International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal was an ''
ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...
'' court located in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. It was established by Resolution 827 of the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...
, which was passed on 25 May 1993. It had
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...
over four clusters of crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991: grave breaches of the
Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conv ...
, violations of the laws or customs of war,
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
, and
crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
. The maximum sentence that it could impose was
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
. Various countries signed agreements with the UN to carry out
custodial sentence A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence, imposing a punishment consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison or in some other closed therapeutic or educational institution, such as a reformatory, (maximum security) psychi ...
s. A total of 161 persons were indicted; the final indictments were issued in December 2004, the last of which were confirmed and unsealed in the spring of 2005. The final fugitive,
Goran Hadžić Goran Hadžić ( sr-cyrl, Горан Хаџић, ; 7 September 1958 – 12 July 2016) was a war criminal and a nationalist politician of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He was ...
, was arrested on 20 July 2011.Serbia's last war crimes fugitive arrested
Al Jazeera.net, 20 July 2011.
The final judgment was issued on 29 November 2017 and the institution formally ceased to exist on 31 December 2017. Residual functions of the ICTY, including oversight of sentences and consideration of any appeal proceedings initiated since 1 July 2013, are under the jurisdiction of a successor body, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).


History


Creation

United Nations Security Council Resolution 808 of 22 February 1993 decided that "an international tribunal shall be established for the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of
international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pr ...
committed in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
since 1991", and called on the Secretary-General to "submit for consideration by the Council ... a report on all aspects of this matter, including specific proposals and where appropriate options ... taking into account suggestions put forward in this regard by Member States". The Court was originally proposed by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel. Resolution 827 of 25 May 1993 approved th
S/25704 report
of the Secretary-General and adopted the Statute of the International Tribunal annexed to it, formally creating the ICTY. It was to have jurisdiction over four clusters of crimes committed on the territory of the former
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
since 1991: #Grave breaches of the
Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conv ...
#Violations of the laws or customs of war #
Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
#
Crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
. The maximum sentence the ICTY could impose for these crimes was
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
.


Implementation

In 1993, the ICTY built its internal infrastructure. 17 states had signed an agreement with the ICTY to carry out custodial sentences. 1993–1994: In the first year of its existence, the Tribunal laid foundations for its existence as a judicial organ. It established the legal framework for its operations by adopting the rules of procedure and evidence, as well as its rules of detention and directive for the assignment of defense counsel. Together, these rules established a legal aid system for the Tribunal. As the ICTY was a part of the United Nations and was the first ''international'' court for ''criminal'' justice, the development of a juridical infrastructure was considered quite a challenge. However, after the first year, the first ICTY judges had drafted and adopted all the rules for court proceedings. 1994–1995: The ICTY established its offices within the Aegon Insurance Building in The Hague (which was, at the time, still partially in use by Aegon) and detention facilities in
Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is ...
in The Hague (the Netherlands). The ICTY hired many staff members and by July 1994, the Office of the Prosecutor had sufficient staff to begin field investigations. By November 1994, first indictments were presented and confirmed, and in 1995, the staff numbered over 200 persons from all over the world.


Operation

In 1994 the first indictment was issued against the Bosnian-Serb concentration camp commander Dragan Nikolić. This was followed on 13 February 1995 by two indictments comprising 21 individuals which were issued against a group of 21 Bosnian-Serbs charged with committing atrocities against Muslim and Croat civilian prisoners. While the war in the former Yugoslavia was still raging, the ICTY prosecutors showed that an international court was viable. However, no accused was arrested. The court confirmed eight indictments against 46 individuals and issued arrest warrants. Bosnian Serb indictee Duško Tadić became the subject of the Tribunal's first trial. Tadić was arrested by German police in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
in 1994 for his alleged actions in the Prijedor region in Bosnia-Herzegovina (especially his actions in the Omarska, Trnopolje and Keraterm detention camps). He made his first appearance before the ICTY Trial Chamber on 26 April 1995, and pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in the indictment. 1995–1996: Between June 1995 and June 1996, 10 public indictments had been confirmed against a total of 33 individuals. Six of the newly indicted persons were transferred in the Tribunal's detention unit. In addition to Duško Tadic, by June 1996 the tribunal had Tihomir Blaškić, Dražen Erdemović, Zejnil Delalić, Zdravko Mucić, Esad Landžo and
Hazim Delić Hazim Delić (born 13 May 1964) is a Bosnian former prison camp commander who served as the deputy commander of the Čelebići camp, a joint Bosniak and Bosnian Croat forces run prison camp, during the Bosnian War. The majority of the prisoners w ...
in custody. Erdemović became the first person to enter a guilty plea before the tribunal's court. Between 1995 and 1996, the ICTY dealt with miscellaneous cases involving several detainees, which never reached the trial stage.


