International Courts Reporter Series: Salih Mustafa Convicted of War Crimes in Kosovo

Introducing the dota2菠菜外围网 International Courts Legal Reporter Blog Series. This series will report on jurisdictional elements, developments in active cases, legal community initiatives, and other relevant topics in the wide range of international courts and tribunals that operate at the Hague, including the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and multiple ad hoc tribunals. For more information, contact Emma Tsankov,emma.g.tsankov@gmail.com.

Salih Mustafa Convicted of War Crimes in Kosovo: A First for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers

By Negin Nader Bazrafkan¹
dota2菠菜外围网 International Courts Legal Reporter

In December 2022, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers sentenced Salih Mustafa² to 26 years for war crimes, including torture and murder³. Mustafa was convicted on four of six charges⁴ in what was the first successful conviction of a war crimes charge by the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor, following his arrest in September 2020, and trial at The Hague, Netherlands. 

At the conclusion of the trial, the judges found that Mustafa had been involved in the torture, cruel treatment, and murder of at least six prisoners at the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) detention center in northern Albania in 1999.⁵ The proceeding was followed closely in Kosovo and Serbia, as well as in the international community, as it was seen as an important step in holding accountable those responsible for war crimes during the Kosovo conflict. Prior to the conviction, two former KLA veterans were sanctioned for witness intimidation, as well.⁶

The conviction has been the subject of some criticism, however. Concerns have been lodged about the trial having been held outside of Kosovo, the site of the crimes, arguing that an in-country state trial would have allowed the victims and their families to participate in the trial more easily and the proceeding would have better incorporated the local population. Local citizens from Kosovo and victims of war crimes may have had a better chance to visit the court and follow the case if it was open to the public and prosecuted locally. Moreover, due to delays⁷, some argue that justice was not timely⁸– such that  ‘justice delayed has been justice denied.’ Some suggest that the judgment was influenced by political considerations⁹ and that the victims were not protected after a leak of confidential files.¹⁰ These wide-ranging concerns highlight the role that complementarity could have played to render the case beyond the jurisdiction of the international criminal tribunals if it had been  under investigation by the state with jurisdiction over it.

Regardless, the Mustafa case represents an important step in holding accountable those responsible for war crimes committed during the Kosovo conflict. The fact that Mustafa was found guilty and sentenced sends a strong message that individuals who commit war crimes will be held accountable for their actions, regardless of the passage of time. Thus, it represents an important milestone in the fight against impunity for war crimes and a significant step towards strengthening the international justice system. The verdict is likely to impact how future war crimes trials are conducted in the region and could help to bring closure to even more victims and their families. 

Endnotes

^[1]The Author is an LLM Student at Fordham University Law School. She has a law degree from the University of Copenhagen and is passionate about international courts, especially the criticism concerning the procedural aspects of the International Criminal Court. The views expressed in the International Courts Reporter Series are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the association.
^[2]Salih Mustafa was a commander in the KLA, who fought for independence from Serbia during the Kosovo war in 1998-1999 and was accused of participating in the killing and torture of prisoners in a detention center run by the KLA in northern Albania in 1999. 
^[3]http://www.scp-ks.org/en/salih-mustafa-found-guilty-war-crimes-and-sentenced-26-years-imprisonment
^[4]http://repository.scp-ks.org/details.php?doc_id=091ec6e98046697b&doc_type=stl_filing&lang=eng
^[5]http://www.scp-ks.org/en/cases/salih-mustafa/en
^[6]http://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kosovo-tribunal-convicts-veterans-leaders-over-witness-intimidation-2022-05-18/
^[7]http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/hague-court-begins-long-delayed-hearings-on-kosovan-war-crimes
^[8]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-warcrimes-kosovo-idUSKCN1G0176
^[9]http://balkaninsight.com/2022/12/15/first-kosovo-guerrilla-verdict-due-at-hague-special-court/
^[10]http://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kosovo-rebel-veterans-leaders-deny-charges-over-leaked-witness-data-2021-10-07/

About the Author

The Author is an LLM Student at Fordham University Law School. She has a law degree from the University of Copenhagen and is passionate about international courts, especially the criticism concerning the procedural aspects of the International Criminal Court. The views expressed in the International Courts Reporter Series are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the association.

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