Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has criticized the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, arguing that trials against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders have a strong political dimension and describing the institution as “illegal.”
Speaking in an interview with A2 CNN’s Off the Record programme, Bolton questioned the level of oversight over the court and said he believed former leaders accused of wrongdoing should, where possible, be investigated and prosecuted through independent national justice systems.
“My view has been for a long time that these trials have had a heavy political element,” Bolton said, arguing that Serbia and Kosovo should themselves investigate and prosecute their former leaders through independent judicial institutions.
He said that while accountability for alleged crimes committed during conflicts remains important, he did not consider an international tribunal to be the appropriate long-term mechanism in every case.
Bolton also questioned whether the Hague proceedings could establish a precedent affecting other liberation movements around the world.
“It is possible,” he said, while arguing that public confidence in the tribunal and oversight by the states that helped establish it had diminished.
Bolton calls for reassessment of the court
Asked directly whether he believed the Specialist Chambers should be dissolved, Bolton said Kosovo and other countries involved in establishing the institution should determine whether its mandate had gone beyond what had originally been agreed.
He argued that international judicial bodies should not be considered inherently beyond criticism simply because they are international, warning that insufficient oversight could lead institutions in directions that were not originally anticipated.
Bolton said a greater emphasis should be placed on looking toward the future while maintaining accountability for past conduct.
His comments come as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers continues proceedings involving former senior KLA figures. The court recently issued its first-instance judgment in the case against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
The Specialist Chambers were established under Kosovo’s legal framework following an international agreement ratified by the Kosovo Assembly in 2014. In 2015, the Assembly adopted Constitutional Amendment Article 162 and the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, providing the legal basis for the institutions.
The court says it is an independent judicial institution with a specific mandate to prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and certain other crimes committed or initiated in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000. It is based in The Hague and staffed by international judges, prosecutors and other personnel.
Bolton’s characterization of the institution as “illegal” is his own assessment. The court’s official legal framework identifies the Constitutional Amendment, Kosovo legislation and the international agreement ratified by the Kosovo Assembly as the foundations of its jurisdiction and operation.
