Bard College Berlin News
Fred Abrahams co-writes “In Serbia, Justice Overruled: 25 Years after NATO Intervention, a Pass for Atrocity Crimes” for Opinio Juris
A grave marked “Unidentified” in western Kosovo, 1999. © Fred Abrahams/Human Rights Watch.
The article is written in the context of the April 2024 convictions of seven former Yugoslav soldiers for mass killings in Kosovo. While Abrahams and Ristic felt relief at the successful convictions, having covered these crimes in depth for many years, they emphasize the need for greater accountability in pursuing justice for victims of war crimes.
Last week marked 25 years since the end of the NATO campaign in Yugoslavia, presented as a humanitarian intervention to prevent suffering. Today, in the context of “muted calls for justice from the European Union, United States and other members of the NATO alliance,” Abrahams and Ristic recommend that the US and European states press Serbia to hold the perpetrators of war crimes to account and to help resolve the fate of missing persons, which includes disclosing the locations of roughly 1,000 human remains. Albania and Kosovo can reciprocate by disclosing the locations of around 500 human remains believed to be on their territories. The EU should move the need for war crimes accountability higher up on the priority list in the dialogue it is facilitating between Kosovo and Serbia.
Abrahams covered the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict for Human Rights Watch. He wrote the book Modern Albania and co-wrote A Village Destroyed: War Crimes in Kosovo. He testified three times at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including in the case of Slobodan Milosevic, and at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. At Bard College Berlin, he is teaching the course Making the Case: Human Rights Research and Reporting.
By: Bard College Berlin Communications Staff
Post Date: 06-20-2024