Accomplishments

In 2004, the ICTY published a list of five accomplishments "in justice and law": # "Spearheading the shift from impunity to accountability", pointing out that, until very recently, it was the only court judging crimes committed as part of the Yugoslav conflict, since prosecutors in the former Yugoslavia were, as a rule, reluctant to prosecute such crimes; # "Establishing the facts", highlighting the extensive evidence-gathering and lengthy findings of fact that Tribunal judgments produced; # "Bringing justice to thousands of victims and giving them a voice", pointing out the large number of witnesses that had been brought before the Tribunal; # "The accomplishments in international law", describing the fleshing out of several international criminal law concepts which had not been ruled on since the Nuremberg Trials; # "Strengthening the Rule of Law", referring to the Tribunal's role in promoting the use of international standards in war crimes prosecutions by former Yugoslav republics.


Closure

The United Nations Security Council passed resolutions
1503 __NOTOC__ Year 1503 ( MDIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 20 – Seville in Castile is awarded exclusive rights to trade wit ...
in August 2003 and 1534 in March 2004, which both called for the completion of all cases at both the ICTY and its sister tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by 2010. In December 2010, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1966, which established the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), a body intended to gradually assume residual functions from both the ICTY and the ICTR as they wound down their mandate. Resolution 1966 called upon the Tribunal to finish its work by 31 December 2014 to prepare for its closure and the transfer of its responsibilities. In a ''Completion Strategy Report'' issued in May 2011, the ICTY indicated that it aimed to complete all trials by the end of 2012 and complete all appeals by 2015, with the exception of Radovan Karadžić whose trial was expected to end in 2014 and Ratko Mladić and
Goran Hadžić Goran Hadžić ( sr-cyrl, Горан Хаџић, ; 7 September 1958 – 12 July 2016) was a war criminal and a nationalist politician of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He was ...
, who were still at large at that time and were not arrested until later that year. The IRMCT's ICTY branch began functioning on 1 July 2013. Per the Transitional Arrangements adopted by the UN Security Council, the ICTY was to conduct and complete all outstanding first instance trials, including those of Karadžić, Mladić and Hadžić. The ICTY would also conduct and complete all appeal proceedings for which the notice of appeal against the judgement or sentence was filed before 1 July 2013. The IRMCT will handle any appeals for which notice is filed after that date. The final ICTY trial to be completed in the first instance was that of Ratko Mladić, who was convicted on 22 November 2017. The final case to be considered by the ICTY was an appeal proceeding encompassing six individuals, whose sentences were upheld on 29 November 2017.


Organization

While operating, the Tribunal employed around 900 staff. Its organisational components were Chambers, Registry and the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP).


Prosecutors

The Prosecutor was responsible for investigating crimes, gathering evidence and prosecutions and was head of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP). The Prosecutor was appointed by the UN Security Council upon nomination by the UN Secretary-General. The last prosecutor was Serge Brammertz. Previous Prosecutors have been Ramón Escovar Salom of
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(1993–1994), however, he never took up that office, Richard Goldstone of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
(1994–1996), Louise Arbour of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
(1996–1999), and Carla Del Ponte of
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
(1999–2007). Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour and Carla Del Ponte also simultaneously served as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda until 2003. Graham Blewitt of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
served as the Deputy Prosecutor from 1994 until 2004. David Tolbert, the President of the International Center for Transitional Justice, was also appointed Deputy Prosecutor of the ICTY in 2004.


Chambers

Chambers encompassed the
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s and their aides. The Tribunal operated three Trial Chambers and one Appeals Chamber. The President of the Tribunal was also the presiding Judge of the Appeals Chamber.


