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Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the
Srebrenica Genocide. From Bosnia, we know that identifying victims
is critical to societal healing. An accounting of missing persons
from the Kosovo war should be a part of negotiations to normalize
relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Sustainable peace demands
disclosure, justice, and accountability.
According to the reputable Humanitarian Law Center
(HLC) in Belgrade, about 1,500 persons disappeared during the Kosovo
conflict. The HLC maintains that between 4,000-5,000 people were
victims of war crimes. This total represents about one-third of
Kosovo Albanians who died during the war.
In 1999, mass graves were discovered in Serbia. As
in Bosnia, Serbia destroyed forensic evidence and mortal remains in
a systematic effort to cover its crimes.
The final declaration of the Trieste meeting of
the Berlin process called for a Regional Commission (RECOM) to
uncover the facts (24 March 2017). The Berlin process is an
intergovernmental process aimed at restoring ties between the
Western Balkans and some EU countries. However, identifying missing
persons has languished. I interviewed a mother in Gjakova who showed
me photos of her missing son. Until she knows what happened, she
will have an open wound.
Twenty-one years after the Kosovo war, it is
unlikely that any of the missing are alive. It is essential,
however, that their status be known. Kosovo as a society cannot heal
until there is a full disclosure and families can mourn their
children in accordance with local custom.
Revitalized with financing from donor countries,
the RECOM should name the victims; identify mass graves; and reveal
the fate of those who went missing. Missing persons should remain on
the agenda of the Berlin process, which is ongoing.
The International Commission on Missing Persons
(ICMP) played a pivotal role after Srebrenica. It has also done
important work in Kosovo. Beginning in 2003, ICMP assisted Kosovo
through DNA-based forensic identification of victims, working in
cooperation with the UN Mission in Kosovo and the then the EU Rule
of Law Mission.
ICMP’s efforts are ongoing. Its task is not merely
technical. The fate of missing persons should be on the agenda of
the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
I understand that both Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo
Serbs were affected by the war. The Serbian Victims Association
maintained an exhibit in front of the parliament with photos of
Serbian missing persons for years. There is, however, a quantitative
difference. The vast majority of those missing and victimized were
Kosovo Albanians. There is also a qualitative difference. Kosovo
Albanians were killed as part of Serbia’s state-driven criminal
enterprise, whereas far fewer Kosovo Serbs were victimized through
the ad hoc activities of individuals.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić heads Serbia’s
delegation to the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. He is morally unsuitable
as an interlocutor.
Vučić was a journalist in Pale
(Bosnia-Herzegovina) in 1992-1993, working alongside Serbian war
criminals. He was a chess-playing partner of General Ratko Mladić,
the butcher of Srebrenica, who led Bosnian Serb forces and organized
the slaughter of Muslims.
In addition, Vučić served as Secretary General of
the Serbian Radical Party, a far-right Serbian nationalist political
party founded in 1991 by paramilitary leader Vojislav Šešelj. When
the International Criminal Court convicted Šešelj of atrocities
against Croats in Vojvodina, Šešelj responded: “[I am] proud of all
my war crimes" and am "ready to repeat them again."
Vučić was also party to hate-mongering, declaring
on July 20, 1995: "If one Serb is killed, we will kill one hundred
Muslims." Vučić has a sordid reputation from serving as Information
Minister to Slobodan Milošević during the Kosovo war. In that role,
he led a cover-up by banning foreign television crews from Belgrade.
As chief propagandist, he zealously worked to foment hatred by Serbs
against Kosovo Albanians. During a presentation to the UN Security
Council, Vučić stated: “Someone should tame and discipline them.”
If the Special Court holds Kosovo Albanians
culpable for violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL),
there should also be a process for holding Vučić and his comrades
responsible for their crimes.
Kosovo does not get to choose its negotiation
counterparts. However, the Government of Kosovo can demand justice.
Crimes can be exposed by identifying missing persons.
The need to account for persons missing in
conflict is enshrined in IHL. The Fourth Geneva Convention requires
that parties to a conflict facilitate inquiries about individuals
missing as a result of hostilities. The additional Protocol 1
explicitly “requires each party to the conflict to search for
persons who have been reported missing by the adverse party.”
Normalization and reconciliation cannot be
achieved until missing persons are identified and justice is served
to the perpetrators of war crimes. It is never too late for truth
and apology. The mother I met in Gjakova, and so many like her,
demand justice and deserve compensation.
Addressing missing persons would greatly enhance
the prospect of successful negotiations to normalize Kosovo-Serb
relations. An agreement whereby Serbia recognizes Kosovo within its
current frontiers cannot neglect the fate of missing persons and
victims of war crimes.
David Phillips is Director of the Program on
Peacebuilding and Human Rights at Columbia University’s Institute
for the Study of Human Rights. He served as a Senior Adviser to the
State Department working on former Yugoslavia during the Clinton
Administration. He is author of Liberating Kosovo: Coercive
Diplomacy and US Intervention (Harvard’s Kennedy School).
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