Humanitarian Law Center
Professional services
UnclaimedA Serbian human-rights organization documenting wartime abuses and advancing transitional justice across the former Yugoslavia.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) is a non-governmental human-rights organization founded in 1992 by Nataša Kandić. Based in Belgrade, with an office in Pristina, it works primarily on accountability and public memory relating to the armed conflicts that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia. Its documentation has covered Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, with a particular emphasis on the experiences of victims and families whose cases have been disputed, under-recorded or politically manipulated. HLC’s work is organized around transitional justice. Its activities include collecting testimony and documentary evidence, identifying victims, supporting criminal investigations and war-crimes prosecutions, assisting witnesses, advocating institutional reform, seeking material and symbolic reparations, and making reliable information available to the public. The organization also campaigns for the removal of individuals credibly implicated in abuses from public office and security institutions. Its approach is regional: perpetrators, victims, witnesses, records and displaced families frequently cross national boundaries, making cooperation among successor states essential. A major strand of HLC’s work has been documentation and memorialization. The organization developed databases and registers concerning people killed or missing during the wars of the 1990s. Its Kosovo Memory Book records victims of the conflict and its aftermath from January 1998 through December 2000, with entries intended to identify individuals and describe the circumstances of death or disappearance rather than rely on aggregate political claims. HLC has also compiled a register of Serbian and Montenegrin citizens killed or missing in the wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1991 and 1995. HLC has supported justice processes in domestic courts and before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Its evidence contributed to investigations and proceedings concerning alleged crimes in Kosovo, Lovas in Croatia and Zvornik in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2005, it supplied the ICTY with video evidence depicting the execution of Bosniak prisoners by members of the Scorpions, material that had a major impact on public discussion in Serbia about responsibility for crimes connected with the Srebrenica massacre. In 2007, HLC translated and distributed ICTY materials concerning Slobodan Milošević in the languages of the region to improve access for local prosecutors, courts, lawyers and researchers. The organization is also associated with the RECOM initiative, a regional effort to establish a commission that would document and disclose facts about war crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. HLC helped launch the initiative in 2006 and participated in consultations involving victims, veterans, civil-society groups, journalists, artists and young people across the Western Balkans. HLC’s public profile has brought both international recognition and intense domestic hostility. It was nominated together with Kandić for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize by United States congressmen Roger Wicker and Eliot Engel. The nomination was followed by a hate campaign involving far-right activists and hostile media coverage in Serbia. HLC remains an advocacy and documentation organization rather than a commercial consumer brand; its principal outputs are research, databases, legal assistance, public education and policy advocacy. Reported supporters have included the Open Society Institute and the Sigrid Rausing Trust.
History
Founded in 1992 by Nataša Kandić, the Humanitarian Law Center emerged during the wars accompanying the dissolution of Yugoslavia. From the beginning, it focused on recording abuses that state institutions and nationalist political narratives failed to investigate adequately. Its researchers worked with victims, relatives, witnesses, court records, official documents, journalists and other sources to establish individual accounts of killings, disappearances, detention, persecution and other violations. During the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, HLC developed a cross-border method of investigation. Rather than treating wartime abuses solely as national questions, it examined the conduct of military, police and political structures and sought information from communities on all sides of the conflicts. This approach later became the basis for its transitional-justice programme, which combines documentation and memorialization, pursuit of justice and institutional reform, and public information and outreach. HLC’s evidence has been used in international and domestic accountability processes. In 2005, it provided the ICTY with a recording showing members of the Scorpions executing six Muslims from Srebrenica at Trnovo. The publication of the recording provoked widespread public reaction in Serbia. HLC also published and distributed regional-language versions of ICTY materials, including the full transcript of Slobodan Milošević’s trial, so that prosecutors, judges, lawyers and researchers in the successor states could use the tribunal’s record. In 2007, information supplied by HLC contributed to the opening of an investigation into the killing of Bosniaks in Zvornik. The organization supported domestic proceedings involving alleged crimes in Kosovo and Croatia. Evidence concerning the Lovas killings helped lead the Belgrade War Crimes Chamber to begin proceedings against former Yugoslav National Army officers. HLC also submitted a criminal complaint concerning the alleged killing of 42 Albanian civilians at Trnje/Termje in Kosovo in March 1999, naming Božidar Delić and other members of the Yugoslav Army. In 2009, information and evidence gathered by HLC contributed to arrests of former members of Serbia’s 37th Special Police Unit in connection with alleged large-scale crimes in Kosovo. HLC established a Victim-Witness Support Programme in 2004 to help hesitant witnesses participate in Serbian war-crimes proceedings. HLC has maintained a strong institutional-reform agenda. In 2006, it helped secure the removal of the head of Serbia’s police war-crimes investigation unit and two colleagues whose wartime conduct and alleged failure to prevent or report crimes had become subjects of concern. The organization has also advocated compensation for victims, access to official information and the removal of alleged perpetrators from state institutions and positions of authority. Regional cooperation is central to HLC’s work. At a transitional-justice forum in Sarajevo in 2006, HLC and partner organizations launched the RECOM initiative, seeking a regional commission to establish and disclose facts about crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. Consultations continued across the Western Balkans from 2006 to 2008, involving victims, veterans, civil-society organizations, media groups, artists and young people. In 2008, participants formed the Regional Coalition for RECOM, later known as the RECOM Reconciliation Network. The initiative sought broad public support and urged governments to establish a regional fact-finding mechanism. HLC’s victim documentation has included a register of Serbian and Montenegrin citizens killed or missing in the wars of 1991–1995 and the Kosovo Memory Book, which records victims of the Kosovo conflict and related violence from 1998 to 2000. These projects aim to replace politically convenient totals with individual, verifiable records and to provide families and researchers with a basis for remembrance and accountability. The organization has received international attention as well as sustained criticism from Serbian nationalist and far-right actors. In 2016 it condemned the ICTY acquittal of Vojislav Šešelj. In 2018, HLC and Kandić were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Roger Wicker and Eliot Engel. The nomination was followed by hostile graffiti, accusations of treason and antagonistic media coverage. HLC’s documented work, including reports on war-crimes trials and memory politics, continues to place it among the prominent civil-society actors addressing accountability for the Yugoslav wars.
