The Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal. By no other name

Date: 24/04/04

A definitive ruling that the Srebrenica massacre was genocide

CLAIMS that genocide was not committed in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia have been laid to rest. The five-judge appeal chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), led by an American, Theodor Meron, has ruled that the killing of some 7,500 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 should be called by its proper name. “By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide,” Mr Meron said. “They targeted for extinction the 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general...Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act.”

The landmark ruling will affect the fate of others charged with genocide, including Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav leader, and two of his chief henchmen in Bosnia, Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, who are both still on the run. Of the three Bosnian Serbs so far tried for genocide by the ICTY, two have been acquitted; the third, Radislav Krstic, the general accused of orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre, has had his genocide conviction overturned on appeal.

The 1948 Geneva Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. Although the court ruled that the main staff of the Bosnian Serb army had intended to commit genocide, it found no evidence that Mr Krstic ordered the killings or directly participated in them. He was found guilty instead of “aiding and abetting” genocide, and had his sentence reduced from 46 to 35 years.

The court could have a tough time proving genocide against Mr Milosevic too. Like Mr Krstic, he is not thought to have participated directly in the killings. Moreover, Serbia's reluctance to hand over vital military documents is hampering the case against him. International pressure is being brought to bear on the Serbian government, but as it relies on support from Mr Milosevic's own Socialist Party, it may well not co-operate.

Mr Milosevic's trial is due to resume on June 8th. It faced collapse after the presiding judge, Richard May, stepped down in February for health reasons, but Mr Milosevic chose not to demand a retrial. Mr May has been replaced by another British judge, Lord Bonomy. Mr Milosevic wants to call 1,631 witnesses in his defence, including Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. Even if the genocide charge falls, he faces the likelihood of life imprisonment.

Feature on the ruling from the ICTY that the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 was genocide.

• Primary Source

http://www.un.org/icty/ http://www.un.org/icty/

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