Civil society

The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor has active professional cooperation with respectable domestic and international NGOs in the human rights area, particularly those dedicated to the identification of gross human rights violations and confrontation with the past.    

In addition to obtaining information and documents from the NGO databases, this Office relies on the NGOs’ assistance in tracking down witnesses and establiashing contacts with them.  

Through their regular activities, the NGOs provide considerable support to the work of this Prosecutor’s Office and significantly contribute to the general public awareness of its ongoing cases.

Actively involved in the monitoring of war crimes trials before the Belgrade Higher Court’s War Crimes Department, the NGO representatives prepare relevant reports and analyses. The OSCE Mission’s monitoring project is part of the Support to National War Crimes Trials, a larger project financed by the EU Delegation to Serbia, which also involves the participation of the local NGOs, namely the Humanitarian Law Centre and Belgrade Centre for Human Rights.

As organizers and participants in panel discussions about war crimes trials before national courts, the NGOs explore public opinions and attitudes regarding the prosecution of war crimes cases.  

Cooperation also involves professional training and exchange of experience through joint organization of seminars, consultations, conferences and training programmes, as well as the preparation of specialist publications.

In its effort to secure stronger support for the prosecution of war criminals, this Office is going to intensify its communication with the NGOs and media in the upcoming period.

 The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor has established effective cooparation with the following NGOs:

  • Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
  • Humanitarian Law Centre
  • Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights
  • Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
  • Fund for Open Society
  • Veritas Documentation Centre
  • Youth Initiative for Human Rights (partner in the realization of the internship programme for young legal professionals interested in transitional justice issues)
  • Victimology Society Serbia
  • Vojvodina Jewish Community
  • Centre for Nonviolent Action
  • Associations of families of victims from Kosovo-Metohija, BH and Croatia
  • Independent journalists’ associations (NUNS, Media Centre Sarajevo, Croatian Journalists’ Society)
  • Amnesty international
  • Human Rights Watch