, institutions for the search of missing persons and victims’ associations.

➢ Promote transparent and data-based public communication and joint public outreach on processing of war crimes cases and the search for the missing persons to maximise societal impact of criminal proceedings and other transitional justice processes for prevention of re-radicalization and long term stability.

Facilitated by UNDP, the Guidelines for enhancing regional cooperation

in war crimes processing and search for missing persons were signed in

April 2015 in Sarajevo by the Prosecutors of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Croatia and Serbia

WHO?

State Prosecutors and Institutions for the Search

of Missing Persons and Victims’ Associations.

WHERE?

Western Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia).

WHY?

Stronger and more efficient regional cooperation

among countries is required to resolve remaining backlog of war crimes cases and ensuring redress

for the victims of past human rights violations, to facilitate reconciliation and sustain peace.

Global Mandate

UNDP enjoys a global mandate on rule of law in fragile and conflict-affected settings and is

supporting transitional justice processes worldwide.

SDG 16

In line with Goal 16 in the Sustainable Development Goals, UNDP supports

Governments and communities in implementing context-specific and participatory transitional

justice processes in support of broader

peacebuilding objectives.

United Nations Development Programme

APRIL 2018

GOVERNANCE AND PEACEBUILDING

–

United Nations Development Programme

Contacts:

Klaudia.kuljuh@undp.org

Regional Project Coordinator, Sarajevo

isabelle.tschan@undp.org

UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub

Background

While progress has been made since the early 2000s, the legacy of armed conflicts in the countries of former Yugoslavia continues to hamper the reconciliation between different States and ethnic groups. Two decades on, processing war crimes cases remains a key priority as the region seeks to provide justice and support to victims, facilitate reconciliation and sustain peace.

For over a decade, regional cooperation in this area was facilitated through the Palic/Brioni Process, peer-to-peer meetings, and protocols on Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide. In April 2015, prosecutors agreed to improve their cooperation by signing what became known as Guidelines for Enhancing Regional Cooperation in War Crimes Processing.

Since 2015, UNDP has been facilitating the platform for regional cooperation on war crimes and missing persons through regular regional and bilateral meetings between Prosecutor’s Offices(Pos) and Institutions for the Search of Missing Persons (IMPs) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. This support resulted in re-activation of cross-border communication, exchange of information and commitment for joint investigation.

Critical time and last opportunity for processing war crimes and addressing impunity gap in the Western Balkans After the ICTY closed its operations at the end of 2017, the national judiciaries in the region remain solely responsible for addressing the substantial backlog of unfinished war crimes investigations and cases. The impunity gap in the region is still wide and without more developed and efficient cross-border co-operation, especially among the prosecution offices, that gap cannot be addressed. The same cooperation is required in relation to institutions dealing with search for missing persons.

Many war crimes cases have a cross-border dimension. The

locations of crimes, suspects, and victims or witnesses are often

in different countries. Judicial procedures vary from country to

country, and so do required evidence and documents for

processing cases. There is a need for consistent information

sharing mechanisms between prosecution services and

Institutions for the Search of Missing Persons on clandestine

grave locations. It is expected that increased regional

cooperation among the prosecution services would make new

information of grave sites accessible for IMPs.

Therefore, regional cooperation through direct communication

among prosecution services and institutions dealing with the

search for missing persons and an agreement on joint strategies

is so critical for processing of war crimes and enhancing the

search for missing persons in the Western Balkans.

Such regional cooperation is also necessary to demonstrate the

collective resolve of the region to turn the page of history, and

for the countries aspiring to join the EU, such as all the countries

in the region except Croatia which has already joined the EU in

2013, to work towards meeting the EU accession standards.

Respect for the rule of law and the promotion and protection

of human rights, including dealing with crimes of the past, are

key benchmarks for EU integration in accordance with Chapters

23 and 24 of the EU acquis.

Role of UNDP

UNDP works closely with national governments in the Western

Balkans and has been supporting rule of law programming and

transitional justice processes for more than a decade.

Therefore, UNDP is well positioned to facilitate cross-border

cooperation between the governments and their independent

institutions. The regional project is implemented by the UNDP

Istanbul Regional Hub and the UNDP Country Offices (Bosnia

and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia) in the sub-region. It

complements ongoing initiatives and programming on human

rights, rule of law, and peacebuilding at the national level.

Progress to date

UNDP has facilitated regional cooperation among POs and IMPs since 2015. Specifically, UNDP has to date supported the:

• Facilitated trust-building and regular communication among the Chief Prosecutors and the Heads of Institutions for the Search of Missing Persons;

• Design of draft harmonized criteria for selection and prioritization of war crimes cases, aligned with relevant country strategies, national legislations and practices (pending adoption);

• Technical focal points of POs established jointly working

on the selected war crimes cases;

• Facilitated bilateral meetings between POs and IMPs,

resulting in joint investigation of war crimes cases and

increased information sharing on missing persons;

• Produced the documentary on the ‘Strpci’ case,

demonstrating the results of effective coordination

amongst POs of BiH and Serbia towards resolving a key

regional war crime case;

• Established victim and witness support systems in BiH and

strengthened the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia

through a victim and witness support officer;

• Facilitated preparation of bilateral agreements for

cooperation: Protocol between IMPs Croatia and

Montenegro signed December 2017; Protocol between

BIH and Montenegro is being finalized;

• Facilitated establishment of the Expert Group on missing

persons in Serbia as a part of implementation of the

Serbian National Strategy for the Prosecution of War

Crimes.