Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment Serbia,
Montenegro & Kosovo In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/torture/Serbia-Montenegro.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Serbia,
Montenegro and Kosovo. Some of these
links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated
or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity
or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent
countries and/or regions. Meanwhile,
check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/serbia/ [accessed 5 August
2021] www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/montenegro/ [accessed 5 August
2021] www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/kosovo/ [accessed 5 August
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT SERBIA -- Although the constitution prohibits
such practices, police routinely beat detainees and harassed suspects,
usually during arrest or initial detention with a view towards obtaining a
confession, notwithstanding that such evidence is not permissible in court.
In its most recent 2018 report on the country, the Council of Europe’s
Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which had visited Serbia regularly
since 2007, stated: “The Serbian authorities must recognize that the
existence of ill-treatment by police officers is a fact; it is not the work
of a few rogue officers but rather an accepted practice within the current
police culture, notably among crime inspectors.” MONTENEGRO -- While the constitution and law prohibit
such practices, there were reports alleging that police tortured suspects and
that beatings occurred in prisons and detention centers across the country.
The government prosecuted some police officers and prison guards accused of
overstepping their authority, but there were delays in the court proceedings.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) noted that several police officers found
to be responsible for violating the rules of their service, including cases
of excessive use of force, remained on duty. KOSOVO -- The constitution and laws prohibit such
practices, but the laws are inconsistently implemented and there were
continuing allegations by some detainees of mistreatment by police and, to a
lesser degree, by correctional service personnel. As of October the
Ombudsperson Institution reported receiving 21 registered complaints, seven
of which met their admissibility criteria, of mistreatment of prisoners: six
complaints against police and one against the correctional service. The
police inspectorate investigated three of the cases, while the Ombudsperson
Institution reviewed the remaining cases. The Ombudsperson Institution
reported the COVID-19 pandemic constrained its ability to follow up on cases. Anti-torture
Committee publishes report on periodic visit to Montenegro focusing on
police, prisons, psychiatry and social welfare establishments Council of Europe
2019 News, 7 February 2019 [accessed 17 May
2019] The CPT is highly
critical of the continued de facto lack of access to a lawyer for persons
deprived of their liberty by the police and of the material conditions in
police cells which remain unsuitable for detaining persons up to 72 hours.
These issues should be urgently addressed by the authorities. As regards prisons,
the efforts invested in the reform of the penitentiary system since 2013 are
positively noted in the report. Nevertheless, the report refers to a
significant number of allegations of physical ill-treatment consisting of
slaps, punches and kicks and to the prolonged fixation of inmates for several
days with metal hand- and ankle-cuffs and chains to a bed. The Montenegrin
authorities must put an end to the current practice of fixating prisoners. In respect of the
regime, the report describes the practice of keeping remand prisoners locked
up in substandard cells for 23 hours a day for months and years on end with
no purposeful activity as a “relic of the past”. A structural change of
mentality is required from the prison and judicial authorities to remedy this
situation. Serbs in Montenegro
suffer torture and discrimination Source: Beta, 25 August
2018 www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2018&mm=08&dd=25&nav_id=104935 [accessed 26 August
2018] "I fear it is a
deliberate project, a possible organized political action against the Serbian
people. Serbian citizens are suffering ill-treatment by the Montenegrin
judiciary, they are being arbitrarily detained, some have been imprisoned for
years, others have a ban on leaving Montenegro", Dacic
said. "Discrimination
against Serbs from Montenegro is another story completely. They are trying to
deny them all sorts of rights, from employment to banning the use of the
Serbian language in schools. The Serbian Orthodox Church is attacked and
Serbian political leaders are persecuted", assessed Dacic,
according to NOVA. Freedom House
Country Report - Serbia 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 18 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? The population is
generally free from major threats to physical security, though some prison
facilities suffer from overcrowding, abuse, and inadequate health care. Freedom House
Country Report - Montenegro 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/montenegro/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 18 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? Violent crime is
not a significant problem. However, prison conditions do not meet
international standards for education or health care. Reports of the abuse of
prisoners by prison guards continue, and a number of legal cases filed over
such complaints remained unresolved in 2017. Freedom House
Country Report - Kosovo 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/kosovo/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 18 May
2020] F2. DOES DUE PROCESS
PREVAIL IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL MATTERS? Prosecutors and
courts remain susceptible to political interference and corruption by
powerful political and business elites, affecting the right to a fair trial.
