London: Serbia has made progress in
prosecuting war crimes, with a number of sentences pronounced
by the court but discrimination of minorities still persists,
a recent report by Amnesty International (AI) has said.
The report includes details on the trials before the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) and the Serbian Special Court for War Crimes for cases
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo.
It also points to violations of the rights of women
fighters for human rights, particularly concerning war crimes,
whom the authorities failed to protect from threats or
assaults.
Discrimination of ethnic minorities persists in both
Serbia and Kosovo, where ethnic violence continues, the report
noted.
The victims were also members of the Roma minority, it
said, adding that problems also persist in relations between
Serbia and Kosovo.
More than 1,800 families in Kosovo and Serbia still do
not know the fate of family members at the end of the year,
the report said.
In Kosovo, AI observed that EULEX and the Ministry of
Justice established mixed judicial panels and an Office of
Special Prosecutors, which includes local prosecutors, to
address war crimes and other serious crimes.
PTI
