April 12, 2019, Prishtina – The Preparatory Team for the Establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held the next consultation with historians from central public institutions such as the Albanological Institute, the Institute of History and the Faculty of History.
The viewpoint of the historians was very dimensional as they considered different circumstances and times of history, giving concrete suggestions on the functioning of the Commission.
The panel from the Preparatory Team for the Establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was composed by Baki Svirca, Nora Ahmetaj and Kushtrim Koliqi, who first explained the fundamental concepts of Transitional Justice, then participants shared the experiences of others and also talked about the initiative of the President for the Truth Commission in Kosovo and why it is needed.
Fatmir Arifi from the Institute of History said that “the apology should be done by the Serbian government and to be convinced to submit Milosevic’s documentation, and then reconciliation comes without any problems, because historians and the citizens of Kosovo know the truth”.
But, according to Haki Kasumi, “the formation of such a commission is necessary, indispensable, but we are late”.
The word reconciliation should be avoided at this stage and international conventions should be the basis for the establishment of this commission, Professor Ibrahim Gashi said, requesting that the period which must be investigated should be from 1981 to 1999.
After the discussion and analysis done by the historians, they in principle see it as reasonable and necessary to initiate the establishment of this commission, evidencing and validating all data for different periods of human rights violations and the fate of the victims.