Judges

At the time of the court's dissolution, there were seven permanent judges and one ''ad hoc'' judge who served on the Tribunal. A total of 86 judges have been appointed to the Tribunal from 52 United Nations member states. Of those judges, 51 were permanent judges, 36 were ''ad litem'' judges, and one was an ''ad hoc'' judge. Note that one judge served as both a permanent and ''ad litem'' judge, and another served as both a permanent and ''ad hoc'' judge. UN member and observer states could each submit up to two nominees of different nationalities to the UN Secretary-General. The UN Secretary-General submitted this list to the UN Security Council which selected from 28 to 42 nominees and submitted these nominees to the UN General Assembly. The UN General Assembly then elected 14 judges from that list. Judges served for four years and were eligible for re-election. The UN Secretary-General appointed replacements in case of vacancy for the remainder of the term of office concerned. On 21 October 2015, Judge
Carmel Agius Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...
of
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
was elected President of the ICTY and Liu Daqun of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
was elected Vice-President; they have assumed their positions on 17 November 2015. His predecessors were Antonio Cassese of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(1993–1997), Gabrielle Kirk McDonald of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
(1997–1999),
Claude Jorda Claude Jorda (born 16 February 1938, in Bône, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates ...
of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(1999–2002), Theodor Meron of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
(2002–2005), Fausto Pocar of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(2005–2008), Patrick Robinson of
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
(2008–2011), and Theodor Meron (2011–2015).


Registry

The Registry was responsible for handling the administration of the Tribunal; activities included keeping court records, translating court documents, transporting and accommodating those who appear to testify, operating the Public Information Section, and such general duties as payroll administration, personnel management and procurement. It was also responsible for the Detention Unit for indictees being held during their trial and the Legal Aid program for indictees who cannot pay for their own defence. It was headed by the Registrar, a position occupied over the years by
Theo van Boven Theodoor Cornelis (Theo) van Boven (born 16 May 1934, Voorburg) is a Dutch jurist and professor emeritus in international law. In 1977, he was appointed director of the United Nations' Division for Human Rights, a precursor of the UN Human Right ...
of the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(February 1994 to December 1994), Dorothée de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh of the Netherlands (1995–2000), Hans Holthuis of the Netherlands (2001–2009), and
John Hocking John Hocking (born 6 August 1957) of Australia is the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He served concurrently as the Registrar of the Mechanism for I ...
of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
(May 2009 to December 2017).


Detention facilities

Those defendants on trial and those who were denied a provisional release were detained at the United Nations Detention Unit on the premises of the
Penitentiary Institution Haaglanden The Hague Penitentiary Institution ( Dutch: ''Penitentiaire Inrichting Haaglanden'') is a Dutch prison that is part of the Judicial Institutions Department (''Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen'', DJI) of the Ministry of Justice. It can accommoda ...
, location Scheveningen in
Belgisch Park Belgisch Park (, literally ''Belgian Park'') is a neighbourhood in the Scheveningen district of The Hague, Netherlands. The area has around 7,900 residents and contains many trees and the adjoining “Nieuwe Scheveningse Bosjes” and “Oostdu ...
, a suburb of
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
, located some 3 km by road from the courthouse. The indicted were housed in private cells which had a toilet, shower, radio, satellite TV, personal computer (without internet access) and other luxuries. They were allowed to phone family and friends daily and could have conjugal visits. There was also a library, a gym and various rooms used for religious observances. The inmates were allowed to cook for themselves. All of the inmates mixed freely and were not segregated on the basis of nationality. As the cells were more akin to a university residence instead of a jail, some had derisively referred to the ICT as the "Hague Hilton". The reason for this luxury relative to other prisons is that the first president of the court wanted to emphasise that the indictees were innocent until proven guilty.


