Initiative: Stop Celebrating War Criminals, Give Priority to Reconciliation

BEOGRAD, (Patria) - Youth initiatives for human rights from Kosovo and Serbia have called on the governments of Pristina and Belgrade to stop celebrating war criminals and give priority to the reconciliation process.

"There is no binding agreement on the normalization of relations that can bring development to Serbian and Kosovar society if both societies do not have the strength to confront criminals from their own ranks and pay tribute to all victims of the conflict," the joint statement said.

It added that in Pristina, a commemoration was held in the Kosovo Assembly for Hague convict Haradin Bala, while in Belgrade, at a gathering on Kosovo organized by the Government Office for Kosovo, Vinko Pandurević, convicted for crimes in Srebrenica, participated.

Both organizations stated that the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, along with others in the region, should jointly work on establishing a Regional Commission for Establishing Facts about War Crimes and Other Serious Human Rights Violations Committed on the Territory of the Former SFRY from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2001, for whose establishment the RECOM Initiative advocates.