Open Letter Marks 17^th Anniversary of Bytyqi Murders/

July 8, 2016/

To mark the 17^th anniversary of the Bytyqi murders, more than three dozen notable experts who have worked and are working at the highest levels of government, academia and within the NGO communitysigned an open letter urging European Union and United States leaders to engage the Serbian government on its record in resolving war crimes, including the Bytyqi case.

The signatories noted their, “deep[] concern [for] the slow pace of Serbia’s domestic war crimes prosecutions, including its failure to resolve the murders of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi,” calling this record “dismal [and] unacceptable.”

Serbian Presidents and Prime Ministers have pledged to resolve the Bytyqi murders for many years, including in June 2015, when Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic publicly declared to resolve the Bytyqi case “very soon or much sooner than anybody might expect.”

Robert L. Barry, a former U.S. Ambassador & Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina said this:

“If Serbia’s leaders want to lead their country into the EU, they must stop coddling criminals and start keeping their word.”

Tanya Domi, an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Advisor to Freedom House said this:

“Serbia’s path toward becoming a democratic state demands it must confront its sordid past by pursuing accountability through vigorous and transparent legal processes.  The government chooses to ignore one of its greatest resources — that of a robust human rights community.  But sadly, the continued denial and obfuscation by Serbian officials about past war crimes undermines Serbia’s present and aspirational future.” 

Praveen Madhiraju, a pro bono representative of the Bytyqi family said this:

“In the Bytyqi case, Serbian political leaders have repeatedly failed to deliver on promises made to the U.S. officials, including Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry. Unfortunately, Serbia’s leaders have a much better track record delivering for suspected war criminals.”

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OPEN LETTER TO JOSEPH BIDEN, THE U.S. VICE PRESIDENT,

JOHN KERRY, THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE,

FEDERICA MOGHERINI, HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE E.U. FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY,

JOHANNES HAHN, E.U. COMMISSIONER FOR EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY & ENLARGEMENT NEGOTIATIONS,

THE EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL,

THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,

AND THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

As former representatives of the United States government, authors, human rights activists, and academics who have closely followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and Serbia’s subsequent efforts to resolve the many war crimes committed during that period, we are deeply concerned by the slow pace of Serbia’s domestic war crimes prosecutions, including its failure to resolve the murders of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi, three brothers who were executed and dumped on top of a mass grave seventeen years ago today. Since the position’s inception in 2003, the Serbian war crimes prosecutor has indicted no senior Serbian military or police officials, no government officials, and no persons of any rank involved in the removal from Kosovo and reburial in Serbia of more than 900 Albanian bodies – a deliberate “cover-up operation”. Prosecutors filed only seven indictments in 2014, the majority of which were the result of complete investigatory files transferred from prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2015, they only issued two, neither of which was confirmed. This is not a record to be proud of. In the Bytyqi case, a Serbian President and the two most recent Prime Ministers have repeatedly promised resolution since 2006, but have failed to take adequate steps to secure this result. Instead, reports indicate that a primary suspect has intimidated witnesses and remains close to senior members of the current government. International and domestic NGOs, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Commission, have diagnosed numerous problems with Serbia’s war crimes record. Uniformly, each cites a lack of political will and political interference as impeding accountability. Similarly, witnesses will never come forward and cases will not be resolved when government Ministers host “welcome home” parties for returning convicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and suggest there be a political loyalty test when selecting the chief war crimes prosecutor. Though the ICTY is winding down, the hard work for its countries of focus is nowhere near complete. Across the Balkans, tens of thousands of victims and their families deserve closure. Henceforth, only domestic prosecutions will have the ability to deliver them justice. To date, Serbia’s record has been a dismal one that is ultimately unacceptable. Therefore, we urge you and the entities you represent to take constructive steps to ensure better commitment and effort by Serbia’s leaders and institutions to resolve war crimes cases, including the Bytyqi Brothers case. This issue should be raised as part of your continuing dialogue with the Serbian government, parliament and civil society leaders.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Robert L. Barry (ret.)

former U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria and Indonesia former Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Tanya Domi Adjunct Professor, Columbia University Advisor, Freedom House Praveen Madhiraju pro bono advisor to the Bytyqi family Nataša Kandić Founder, Humanitarian Law Center Coordinator, RECOM process Sonja Biserko Chair Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Sandra Orlović Executive Director Humanitarian Law Center Jelena Milić Director Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies Milica Kostić Legal Director Humanitarian Law Center Goran Miletić Program Director for the Western Balkans Civil Rights Defenders David Tolbert President International Center for Transitional Justice C. Dixon Osburn Executive Director Center for Justice & Accountability Fred Abrahams Author & Researcher Kelly Dawn Askin former Senior Legal Officer for International Justice Open Society Justice Initiative Nina Bang-Jensen former Executive Director, Coalition for International Justice Senior Peace Fellow, Public International Law & Policy Group Kurt Bassuener Senior Associate Democratization Policy Council Holly Cartner Human Rights Lawyer Stefanie Frease Senior Associate Democratization Policy Council James R. Hooper Independent Consultant Maxine Marcus International Crimes Prosecutor and Investigator Expert in Transformative Justice for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Formerly Prosecuting Attorney at ICTY Pamela Merchant former Executive Director Center for Justice and Accountability Glenn C. Nye former Member of Congress & U.S. Diplomat Dr. Valery Perry Senior Associate Democratization Policy Council Florian Bieber Professor University of Graz Robert Kogod Goldman Professor of Law & Louis C. James Scholar American University Washington College of Law; former President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights András Riedlmayer Bibliographer, Documentation Center for Islamic Art and Architecture, Harvard University Editor, International Justice Watch Naomi Roht-Arriaza Distinguished Professor of Law and Thomas Miller Chair University of California Hastings College of Law Daniel Serwer Professor Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Dr. Paul R. Williams Rebecca Grazier Professor of Law and International Relations American University Laurel E. Fletcher Clinical Professor of Law & Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic University of California, Berkeley, School of Law Aida A. Hozic Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science University of Florida Dr. Paula M. Pickering Associate Professor of Government College of William and Mary Gabor Rona Visiting Professor of Law Cardozo Law School Susana SáCouto Executive Director, War Crimes Research Office American University Washington College of Law Milada Anna Vachudova Jean Monnet Chair of EU Studies & Associate Professor of Political Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dr. Arnaud Kurze Assistant Professor of Justice Studies Montclair State University Nenad Stojanović Visiting Research Scholar Princeton University Jasmin Hasić PhD Candidate Universite libre de Bruxelles and LUISS Guido Carli of Rome Jessie Hronesova DPhil Candidate in Politics University of Oxford