Indictees

The Tribunal indicted 161 individuals between 1997 and 2004 and completed proceedings with them as follows: * 111 had trials completed by the ICTY: ** 21 were acquitted by the ICTY: *** 18 acquittals have stood; *** 1 was originally acquitted by the ICTY, but convicted on appeal by the IRMCT of one count (and sentenced to time served) *** 2 were originally acquitted by the ICTY, but following successful appeal by the prosecution the acquittals were overturned and a retrial is being conducted by the IRMCT; and ** 90 were convicted and sentenced by the ICTY: *** 87 were transferred to 14 different states where they served their prison sentences, had sentences that amounted to time spent in detention during trial, or died after conviction: **** 20 remain imprisoned; **** 58 completed their sentences; **** 9 died while completing their sentences or after conviction awaiting transfer *** 2 were convicted and sentenced, and remain in IRMCT detention awaiting transfer; and *** 1 was convicted and sentenced, but has filed an appeal to the IRMCT that is being considered * 13 had their cases transferred to courts in: ** Bosnia and Herzegovina (10); ** Croatia (2); and ** Serbia (1) * 37 had their cases terminated prior to trial completion, because ** the indictments were withdrawn (20); or ** the indictees died before or after transfer to the Tribunal (17). The indictees ranged from common soldiers to generals and police commanders all the way to prime ministers.
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
was the first sitting head of state indicted for war crimes. Other "high level" indictees included
Milan Babić Milan Babić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Бабић; 25 February 1956 – 5 March 2006) was a Croatian Serb politician and war criminal who served as the first president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a self-proclaimed state largely populated by S ...
, former President of the Republika Srpska Krajina; Ramush Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of Kosovo; Radovan Karadžić, former President of the Republika Srpska; Ratko Mladić, former Commander of the
Bosnian Serb Army The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (1992–95), Republika Srpska ( ...
; and Ante Gotovina, former General of the Croatian Army. The very first hearing at the ICTY was referral request in the Tadić case on 8 November 1994. Croat Serb General and former President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Goran Hadžić Goran Hadžić ( sr-cyrl, Горан Хаџић, ; 7 September 1958 – 12 July 2016) was a war criminal and a nationalist politician of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He was ...
was the last fugitive wanted by the Tribunal to be arrested on 20 July 2011. An additional 23 individuals have been the subject of contempt proceedings.