Detained suspects are sometimes denied access to a lawyer until after
questioning by authorities; occasionally, suspects do not meet with a lawyer
until their first court appearance. Although the law states that defendants
should not be detained before trial unless they are likely to flee or tamper
with evidence, judges often order suspects detained without cause. Lengthy
pretrial detentions are common due to judicial inefficiency and resource
constraints. Serbia: Amnesty
International’s submission to the Committee against Torture Amnesty
International AI, 23 April 2015, Index number: EUR 70/1519/2015 www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur70/1519/2015/en/ Download Report at
www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR7015192015ENGLISH.pdf [accessed 13 January
2019] Serbia has failed
to meet the standards set out in the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in several ways. These include: impunity for those responsible
for war-related torture and ill-treatment; the failure to recognize asylum
claims made by victims of torture; and the lack of effective investigations
into hate crimes against human rights defenders. Amnesty
International highlights how Serbia has allowed those responsible for crimes
under international law, including acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment, committed during the wars of the 1990s to enjoy
continuous impunity. Barriers in the legal and administrative systems lead to
lack of reparation, including compensation, to the victims of war-time
torture and other ill-treatment perpetrated by Serbian military, police and
paramilitary forces, including the relatives of missing persons, and victims
of war crimes of sexual violence. Amnesty
International also draws the Committee’s attention to the alleged
ill-treatment of protected witnesses by the Witness Protection Unit. Serbs say Kosovo
police tortured them while in detention Beta, Tanjug, Radio KiM, PRIŠTINA www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2013&mm=01&dd=09&nav_id=84064 [accessed 26 Jan
2014] "What happened
to me, and what we have gone through in the court in Priština
is horrible. They were beating us for no reason - what would have happened if
we actually did something wrong?," Vlasaj said as he spoke with reporters ahead of his
surgery. The victim
sustained serious injuries to his perineum. "They beat me when
I was in the toilet, saying they were doing it so that I would never be able
to have children. They handcuffed me, spread my legs, and mercilessly hit me.
There were two of them. They forced me to splash water on my face to refresh
myself and warned me that I must not tell anyone I was beaten," Vlasaj described his ordeal, and added: "When I
reached my friends I managed to tell them not to think about going to the
toilet because they would receive the same treatment there as I had." Urology Ward chief Dejan Denović told
journalists that the patient's injuries were inflicted when he was kicked,
and that his urethra was injured. "The patient
had trouble urinating, and there was blood in his urine. For that reason he
had to be hospitalized, because these are serious injuries which have
long-term consequences," the doctor stated. It was reported
late on Wednesday that Vlasaj had in the meantime
been transported to Belgrade due to the severity of the injuries to his
abdomen. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture
[Serbia] U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 (2009) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/serbia2009.html [accessed 5 March
2013] Fundamental
safeguards 6. The Committee
notes that the Law on the Execution of Penal Sanctions provides for internal
control by respective departments of the Ministry of Justice, that the Police
Act passed in 2005 foresees the establishment of the Internal Control Sector
and that internal control units have been
established in all regional police centres. However, the Committee remains concerned at
the lack of an independent and external oversight mechanism for alleged
unlawful acts committed by the police.
The Committee is also concerned that, in practice, the police do not
respect the right of a detainee to access a lawyer of his or her own choice
and to access an examination by an independent doctor within 24 hours of
detention and the right to contact his or her family. The Committee is also concerned at the
absence of adequate protocols for the medical profession on how to report on
findings of torture and other cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment in a systematic and independent manner (art. 2). AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 KOSOVO - CRIMES
UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW EULEX recruited two
additional prosecutors for the investigation and prosecution of war crimes.
