Amnesty International Issues 2010 HR Report

The report, which documents the state of human rights in 159 countries from the period January-December 2009, concludes that "effective justice seemed a remote ideal for many, as people’s lives continued to be torn apart by repression, violence, discrimination, power plays and political stalemates“.

“Respect for all human rights must be an integral part of all national and international responses to the continuing food, energy, and financial crises. However, the rights to health, education, and housing for the billions who live in poverty around the world are far from being recognized.”

In relation to the state of human rights in the Yugoslav successor countries, Amnesty International, AI, dedicates most of its attention to war crimes prosecution and minority rights, finding these issues a common concern for most of the former Yugoslav countries.

Meanwhile in Albania, the main problems were domestic violence against women, and the trafficking of women for forced prostitution.

Bosnia in 2009 is cited as a country "increasingly divided along ethnic lines”, while some senior politicians “used increasingly nationalistic rhetoric”.

“In some instances this took the form of public, verbal attacks on state institutions, including on the independence of the justice system. Some politicians made statements denying certain war crimes had ever taken place, even though the courts had passed verdicts on them, and convicted those responsible.”

AI did observe progress in the prosecution of war crimes in Bosnia, noting that 39 final verdicts were pronounced by the state court since its establishment in 2005.

At the same time, AI concluded that the authorities “continued to fail to address the situation of women who were raped during the war by not providing them with adequate access to justice and reparations”.

“Many women who were raped during the war continued to live in poverty, and were unable to find a job as they still suffered from the physical and psychological consequences of their war-time experience.

“Provision of psychological support for survivors was inadequate and many of the women could not access the healthcare system. They were also discriminated against in access to social benefits compared with other groups of victims of war.”

In Croatia, “very limited progress was made in the prosecution” of war crimes allegedly committed by members of the Croatian Army and police forces against Croatian Serbs and members of other minorities during the 1991-1995 war.

“A lack of political will to deal with those cases remained one of the main obstacles.”

AI also noted that Croatian authorities continued to avoid co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, over military documents relating to the 1995 offensive Operation Storm.

Macedonia also made only limited progress in prosecuting war crimes committed during the 2001 internal conflict.

“Impunity continued for the enforced disappearance in 2001 of three ethnic Albanians and the abduction of 13 ethnic Macedonians and one Bulgarian.”

AI also expressed concern in relation to the Macedonia-Greece name dispute, which remains unresolved.

According to the report, progress in war crimes prosecution has been seen in Montenegro, where three trials have been initiated over the last year.

Serbia also made some progress in prosecuting war crimes, with a number of sentences pronounced by the court for war crimes in Belgrade.

Problems also persist in relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

“More than 1,800 families in Kosovo and Serbia still did not know the fate of family members at the end of the year.”

In Kosovo, AI observed that EULEX and the Ministry of Justice established mixed judicial panels and an Office of Special Prosecutors, which included local prosecutors, to address war crimes and other serious crimes. Several cases were concluded.

At the same time, inter-ethnic tensions between Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians and attacks continued, “especially in Serb-dominated north Mitrovice/a”. The victims were also members of the Roma minority.

Roma faced discrimination in a number of areas, the report concluded. “Discrimination against Roma remained pervasive, including in access to education, health care and employment. Few enjoyed the right to adequate housing. The majority remained without personal documents that would enable them to register their residency and status.”

Human rights violations against Roma people is seen all over the region, including in Romania and Bulgaria, where cases of forced evictions of Roma were reported.

In its annual global report, presented on 27 May, AI notes that "a global justice gap is being made worse by power politics despite a landmark year for international justice".

“Governments must ensure that no one is above the law, and that everyone has access to justice for all human rights violations. Until governments stop subordinating justice to political self-interest, freedom from fear and freedom from want will remain elusive for most of humanity," said Claudio Cordone, Interim Secretary General of Amnesty International.