Controversies

Criticisms of the court include: * Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the tribunal, said in 2021 that the US did not want the ICTY to scrutinise war crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army. According to her,
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democrat ...
, the United States secretary of state at the time, told her to slow down the investigation of Ramush Haradinaj. * Michael Mandel, William Blum and others accused the court of having a pro-NATO bias due to its refusal to prosecute NATO officials and politicians for war crimes. * On 6 December 2006, the Tribunal at The Hague approved the use of force-feeding of
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
n politician Vojislav Šešelj. They decided it was not "torture,
inhuman or degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...
if there is a medical necessity to do so... and if the manner in which the detainee is force-fed is not inhuman or degrading". * Reducing the indictment charges after the arrest of Ratko Mladić, Croatian officials publicly condemned chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz for his announcement that the former Bosnian Serb General, will be tried solely for crimes allegedly committed in Bosnia, not in Croatia. * Critics have questioned whether the Tribunal exacerbates tensions rather than promotes reconciliation, as is claimed by Tribunal supporters. Polls show a generally negative reaction to the Tribunal among both Serbs and Croats. A majority of Serbs and Croats have expressed doubts regarding the ICTY's integrity and question the tenability of its legal procedures. * 68% of indictees have been
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of ...
(or Montenegrins), to the extent that a sizeable portion of the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb political and military leaderships have been indicted. Many have seen this as reflecting bias, while the Tribunal's defenders have seen this as indicative of the actual proportion of crimes committed. However,
Marko Hoare Marko Attila Hoare (born 1972) is a British historian of the former Yugoslavia who also writes about current affairs, especially Southeast Europe, including Turkey and the Caucasus. Biography Hoare is the son of the British translator Quint ...
claimed that, aside from Milošević, only Momčilo Perišić (Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army), who was acquitted, has been indicted from the Serbian military or political top when it comes to wars in Croatia and Bosnia. * According to Hoare, a former employee at the ICTY, an investigative team worked on indictments of senior members of the "joint criminal enterprise", including not only Milošević but also
Veljko Kadijević Veljko Kadijević ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Кадијевић; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignatio ...
,
Blagoje Adžić Blagoje Adžić ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје Аџић, (); 2 September 1932 – 1 March 2012) was a Serbian colonel general who served as an acting Minister of Defence of the Yugoslavia government. Biography Adžić was born into a Serb family in t ...
, Borisav Jović, Branko Kostić, Momir Bulatović and others. However, Hoare claims that, due to Carla del Ponte's intervention, these drafts were rejected, and the indictment limited to Milošević alone. * There have been allegations of censorship: in July 2011, the Appeals Chamber of ICTY confirmed the judgment of the Trial Chamber which found journalist and former Tribunal's OTP spokesperson
Florence Hartmann Florence Hartmann (born 17 February 1963) is a French journalist and author. During the 1990s she was a correspondent in the Balkans for the French newspaper ''Le Monde''. In 1999 she published her first book, ''Milosevic, la diagonale du fou' ...
guilty of contempt of court and fined her €7,000. She disclosed documents of FR Yugoslavia's Supreme Defense Council meetings and criticized the Tribunal for granting confidentiality of some information in them to protect Serbia's 'vital national interests' during Bosnia's lawsuit against the country for genocide in front of the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
. Hartmann argued that Serbia was freed of the charge of genocide because ICTY redacted certain information in the Council meetings. Since these documents have in the meantime been made public by the ICTY itself, a group of organizations and individuals, who supported her, said that the Tribunal in this appellate proceedings "imposed a form of censorship aimed to protect the international judges from any form of criticism". (France refused to extradite Hartmann to serve the prison sentence issued against her by the ICTY after she refused to pay the €7,000 fine.) * Klaus-Peter Willsch compared the Ante Gotovina verdict, in which the late Croatian president
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
was posthumously found to have been participating in a Joint Criminal Enterprise, with the 897 Cadaver Synod trial in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, when Pope Stephen VI had the corpse of Pope Formosus exhumed, put on trial and posthumously convicted. * Some sentences have been considered too mild, even within the Tribunal, complained at small sentences of convicted war criminals in comparison with their crimes. In 2010, Veselin Šljivančanin's sentence for his involvement in the
Vukovar massacre The Vukovar massacre, also known as the Vukovar hospital massacre or the Ovčara massacre, was the killing of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians by Serb paramilitaries, to whom they had been turned over by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), ...
was cut from 17 to 10 years, which caused outrage in Croatia. Upon hearing that news, Vesna Bosanac, who had been in charge of the Vukovar hospital during the fall of the city, said that the "ICTY is dead" for her: "For crimes that he ljivančanin had committed in Vukovar, notably at Ovčara, he should have been jailed for life. I'm outraged.... The Hague(-based) tribunal has showed again that it is not a just tribunal." Danijel Rehak, the head of Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps, said, "The shock of families whose beloved ones were killed at Ovčara is unimaginable. The court made a crucial mistake by accepting a statement of a JNA officer to whom Šljivančanin was a commander. I cannot understand that".
Pavle Strugar Pavle Strugar ( sr-Cyrl, Павле Стругар; 13 July 1933 – 12 December 2018) was a Montenegrin general in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) who was found guilty of war crimes for his role in the siege of Dubrovnik. Biography Strugar ...
's 8-year sentence for shelling of
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...
, a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage Site, also caused outrage in Croatia. Judge Kevin Parker (of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
) was named in a Croatian journal ( Nacional) as a main cause of the system's failure for having dismissed the testimonies of numerous witnesses. * Some of the defendants, such as
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
, claimed that the Court has no legal authority because it was established by the
UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
instead of the
UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
and so had not been created on a broad international basis. The Tribunal was established on the basis of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter; the relevant portion of which reads "the Security Council can take measures to maintain or restore international peace and security". The legal criticism has been succinctly stated in
memorandum
issued by Austrian Professor Hans Köchler, which was submitted to the President of the Security Council in 1999. British
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
MEP Daniel Hannan has called for the court to be abolished, claiming it is anti-democratic and a violation of national sovereignty. * The interactive thematic debate on the role of international criminal justice in reconciliation was convened on 10 April 2013 by the President of the General Assembly during the resumed part of the GA's 67th Session. The debate was scheduled after the convictions of Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač for inciting war crimes against Serbs in Croatia were overturned by an ICTY Appeals Panel in November 2012. The ICTY president Theodor Meron announced that all three Hague war-crimes courts turned down the invitation of
UNGA The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...
president to participate in the debate about their work. The President of the General Assembly described Meron's refusal to participate in this debate as scandalous. He emphasized that he does not shy away from criticizing the ICTY, which has "convicted nobody for inciting crimes committed against Serbs in Croatia."
Tomislav Nikolić Tomislav Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Томислав Николић, ; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian retired politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he di ...
, the president of
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
criticized the ICTY, claiming it did not contribute but hindered reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. He added that although there is no significant ethnic disproportion among the number of casualties in the
Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
, the ICTY sentenced Serbs and ethnic Serbs to a combined total of 1150 years in prison while claiming that members of other ethnic groups have been sentenced to a total of 55 years for crimes against Serbs. Vitaly Churkin, the ambassador of
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
to the UN, criticized the work of the ICTY, especially the overturned convictions of Gotovina and Ramush Haradinaj. * Regarding the final case on 29 November 2017 proceeding encompassing six Bosnian-Croat individuals, one of whom,
Slobodan Praljak Slobodan Praljak (; 2 January 1945 – 29 November 2017) was a Bosnian Croat who served in the Croatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council, an army of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, between 1992 and 1995. Praljak was found guilty of ...
, in protest in court drank a poison and subsequently died, the Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković claimed the verdict was "unjust" and Praljak's suicide "speaks of deep moral injustice to the six Croats, from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croat people". He criticized the verdict because it did not recognize the assistance and support provided by Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and collaboration of both armies at a time when the neighboring state was faced with the " Greater-Serbian aggression" and when its territorial integrity was compromised, as well it alludes to the link between the then leadership of the Republic of Croatia, while in the previous verdict to Bosnian-Serb Ratko Mladić does not recognize the connection with Serbia's state officials at that time. * Dutch filmmaker Jos de Putter made a trilogy, The Milosevic Case – Glosses at Trial, for Tegenlicht investigative slot at the VPRO. The main hypothesis of the film is that ICTY prosecution has been struggling and failing to prove any link between Milosevic and the media version of the truth of the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. The legitimacy of the prosecution methodology in securing the witness accounts and evidence, in general, has been examined by the filmmaker.