- 2018
Nobel Peace Prize nomination
[1]HLC and Nataša Kandić were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Roger Wicker and Eliot Engel.
- 2015
Kosovo Memory Book posted online
[1]HLC made its victim documentation for Kosovo available online for public access.
- 2009
Serbian and Montenegrin victim register initiated
[1]HLC began compiling an individual register of citizens killed or missing in the 1991–1995 wars.
- 2007
ICTY materials translated and distributed
[1]HLC translated major ICTY materials concerning Slobodan Milošević into regional languages and supplied them to justice institutions and legal professionals.
- 2006
RECOM initiative launched
[1]HLC and partner organizations began advocating a regional commission to establish facts about crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars.
- 2005
Scorpions video supplied to the ICTY
[1]HLC provided video evidence concerning the execution of six Bosniak prisoners at Trnovo.
- 2004
Victim-Witness Support Programme established
[1]HLC created a programme to support witnesses participating in war-crimes proceedings before Serbian courts.
- 1992
Humanitarian Law Center founded
[1]Nataša Kandić established HLC to document human-rights violations during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
Products and positioning
Victim-centered, evidence-based transitional-justice organization focused on accountability, documentation, institutional reform and cross-border reconciliation in the Western Balkans.
Documentation database and publication · 2015
Kosovo Memory Book
A victim-centered record of people killed or missing in connection with the Kosovo conflict and related violence from January 1998 through December 2000. It seeks to identify individuals, describe the circumstances of each case and provide a public evidentiary basis for remembrance, research and accountability.
Legal and psychosocial support · 2004
Victim-Witness Support Programme
A programme created to help witnesses and victims participate in war-crimes proceedings before Serbian courts. Its purpose is to reduce practical and emotional barriers to testimony and strengthen victim access to justice.
Research publication
Reports on War-Crimes Trials
Research reports monitor war-crimes proceedings in Serbia, assess judicial practice and public accountability, and identify institutional or legal shortcomings. HLC has also published work on historical revisionism and memory politics surrounding the wars of the 1990s.
Controversies
2018
Hostile campaign after Nobel nomination
After HLC and Nataša Kandić were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Serbian far-right activists painted hostile messages on buildings and media outlets published accusations portraying Kandić as a traitor. The episode reflected continuing nationalist opposition to HLC’s documentation and accountability work.
Marketing campaigns
- 2018Nobel Peace Prize recognition
International
HLC and Nataša Kandić were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their human-rights and accountability work.
Outcome. The nomination increased international visibility but was followed by hostile campaigning against HLC and Kandić in Serbia.
- 2006RECOM
Western Balkans
HLC helped launch a regional initiative for a commission that would establish and disclose facts about war crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Consultations included victims, veterans, civil-society organizations, media, artists and young people.
Outcome. The consultations produced a Regional Coalition for RECOM, which continued campaigning for governmental support and a regional fact-finding mechanism.
Brand decisions
2006
Adoption of a regional transitional-justice approachStrategyBackground
HLC argued that national investigations were insufficient because victims, witnesses, perpetrators and evidence were distributed across successor states.
Action taken
It intensified regional cooperation through the RECOM initiative and cross-border documentation, consultation and advocacy.
Aftermath
The initiative developed into a regional coalition and reconciliation network advocating a common factual record of wartime crimes.
2005
Release of Scorpions execution evidenceOtherBackground
HLC possessed video evidence relevant to alleged crimes committed by members of the Scorpions during the Bosnian war.
Action taken
It supplied the recording to the ICTY, where its existence became publicly significant in discussions of Serbia’s relationship to the Srebrenica crimes.
Aftermath
The video shocked Serbian public opinion and supported wider scrutiny of wartime responsibility.
Sources4 sources
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