HRA: Progress in the prosecution of war crimes falls short of the interim benchmarks for chapter 23, EU should continue to demand their substantive fulfilment

Human Rights Action (HRA) warns that Montenegro’s progress in prosecuting war crimes has yet to meet the requirements of the final benchmark for Chapter 23, despite the positive assessment given by the European Commission in its report this year.

HRA stressed that it expects the European Union, through the Accession Treaty, to continue requiring Montenegro to substantively fulfil the final benchmarks and to ensure objective monitoring of their implementation.

- Justice for victims of war crimes is one of the most important rule of law tests that Montenegro has yet to pass - they emphasised.

They pointed out that the first-instance verdict and one confirmed indictment in 2025, the reopening of four old cases, and requests submitted to international and regional judicial institutions for the provision of evidence and the transfer of cases represent steps forward that are still far from meeting the final benchmark under negotiating Chapter 23. The benchmark requires a „credible and sustainable track record of effective investigation, prosecution and adjudication of war crimes, including cases involving the highest levels of responsibility, in accordance with international law and standards“.

- Based on the report of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SSPO), it can be concluded that there have been no new investigations or indictments since June 2024, nor any indication that the SSPO is examining command responsibility, that is, responsibility for war crimes at the highest level. There are still no results from the review of any of the four old cases. The amended agreement with Croatia has not resulted in any information about what is preventing the Croatian State Attorney’s Office from initiating prosecutions, after 19 years of preliminary investigations, against those responsible for the abuse and killing of Montenegrin prisoners of war at the Lora prison camp in Split in 1992 - HRA stated.

The final benchmark under Chapter 23, they stressed, also requires „ensuring victims’ access to justice and reparations“.

- However, victims have yet to be provided with adequate support or effective access to reparations. The results of the work of the Government Commission for Compensating Montenegrin Citizens Killed or Injured During the Wars of the 1990s are not known. The Government’s one-off payments of 100,000 euros to each of the 16 families of civilian war victims did not cover all families of civilian victims and represented retroactive social assistance payments rather than compensation for damages. As regards the search for missing persons, progress in identifying the remains of three members of the Klapuh family in 2025 and 2026 came after many years and numerous appeals by a surviving family member and civil society, and at the request of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina - HRA stated.

They added that even the full implementation of activities envisaged under the Action Plan for Chapter 23, such as adopting strategic documents and action plans for handling war crimes cases, conducting training, procuring equipment and adapting premises to protect victims and witnesses, as well as exchanging data and evidence, does not in itself mean that the final benchmark has been met. According to HRA, these activities must produce concrete and sustainable results in judicial proceedings and in the exercise of victims’ rights.

- Given that, three decades after the wars of the 1990s, time is running out to prosecute war crimes, it is crucial to ensure that Montenegro’s prosecution service and courts intensify their work. It is particularly important that victims of war crimes receive compensation. These are people whose most severe suffering, inflicted upon them without justification, has gone unrecognised for three full decades. The death of every victim who has not received compensation represents an irreparable defeat for justice - HRA stated.

They stressed that the European Union must continue to closely monitor the implementation of all obligations Montenegro has undertaken as part of the accession process and must not abandon its insistence on their fulfilment.

Proactive approach by the Prosecutor’s Office: Initiatives exist, but results are lacking

Certain activities have been undertaken in the investigation of war crimes, HRA said. According to the report of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), the Mechanism is preparing a new investigative dossier at the request of the SSPO concerning the possible involvement of a Montenegrin citizen in war crimes.

- The identity of this person and details of the work on the dossier are not publicly known. The cases of „Deportation“, „Bukovica“, „Kaluđerski Laz“ and „Morinj Prison Camp“, which had not previously been adequately and effectively prosecuted, have also been reopened. Their reconsideration is envisaged under the 2024-2027 War Crimes Investigation Strategy and its Action Plan, following HRA’s insistence. Therefore, merely reopening these cases is not sufficient grounds for the positive assessment of the prosecution service’s ‘proactive approach’ in this year’s European Commission report - HRA pointed out.

To assess the prosecution service’s proactive approach, they added, it is necessary to clarify whether the SSPO independently and promptly examines available information about crimes and potential perpetrators, and what specific investigative measures it undertakes.

- Back in 2014, European Commission expert Maurizio Salustro identified possible lines of investigation into crimes committed on the Dubrovnik battlefield and the possible involvement of Montenegrin citizens in crimes in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even 12 years later, no specific results of action in these areas are publicly known. It was only in 2020, after the IRMCT provided it with a dossier concerning more than 15 Montenegrin citizens, that the SSPO began examining crimes committed in eastern Bosnia, potentially including the activities of so-called „weekend warriors“. However, the preliminary investigation in this case has now been ongoing for six years, also without any concrete results - the statement said.

The first-instance verdict against Slobodan Peković for wartime sexual violence is an important achievement of Montenegro’s judiciary, HRA stressed, but it is not an example of an investigation initiated proactively by the prosecution service.

- Criminal prosecution was transferred from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021, after the authorities there had conducted an investigation and issued an indictment, which Montenegro subsequently took over. It should also be borne in mind that this is the only war crimes verdict in the past seven years and that it has not yet become final. Furthermore, the case against Zoran Gašović concerning crimes in Hadžići was opened on the basis of a dossier provided to Montenegro by the IRMCT. In that case, the SSPO did collect additional evidence independently and issued an indictment in June 2024. In the meantime, there have been no new indictments or investigations. Taking over cases and evidence from abroad does not diminish the importance of the work carried out by the domestic prosecution service. However, these two proceedings, in the absence of new investigations and indictments, are insufficient to substantiate the assessment of continuous progress - HRA said.

