MECHANISM FOR MONITORING TRIALS OF SERBS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED

BELGRADE, MAY 21 /SRNA/ - During a meeting in Belgrade with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the Minister of Justice of Serbia Nenad Vujić emphasized that the trials of Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija fail to meet even the minimum standards established by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and relevant UN resolutions.

On that occasion, he called on the UN and the UN Human Rights Committee to take this matter seriously and establish, with special attention, a mechanism for monitoring these trials, and to identify those responsible for human rights violations in Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian Ministry of Justice said. The meeting also addressed the activities undertaken as part of the judiciary reform, including constitutional amendments and the adoption of a package of judicial laws. Vujić highlighted the solutions aimed at strengthening the independence of judges and the autonomy of public prosecutors, particularly through changes in the composition of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council, and the introduction of mechanisms to respond to prohibited influence on the judiciary. Vujić and Türk also discussed the need for continued efforts to harmonize judicial practice to further strengthen public trust in the judicial system. The Minister of Justice informed Türk about the application-based solutions developed at the Judicial Academy, which enable access to and analysis of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, UN conventions, and UN Committee decisions.