The 2011 Law on Witness Protection, which entered into force in September,
was not implemented before the end of the year. In May, the former
Minister of Transport and KLA leader Fatmir Limaj and three others were acquitted of war crimes at Klečka/Kleçkë prison camp
in 1999, including ordering the torture and killing of Kosovo Serb and
Albanian civilians. Six other defendants were acquitted in March. In
November, after the Supreme Court overturned the May verdict, ordering a
retrial, EULEX arrested Fatmir Limaj
and three other defendants. The Prime Minister immediately challenged EULEX’s
right to arrest them, but they remained in detention pending trial at the end
of the year. KOSOVO - ENFORCED
DISAPPEARANCES AND ABDUCTIONS The Special
Investigative Task Force established by the EU continued to investigate
allegations that the KLA had abducted Serbs and subsequently transferred them
to Albania, where they were tortured, murdered and some allegedly had their
organs removed for trafficking. In December the
Human Rights Advisory Panel (HRAP), established to decide on alleged human
rights violations by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
considered three complaints, in which they decided that UNMIK had violated
the right to life of Kosovo Serbs abducted following the 1999 armed conflict,
by failing to conduct an effective investigation. By September, the
Department of Forensic Medicine had exhumed the remains of 20 individuals;
51bodies, (including 33 ethnic Albanians and 18 Kosovo Serbs), identified by
DNA analysis, were returned to their families for burial. Exhumations
concluded at Zhilivoda/Žilivoda
mine, thought to contain remains of 25 Kosovo Serbs; however no bodies were
found. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL [Serbia] For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=serbia+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 13 January 2019] Scroll
Down Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL [Montenegro] For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=montenegro+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 13 January 2019] Scroll
Down Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL [Kosovo] For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=kosovo+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 13 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61673.htm [accessed 11
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61673.htm [accessed 7 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, police at times beat detainees and
harassed persons, usually during arrest or initial detention for petty
crimes. The Belgrade-based
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) reported that, on February 16, police hit a
17-year-old girl in the stomach at a downtown Belgrade police station and
handcuffed her to a radiator for several hours while detaining her for
suspected theft. Authorities had not taken action on the report at year's
end. There was no
information on whether any further action was taken during the year in the
following cases of alleged police misconduct: the prosecution, reported
pending in 2004, of police officers Zoran Gogic and
Dragan Bojanic for beating a man in Zrenjanin while on duty in January 2004 and the
prosecution, reported pending in 2004, of three police officers for beating a
man while in detention in 2003. A judge dismissed the private prosecution by
the HLC, reported pending before an investigative judge in 2004, of officers
in the Cacak police department for allegedly
hitting and threatening a man in 2003 to force him to confess to a robbery. Freedom House
Country Report - Serbia - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/serbia [accessed 11
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Legal and judicial
reform has been slow in recent years because of the complicated political
situation. The EU’s 2008 progress report on Serbia noted that the quality and
professionalism of judges is relatively high, and that pay for judges has
improved, but it cited concerns over the investigative capacity of the
prosecutorial service and political influence in the selection of judges. The
judicial system suffers from a large backlog of cases, long delays in filing
formal charges against suspects, and the failure of legislative institutions
to heed judicial rulings. Prisons are generally considered to meet
international standards, although overcrowding, drug abuse, and violence
among inmates remain serious problems. Freedom House
Country Report - Montenegro - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/montenegro [accessed 11
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The judicial system
lacks independence from political authorities, and judicial corruption
remains a significant problem. A 2008 EU progress report questioned the way
in which the professional capacity and integrity of judges is determined.
While officials have made some progress in reducing a large backlog in cases,
there are still a large number pending, and trials generally take excessive
amounts of time to complete. Despite efforts to improve prison conditions,
most facilities are antiquated, overcrowded, and often unhygienic. Freedom House
Country Report - Kosovo - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/kosovo [accessed 11
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Kosovo’s
newly-adopted constitution calls for an independent judiciary, though courts
at all levels are subject to political influence and intimidation. In January
2008, Amnesty International reported that UNMIK had failed to created a criminal justice
system willing and able to prosecute war criminals. The trial of former prime
minister Ramush Haradinaj
began in March 2007, but ICTY officials complained that he and his supporters
were intimidating potential prosecution witnesses. Several witnesses in the Haradinaj case died under unclear circumstances. He was
acquitted by the tribunal in April 2008. Ethnic Albanian judges rarely
prosecute cases involving Albanian attacks on non-Albanians. The backlog in
the civil court system stands at tens of thousands of cases. The backlog in
property claims, mainly those of Serbs, stood at approximately 21,000 by the
end of 2008. Prison conditions in Kosovo are generally in line with
international standards, though overcrowding remains a problem, and abuse of
prisoners has been reported. The breakdown in the judicial system has
resulted in the reemergence of familial blood feuds in some areas. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo",
http://gvnet.com/torture/Serbia-Montenegro.htm, [accessed <date>] |
