Human Rights

Kosovo begins excavations at newly discovered mass graves tied to 1998–99 war missing, as information on burial sites has fallen sharply despite a 2023 pledge by Kosovo and Serbia to cooperate in locating the missing.

In Kosovo, a veil of silence has systematically obscured the reality of wartime sexual violence, while only a few memorialization initiatives have sought to expose these crimes and affirm survivors’ experiences.

Kosovo is navigating the complex process of moving from a divided memorialization of the past toward a dialogue that transcends simplistic narratives.

The tactic of intimidating critics through constant and personal attacks is aimed at increasing the cost of public engagement of those who wish to criticize the government and thus discipline the public space.

Can two people of the same sex get married in Kosovo? – The never-ending question that continues to raise dust for years on end. In principle, the right to marry and have a family is protected and guaranteed by contemporary constitutions as a fundamental right for everyone. The Constitution of Kosovo is no exception in this regard, explicitly or implicitly recognizing same-sex marriages.

Today’s Montenegro, has slowly started to understand and accept diversity, outside of what is traditionally seen as a “minority” - religious, national, ethnic, etc. Thus, talk about LGBT people began picking up pace slowly and quietly as early as 2002, at first within institutions of the system, under the influence of reform processes and the international community.

Memorials are more than memories cast in basalt and concrete; as reference points, they are sources of veneration and contempt, at the mercy of political interests and deliberate acts of manipulation.

At the beginning of the 2010s, the queer movement in Serbia started its race for marriage equality. The deadline set by the state for this was the last quarter of 2017. However, not only was the Draft of the Law on Same-Sex Partnerships not compiled until this year, but not a single activity has been initiated by the competent authorities which would have resulted in awareness-raising among the general public on the necessity of regulating this issue.

The year 2020 has been a difficult one. But perhaps in retrospect we will be able to say that for this very reason, it was a year in which the determination to initiate change grew and the forces were gathered for a fundamental Building Back Better.

From the online conference ‘Srebrenica: 25 years of remembrance, justice and reconciliation’, organized by the Green parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

They talk about that time, about the summer of 1995, when they were children, when they had to pack their toys hastily in order to get themselves into safety from the Serbian troops. The attacks, the fears – the world seemed to stand still for them then. They talk about how it felt at that time when the then so-called UN safe area no longer provided any protection. How it felt when the hopes to get protection from the internationals from the hatred of the advancing Serbs, dissolved into thin air. At that time, when the international community folded in face of the violence overrunning the whole of Bosnia since 1992 and ultimately culminating in Srebrenica. At some point, as reported by one of the survivors, she understood that she did not have a father anymore.