I Support

RECOM

RECOM

I Support

RECOM is a citizens' initiative which calls on all post-Yugoslav states jointly, to set up a Regional Commission for Establishing the Facts about War Crimes and other Gross Violations of Human Rights Committed on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2001. It brings together 2,050 non-governmental human rights organizations, associations of former camp inmates, refugees, families of missing victims, artists, writers, lawyers and other individuals who share the view that only a regional approach can produce a comprehensive historical record. Between October 2008 and March 2011, the Coalition for RECOM conducted a consultation process, which included 128 local and regional conferences and eight international forums for transitional justice, discussing victims' needs and the mandate of a regional body tasked with determining and making public the facts about war crimes, other gross violations of human rights, victims and perpetrators. The proposed RECOM Statute was framed with the participation of 6,700 representatives from civil society, including human rights organizations, victims, victims families, lawyers, artists, writers and other distinguished individuals keen to contribute, both as professionals and as private citizens, to the establishment of justice and reconciliation in the region of the former Yugoslavia. The Coalition for RECOM adopted the Proposed Statute on 26 March 2011. During May and June 2011, a petition in support of the establishment of RECOM was signed by 545,000 citizens from post-Yugoslav countries. Public Advocates for the RECOM Initiative The task of preparing for the transition of the RECOM Initiative from civil society to the political arena was entrusted to the following public advocates: Professor Dr Zdravko Grebo; lm director, Dino Musta; journalist, Denana KarupDruko (BiH). Professor Dr arko Puhovski (Croatia). Professor Dr Biljana Vankovska (Macedonia). Journalist, Adriatik Kelmendi (Kosovo). Human rights activist, Nataa Kandi; journalist, Dinko Gruhonji (Serbia). Journalist, Dragoljub Duko Vukovi (Montenegro). Journalist, Igor Mekina (Slovenia). The institutionalization of the RECOM Initiative was nalized in June 2013, with the Presidents of states in the region appointing their personal envoys to RECOMs ofcial Regional Expert Group.

The envoys to RECOM of the state Presidents/Presidency of BiH Professor Dr Zlata urevi, Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb - envoy of the President of Croatia. Sinia Vai, Belgrade Appellate Court judge - envoy of the President of Serbia. Professor Dr. Sonja Tomovi-undi, the President's Adviser on Minority and Human Rights, Montenegro. Luben Arnaudoski, Deputy General Secretary for Legal and Organizational Affairs at the Ofce of the Macedonian President. Selim Selimi, Legal Adviser to the President of Kosovo. Aljoa ampara, Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo - envoy of a Member of the Presidency of BIH. Goran Mihaljevi, legal expert on cooperation with the Hague tribunal - envoy of a Member of the Presidency of BiH. The rst meeting of RECOMs Regional Expert Group took place in Zagreb on 6 September 2013. The meeting marked the beginning of a new stage of the RECOM Process - the realization of the intergovernmental RECOM project. The meeting of the envoys of the Presidents of the post-Yugoslav countries/Presidency of BIH with public advocates of the RECOM Initiative was focused on expert preparations for a meeting scheduled for the end of October 2013, which will be devoted to a detailed legal analysis of the articles of the Proposed RECOM Statute. Both the envoys of the Presidents of the states in the region and the public advocates agreed that the Proposed RECOM Statute, which was adopted by the Coalition for RECOM on 26 March 2011, represents a basic document for building minimum consensus for ofcial-level discussion. The public advocates for the RECOM Initiative pointed out that the Proposed RECOM Statute reects the state of transitional justice as assessed by the participants in the three-and-a-half-year long consultation process in the context of the limitations of criminal trials and the consequences of the wars: the dead, the missing and the symbolic values for which many died ghting and which are today undergoing change or breaking down.

The ofcial envoys to RECOM said that the RECOM Initiative had a unique place in the international judicial system and the quest for peace, in that it would make it possible for several former belligerent states to hammer out a joint arrangement to acknowledge and redress the injustices of war. The envoys said that the scope of the commissions role and that of the judicial bodies should be the subject of serious analysis. They also said that one should consider how best to integrate the potential of a regional commission into specic national state mechanisms, which have in the past shown that legal mechanisms alone are not sufcient. The ofcial envoys fully supported Articles 13 and 14 of the Proposed RECOM Statute, which deals with the objectives and functions of the commission. They were of the opinion that certain issues (such as the fate of the missing and reparations) could not be solved within the framework of an individual state. In their opinion, the regional commission represented a better framework for that and had greater potential. They emphasized that the commissions independence, thanks to its regional character, made it a more effective instrument, when compared to local organizations for uncovering the truth about past events. The state Presidents envoys called on the Member of the Presidency of BiH, Neboja Radmanovi, and the President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, to join the efforts to build an ofcial regional mechanism for establishing facts about what took place in the wars on the territory of the former SFRY. Objectives and functions of the RECOM Article 13 of the Proposed RECOM Statute Objectives The Commission shall have the following objectives: (a) To establish the facts about war crimes and other gross violations of human rights committed on the territory of the former SFRJ in the period from January 1, 1991 until December 31, 2001, the political and societal circumstances that led to the commission of these acts, and the consequences of the crimes and human rights violations; (b) To acknowledge injustices inicted upon victims in order to help create a culture of compassion and solidarity with victims; (c) To contribute to the fullment of victims rights; (d) To help political elites and society in Parties to the Agreement to accept the facts about war crimes and other gross violations of human rights; (e) To help clarify the fate of the missing persons; and, (f) To help prevent the recurrence of war crimes and other gross violations of human rights.

Article 14 of the Proposed RECOM Statute Functions The functions of the Commission shall consist of: (a) Collecting information on war crimes and other gross violations of human rights, providing a detailed account of the crimes and other violations, and describing patterns of abuses and their consequences; (b) Collecting information pertaining to the fate of missing persons and cooperating with competent bodies of the Parties to the Agreement conducting the search for the missing; (c) Compiling registers of human losses related to wars or other forms of armed conict, to include: i. Civilians whose loss of life or disappearance was caused by the war or other form of armed conict; ii. Combatants whose loss of life or disappearance was caused by the war or other form of armed conict; (c) Collecting information on places of connement connected to the war or other form of armed conict, individuals who were unlawfully conned, tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment, and compiling a comprehensive list of the places and victims, with the application of identity protection measures where necessary; (d) Researching the political and societal circumstances that decisively contributed to the outbreak of wars or other forms of armed conict as well as to the commission of war crimes and other gross violations of human rights; (e) Holding public hearings of victims and other persons about war crimes and gross violations of human rights; (f) Recommending measures to help prevent the recurrence of human rights abuses and to ensure reparations to the victims; and, (g) Compiling, publishing, and presenting its Final Report in a manner that will facilitate broad access to the Report by the citizens of the states on the territory of the former SFRJ. The Coalition for RECOM is now in a position where it can use its expertise and documentation to support RECOMs mandate to document war crimes, clarify the fate of the missing, list the civilians and soldiers whose loss of life was caused by the war and list the camps and places of detention.

I Support

RECOM

RECOM

I Support

September 2013.