United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton should emphasize the importance of improving human rights records in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia and Kosovo during their Western Balkan tour.

I am writing to you regarding articles 37 and 38 of the draft criminal code. Human Rights Watch understands that the code was returned by President Atifete Jahjaga to the National Assembly on May 8 for reconsideration.

The European Union’s decision to open a special criminal investigation into alleged crimes in Kosovo and Albania after the Kosovo war is a welcome step for justice and the rule of law in the Balkans.

Nearly two decades ago, Aryeh Neier helped launch the international criminal court that eventually tried more than 150 suspects-and will soon try alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic. The former head of Human Rights Watch shares how the tribunal was born.

With a little goodwill from both sides the plight of Roma families, who were displaced from Mitrovica in the war and abandoned in lead-contaminated camps, could finally be solved.

Efforts toward European integration for the Western Balkans are hampered by persistent human rights problems, Human Rights Watch said today. In its World Report 2011, Human Rights Watch documents human rights concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo during 2010.

The United States and European governments should demand thorough and impartial criminal investigations in Kosovo and Albania into allegations of serious crimes by former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members.

With Brussels increasingly the most influential actor in Kosovo, the European Commission annual progress report is a key benchmark for its performance on human rights.

Like the UN's mission before it, Eulex has yet to bring to book those involved in politically motivated crimes in Kosovo.

Serbia’s recent arrest of nine men suspected of killing 41 Kosovo Albanians civilians in 1999 is a welcome step toward justice for the victims.

Human rights protections in the Western Balkans lag behind aspirations for European integration.In its World Report 2010, Human Rights Watch documents human rights conditions and issues in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo.

A BBC investigation has revealed powerful evidence that the separatist ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) maintained a network of detention facilities in Kosovo and Albania, where it held both ethnic Serbs, Roma, Albanian and other captives. The investigation follows credible allegations in the book The Hunt, by Carla del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, about the abduction and cross-border transfer of around 400 ethnic Serbs and other captives from Kosovo to northern Albania after the withdrawal of Serbian forces on June 1999. Read More >>

Human Rights Watch has been engaged in monitoring human rights abuses and accountability efforts in Kosovo for more than a decade. In that context, we would like to bring to your attention to what we assess to be key priorities for the successful implementation of EULEX’s mandate.

If Pristina investigated the fate of more than 400 missing non-Albanians in Kosovo, it would prove it cared for all its citizens, regardless of ethnicity. When Carla Del Ponte’s book hit the media last month, coverage predictably highlighted her allegations concerning the possible trafficking of prisoners’ organs from a mysterious yellow house near the Albanian town of Burrel. While Serbian officials exaggerated the claims, officials in Pristina and Tirana called them a slanderous lie.

As you know, Human Rights Watch has long documented violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Balkans. For almost two decades, we have been active in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, investigating human rights abuses committed by all sides and publishing numerous reports detailing violations. We have repeatedly called for violations to cease or, where there were credible but as yet unconfirmed allegations, to be investigated, and for the responsible individuals to be prosecuted. I am writing to you now to urge that a thorough investigation be carried out into allegations of atrocities committed during 1999 that have recently been placed into the public sphere.

The new European Union-led international mission to Kosovo must be subject to much greater scrutiny and accountability than its predecessor, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), if it is to succeed, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee said today. The NATO-led Kosovo Force should also be subject to much greater scrutiny.

I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch to ask you to re-open the selection procedure for the post of Ombudsperson, in order to ensure that the person selected has the proper qualifications for this important, independent role.

The future European Union-led international mission to Kosovo must subject its human rights record to much greater scrutiny and accountability than its United Nations predecessor if it is to succeed, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. EU foreign ministers are likely to discuss the future mission at the general affairs council meeting in Luxembourg on June 18-19.

The criminal justice system continues to fail victims in Kosovo, despite almost seven years of international administration, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Kosovo’s future status is currently the subject of intense negotiations mediated by the international community.

The United Nations-administered province of Kosovo has just seen what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has termed as the worst ethnic clashes since 1999. In this joint statement the organizations call on the European Union and its member states to stop involuntary returns to Kosovo, in accordance with the latest UNHCR guidance, and permit reconsideration of claims by those who have accepted voluntary return.

Following the arrest of three Kosovar Albanians indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by NATO forces, Human Rights Watch said today that the event is an important step for the cause of justice in the Balkans.

Since the beginning of the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav media have been flooded with praise for Milosevic's defense. If you were relying on this commentary alone, you would have to conclude that Milosevic is getting the better of the tribunal prosecutors.

Individuals who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to hold high positions in the Serbian government and police force, and the Yugoslav army. HRW's 593-page report, "Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo," uses statistical methods and comprehensive field research to document the torture, killings, rapes, and forced expulsions of Kosovar Albanians committed by forces under the command of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his inner circle of political and military leaders between March 24 and June 12, 1999, the period of NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia.