SUPPORT FOR FLORENCE HARTMANN

Statement by numerous human-rights organizations from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosova, Montenegro and Serbia calling for the forthcoming proceedings before the Hague Tribunal against the author - and former spokesperson for its chief prosecutor - Florence Hartmann to be open to the public.

Regarding the proceedings against the journalist Florence Hartmann before the Hague Tribunal on 14 November 2008, for her alleged publication of confidential decisions by the appeal council during the trial against Slobodan Milošević, the human-rights organisations from successor states of the former Yugoslavia [listed below] recall that the content of those decisions was the subject of numerous newspaper reports and public debates, following the February 2007 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ISJ) in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s suit against Serbia , and stress that it is not clear why Florence Hartmann should have ended up before the court at The Hague.

At the time, human-rights organisations throughout the whole region of the former Yugoslavia openly questioned why the Hague Tribunal did not supply the minutes of the Supreme Defence Council (VSO) of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) to the ISJ, and why the ISJ failed to demand that Serbia should surrender these documents before reaching its decision on Bosnia-Herzegovina’s charge of genocide against Serbia. The human-rights organisations severely criticised the decision of the Hague Tribunal to accept Serbia’s demand that parts of the VSO records should be suppressed, as well as the ICJ’s decision not to ask Serbia to deliver the above-mentioned minutes on the grounds that it had sufficient evidence to reach a decision. The Serbian human-rights organisations demanded that the Serbian government should make public the VSO minutes, in order to silence the widespread suspicion that it was withholding evidence of its responsibility for genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, something that it has refused to do to this day. The result was a justified suspicion that the Hague Tribunal, with its decision to protect the minutes of the VSO, and the ICJ, with its lack of interest in collecting important evidence, were protecting Serbia from possible responsibility for the genocide committed at Srebrenica.

Human-rights organisations in the region of the former Yugoslavia demand of Serbia to renounce the protective measures, in order to remove the suspicion that the deleted parts of the VSO minutes hide evidence of Serbia’s responsibility in regard to the perpetration of genocide at Srebrenica. The human-rights organisations demand of the Hague Tribunal to explain its decision to accept Serbia’s demands [to delete the relevant parts of the minutes], in order to remove the suspicion that its decisions aimed to protect Serbia from its responsibility for the Srebrenica genocide. For all these reasons, the proceedings against Florence Hartmann should be public and accessible to observation by human-rights organisations.

Action for Human Rights, Podgorica, Montenegro

Aleksandar Zeković, independent researcher on human-rights violations in Montenegro

Anima, Kotor, Montenegro

Association of Lawyers of Montenegro, Montenegro

Association for Women’s Human Rights - KODI, Pecs, Kosovo

Association for Peace and Reconciliation, Đakovica, Kosovo

Association of Women for Women, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

B.a.B.e. - Group for Women’s Rights, Zagreb, Croatia

Bureau for Human Rights, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Centre for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights, Osijek, Croatia

Centre for Education on Representation and Resources, Prishtina, Kosovo

Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, Prishtina, Kosovo

Censorship - League for the Advancement of Media Freedoms, Split, Croatia

Citizens’ Action, Pančevo, Serbia

Citizens’ Committee for Human Rights, Zagreb, Croatia

Committee for Human Rights, Leskovac, Serbia

Documenta, Zagreb, Croatia

Eye of Vision, Pecs, Kosovo

Foundation for Humanitarian Law, Belgrade, Serbia

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in RS, Bijeljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Helsinki Committe for Human Rights in Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia

Helsinki Citizens’ Committee, Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Integra, Prishtina, Kosovo

Kosova Partners. Prishtina, Kosovo

Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, Belgrade, Serbia

Montenegrin Women’s Lobby, Podgorica, Montenegro

Sandžak Committee for Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Novi Pazar, Serbia

Secure Women’s House, Podgorica, Montenegro

Women in Black, Belgrade, Serbia

Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Serbia

Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Montenegro

Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Kosovo

Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Bosnia-Herzegovina