The European Union should send a strong message to Serbia that full cooperation with the Yugoslav tribunal, including the arrest and surrender of Bosnian war fugitive Ratko Mladic, remains necessary for EU membership.

Human Rights Watch is writing to urge you to adopt conclusions at next week’s General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meeting emphasizing that Belgrade’s full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) remains a necessary precondition for the ratification of the Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA) signed earlier this year with Serbia.

Many people in Bosnia and beyond thought they would never see Radovan Karadzic standing before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It seemed almost beyond the dreams of the rape victims that I interviewed in Bosnia in 1993, or those held in concentration camps. But even then, in the midst of the conflict and in very difficult circumstances, local civilians had painstakingly gathered detailed testimonies from survivors in the hope that one day, there would be justice for these crimes.

The fact that Radovan Karadzic will face trial has important ramifications for the case against Omar Bashir, which must not now be delayed. Most obviously, the arrest of Radovan Karadzic is good news for the victims of the Bosnian war and their relatives. As one woman in Srebrenica said this week: "Justice is achievable, after all." But this remarkable moment has a broader historic importance, too.

The arrest of Radovan Karadzic, the former president of Republika Srpska, marks a major blow against impunity for the egregious crimes committed in the Balkans, Human Rights Watch said today. Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995.

The European Union’s (EU) signing of the Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia today despite Belgrade’s failure to arrest accused war criminal Ratko Mladic is a setback to those seeking justice for genocide in Srebrenica, Human Rights Watch said today. EU member states should refuse to allow Serbia to take additional steps toward EU membership without full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including the surrender of Mladic.

Kosovo’s government should fully cooperate with the European Union’s newly deployed rule-of-law mission in reforming Kosovo’s criminal justice system that remains extremely weak, despite efforts to strengthen it over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The EU mission (known as “EULEX”) is expected to lead justice reform efforts. The riots in Mitrovica on March 17, 2008, underscore the need for Kosovo to build a strong and effective criminal justice system to deter, investigate and prosecute any such acts of violence.

As Kosovo is poised to declare independence, the new government and its international partners should build a state based on democratic principles and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said in a seven-point human rights agenda for Kosovo issued today. The European Union-led mission charged with stabilizing the breakaway province once it secedes from Serbia should take urgent steps to prevent human rights abuses, particularly against minorities and women.