The researcher of the "Human Rights Watch" organization, Fred Abrahams, recalled the time when the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic was brought and the reactions that this action of the Hague Tribunal had brought.
Abrahams, invited to the show "Desku" on KTV where the topic "Unpunished crimes" was discussed, said that he had felt extreme happiness when 21 years ago an indictment was filed for war crimes against the former president of the former Yugoslavia.
But, a few years later, in 2006, he felt an equally great despair: Milosevic died without being able to wait for the verdict for the crimes he had committed in Kosovo.
Reflecting on the event 21 years ago, Abrahams says it was of great importance, as it was delivering a message that no one had received until then. According to him, the filing of the indictment showed that even the rulers are not immune. It was the first indictment against a leader of a country being accused of war crimes.
It was a victory for justice, he says.
"I think that message resonated strongly. Just because you are president or prime minister does not give you immunity from justice. I hope it has contributed and helped make people think twice before implementing such abusive policies," he said.
Abrahams also spoke about the concerns and dilemmas he had when the indictment was filed on May 27, 1999.
"I remember two different reactions to the indictment. And of course the first one was extreme happiness. We probably didn't expect to see this day. And we international activists, maybe all, almost all activists, Kosovar human rights activists and other people in the region, we were all seeing this monstrous behavior, these behaviors, these terrible crimes against humanity that we were documenting, that we were reporting to him, and finally to have an indictment, to have a process of justice for this man and other people to be brought to justice, you know, it was an absolutely joyous moment. On the other hand, I also had the problem of the time of its rise and it was rising during the time of the NATO bombings, and I was worried. And from this fact, the timing of the indictment would open the door for the Court to politicize the issue of the indictment, which could be seen as a politicized indictment - and I don't think it was a politicized issue - but it created the possibility for that doubt that this was the justice of the winners, that this was the power of the West to subjugate the Serbian people, and we also know that during the trial, he (Milosevic) used this card. I was a little worried about it at the time," Abrahams said.
He says that the reason for fear was the collection of evidence in the field. It shows that there were investigations before the NATO bombings, but not during them.
"I remember when I met the Finnish forensics team in Abri, in Upper Abri, after the September massacre. You know, they were all over the place, they were investigating, and I think they finally gathered enough evidence to open a case. Was there then a generalized political trend, I don't believe it. I never heard any suggestion that any phone calls were made that there was direct pressure to press charges. Of course, it came as a flow and was not in position with the international political trends of that time. I remember that then he was afraid that the filing of this indictment would push the Serbian forces on the ground to move even more decisively against the civilian population, commit crimes and act even more brutally than they had already done," he said.
The HRW researcher says he was concerned that the timing of the indictment, late May 1999, would be used by critics of The Hague Tribunal.
"I felt that the evidence was very strong and, don't forget something, the first indictment was focused only on Kosovo, and later it was expanded to include Bosnia and Croatia. I think that in the case of Milosevic, Croatia was not involved either. But, you know, they had fresh evidence from Kosovo and with it they brought the case forward", he added.
Abrahams continued with the work he does today, even when Milosevic surrendered to the Hague Tribunal and the trial began. He says that even then he had two emotional reactions, like when the indictment was filed.
“One was anxiety, you know. This was a man I had been monitoring for ten years prior to this encounter, documenting the crimes I had seen firsthand that he had inflicted on the people of the region, including the Serbs, and to sit in front of him was intimidating. And also your work, your professional career is being highlighted, you can be questioned, you will be openly examined and you always have to be firm in what you believe and what you have worked in professionally and all this was a certain feeling of anxiety. On the other hand, it was great fun. You know, for me personally, a bright moment in my career to face this person, to look them in the eye and say the facts that I knew to be true and feel like I was contributing. And let me add one more thing. If you consider my work as a researcher of human rights violations, my job is basically to listen to stories, validate them and tell them aloud. So I had visited a dozen villages around Kosovo to listen to the people about what had happened, and my job was to then tell the court. And for me it was a great responsibility, because I felt that I was giving voice to the people who had suffered from this terrible conflict. Obviously, many witnesses also came to testify about their personal experiences. But it was a great responsibility and also a privilege to speak and give power to the suffering of people from this man's terrible policies. And in that regard, it was a great pleasure and a moment that I will remember", Abrahams recalled the work.
For him, the death of Milosevic, without waiting for the verdict for his crimes, was terrible news. Abrahams did not want this death, says it was premature.
"I think that all of us were deprived, and especially the victims of his crimes were deprived of that opportunity. So his death was premature," he added.
