HRW: Slow War Crimes Prosecution in Kosovo

HRW - Human Rights Watch

In 2022, progress in war crime trials in Kosovo was slow, journalists were still the target of threats and attacks, and institutions did not do enough to protect women victims of domestic violence, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization assessed on Jan. 12, in a report about the state of human rights in the world.

In the report about Serbia, the part about Kosovo, HRW concluded that progress in prosecuting war crime perpetrators was slow. The report further reads that journalists in Kosovo were still exposed to attacks, harassment and threats last year, to which the state responded weakly.

It is also assessed in the report that victims of domestic violence were faced with difficulties in gaining protection in Kosovo, that courts seldom issued restraining orders for perpetrators, and that reducing of sentences in cases of partner femicide was not uncommon.

HRW reported that the parliament of Kosovo rejected a law in March that would allow same-sex civil unions, but that the Pride Parade was held in Kosovo in June without major incidents. HRW also drew attention on the increase in tension in northern Kosovo after Pristina ordered the Serbs there to change their personal documents and car license plates.