Command responsibility still not being prosecuted

The European Commission, HRA noted, assesses that a credible and sustainable track record is also being built in cases involving high-level responsibility, as required by the final benchmark. However, HRA points out that no proceedings for war crimes based on command responsibility have been initiated in Montenegro to date, nor are there any indications that action is being taken in this regard.

- The investigation against former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić concerning crimes against the civilian population in Cavtat does not change this fact. According to the publicly available description of the 2024 order launching the investigation, he is accused of directly engaging in inhumane treatment of civilians in Cavtat, rather than of command responsibility. During the war in Croatia, he was an officer of the Yugoslav People's Army Counterintelligence Service (KOS), holding the rank of lieutenant. This was the second-lowest rank in the Yugoslav People's Army, above only second lieutenant - HRA stated.

HRA welcomed the reopening of the cases of „Deportation“, „Bukovica“, „Kaluđerski Laz“ and „Morinj“, in which the examination of command responsibility is also expected.

- The renewed examination of these cases should also encompass the responsibility of those who were under an obligation to prevent the crimes or take measures to punish those responsible, but failed to do so. State prosecutors from the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the „Morinj“ and „Kaluđerski Laz“ cases and submitted their report to the SSPO in the first quarter of this year. However, information about the findings of these reviews has not been made public, nor have new investigations been launched in these cases. On the other hand, the latest six-month report on the implementation of the War Crimes Investigation Strategy contains no information about work on the „Deportation“ and „Bukovica“ cases - the statement said.

The State Prosecutor’s Office, they insisted, should report on the measures taken in these cases, including those relating to the examination of command responsibility, to the extent that doing so would not jeopardise the proceedings or victims’ rights. Otherwise, HRA warned, the impression is created that the cases have been reopened merely as a formality, in an attempt to ease public and European Union pressure.

The number of cases under preliminary investigation is not an indicator of success

In a chart published in its annual report, the European Commission showed an increase in the number of cases under preliminary investigation from six in 2024 to 22 in 2025. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office was cited as the source of the information. However, HRA points out that the increase shown does not correspond to the situation at the end of 2024, when there were 16 cases under preliminary investigation, rather than six, according to the SSPO’s annual report published in January 2025 and an additional response provided by the prosecution service to HRA on 10 March 2025.

- There were 19 war crimes cases in total at that time: 16 under preliminary investigation, one under formal investigation and two before the Higher Court in Podgorica - the case against Slobodan Peković at the main trial stage and the case against Zoran Gašović at the indictment review stage. Comparing the situation at the end of both years, the increase amounts to six cases, from 16 to 22, rather than 16, as the chart suggests. The European Commission and the SSPO should clarify this discrepancy and specify the dates and categories of cases to which the figures refer - HRA stated.

Regional cooperation must be a two-way process

The European Commission gives a positive assessment of regional cooperation and notes that Montenegro and Croatia signed an annex to their 2006 Agreement on Cooperation in the Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide in November 2025. According to the Commission, this strengthened legal and institutional cooperation between the two countries.

- The amendments to the aforementioned agreement were initiated primarily to improve cooperation in the „Lora 3“ case, which the Croatian prosecution service has been conducting a preliminary investigation into since 2007. However, no information has been presented to the public about progress in this case, or about what is preventing Croatia from prosecuting it on the basis of evidence provided by Montenegro as far back as 2012, as well as additional evidence subsequently identified by Documenta and HRA - the NGO stated.

They added that, judging by the SSPO's reports, Croatian judicial authorities have failed to respond for more than two years to two requests for international legal assistance in cases related to the Dubrovnik battlefield.

- These delays cannot be attributed to the Montenegrin prosecution service, but they must be taken into account when assessing regional cooperation. Its effectiveness must be measured by the exchange of evidence, responses to requests for mutual legal assistance and progress in specific cases, rather than solely by the signing of agreements - HRA stated.

Victims’ rights: Guidelines are not enough

The European Commission highlights the adoption of guidelines by the Supreme Court of Montenegro on the exercise of victims’ rights to compensation for damages in criminal proceedings. HRA stresses that these guidelines are important, but their actual significance depends on how they are implemented.

- The final benchmark explicitly requires that victims be granted access to justice and reparations, which means that their rights must be realised in practice. The difficulties faced by victims are also illustrated by the case against Slobodan Peković, in which the first-instance court did not rule on the compensation claim submitted by a protected witness and victim of wartime sexual violence, but instead referred her to civil proceedings. HRA pointed out that compensation should have been determined within the criminal proceedings, so that the victim would not have to initiate a new case, risking the disclosure of her identity and further traumatisation. The guidelines were adopted after that verdict and should help change precisely this kind of practice. The proceedings before the Court of Appeal provide a new opportunity to protect the victim’s right to compensation within the criminal justice process - they stated.

HRA also points out that the measures taken in the field of reparations have yet to ensure a comprehensive and effective compensation system.

- The Government established a commission to compensate Montenegrin citizens who were killed or injured during the wars of the 1990s, but the results of its work have not yet been made public. The families of missing persons, particularly those in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, although recognised as civilian war victims, have still not received compensation, even after three decades of institutional neglect. The one-off payments of 100,000 euros to each of the 16 families of civilian war victims did not cover all families and represented retroactive social assistance payments rather than compensation for damages - they stressed.

Victim and witness support services have not yet been established, and their creation is planned only for the coming year.

- In the case against defendant Zoran Gašović, at least two incidents occurred that had a discouraging effect on witnesses from Bosnia and Herzegovina because they were not provided with basic support during the criminal proceedings - HRA concluded.