06 Jul Serbia will be sued before the European Court of Human Rights by Roma community
Representatives of Serbia’s Roma community will sue Serbiab state at the European Court of Human Rights after the Serbian Appeals Court acquitted members of paramilitary group of killing 27 Roma civilians in 1992 (the Sima’s Chetniks case).
Members of paramilitary group were accused that they had killed 27 Roma civilians in Skocic, place near Zvornik, threw them into a pit and then set off a hand grenade. The other civilian was killed in a village yard. Three Roma women were also repeatedly raped while being held under house arrest in the nearby village of Malesic between June and December 1992.
On June 25, Belgrade’s Appeals Court confirmed the acquittal of the six former members of the Sima’s Chetniks paramilitary unit, clearing them of killing 27 Roma civilians in the village of Skocic in Bosnia in July 1992. However, three of the former paramilitaries were convicted of inhumane treatment, violation of physical integrity, sexual humiliation and rape. The Sima’s Chetniks unit existed for a long period of time in which its members committed numerous crimes.
The National Council of Roma, the constitutionally-endorsed body representing the country’s Roma, and the Roma Centre for Strategy, Development and Democracy NGO said that they will sue the Serbian state at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg over the recent verdict that acquitted six paramilitaries of killing 27 Roma in 1992. They said that Serbia “tolerated a grave war crime by uniformed citizens by Serbia with arms given to them by the then JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army), Army of Republika Srpska and the Serbian MUP (interior ministry)”.
News agency Beta reported that they sent an open letter announcing the lawsuit to the Serbian president, prime minister and justice ministry, as well as to the OSCE and several other international organisations.
In the open letter, the National Council of Roma and the Roma Centre for Strategy, Development and Democracy said that the verdict was “scandalous and has humiliated all Roma, especially those who survived the massacre and came to testify”. They added that the verdict will have a significant influence on Roma people’s attitude towards the state and increase tensions and distance between Serbs and Roma.
References from the website Balkan Transitional Justice