"No political will in Serbia to address impunity"

"No political will in Serbia to address impunity"

BELGRADE -- Lack of political will in Serbia makes it impossible to address impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1990s wars, AI said.

The Amnesty International (AI) report, "Ending Impunity for Crimes Under International Law," was presented in Belgrade on Tuesday, Beta reported.

AI Director for Europe and Central Asia John Dalhuisen warned that what all post-conflict societies shared was that a wrong unpunished faded with time.

"The process of tackling impunity and delivering justice has been painfully, painfully slow in Serbia," said the AI official, adding that in spite of formal government commitments, the institutions dealing with war crimes and transitional justice were traditionally underfinanced and understaffed.

Dalhuisen feels that the European Union (EU) accession process might be an opportunity for Serbia to address the matter in a systematic and accountable way, and that Serbia should do that not only for the victims, but the Serbian society, too.

The AI's researcher for the Balkans, Sian Jones, said that Serbia did make a few steps to punish the perpetrators of war crimes, but that the numbers were far too low compared to the number of the crimes that were committed.

"It is high time that the Serbian government should take responsibility, show the political will, commitment and courage to deal with the culture of impunity," said Jones, Beta reported.