See also

* List of people indicted in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia * Command responsibility *
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...
* Trial of Gotovina et al


Notes


References


Further reading

* Ackerman, J.E. and O'Sullivan, E.: ''Practice and procedure of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: with selected materials for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda'', The Hague, KLI, 2000. * Aldrich, G.H.: ''Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', American Journal of International Law, 1996, pp. 64–68h * Bachmann, Klaus; Sparrow-Botero, Thomas and Lambertz, Peter: ''When justice meets politics. Independence and autonomy of ad hoc international criminal tribunals.'' Peter Lang International 2013. * Bassiouni, M.C.: ''The Law of the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia'', New York, Transnational Publications, 1996. * Boelaert-Suominen, S.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) anno 1999: its place in the international legal system, mandate and most notable jurisprudence'', Polish Yearbook of International Law, 2001, pp. 95–155. * Boelaert-Suominen, S.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Conflict'', International Review of the Red Cross, 2000, pp. 217–251. * * Cassese, Antonio: ''The ICTY: A Living and Vital Reality", Journal of International Criminal Justice Vol.2'', 2004, No.2, pp. 585–597 * Cisse, C.: ''The International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda: some elements of comparison'', Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, 1997, pp. 103–118. * Clark, R.S. and SANN, M.: ''A critical study of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', European Journal of International Law, 1997, pp. 198–200. * Goldstone, R.J.: ''Assessing the work of the United Nations war crimes tribunals'', Stanford Journal of International Law, 1997, pp. 1–8. * Ivković, S.K.: ''Justice by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', Stanford Journal of International Law, 2001, pp. 255–346. * Jones, J.W.R.D.: ''The practice of the international criminal tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda'', New York, Transnational, 2000. * Kaszubinski, M.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', in: Bassiouni, M.C. (ed.), ''Post-conflict justice'', New York, Transnational, 2002, pp. 459–585. * Kerr, R.: ''International judicial intervention: the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', International Relations, 2000, pp. 17–26. * Kerr, R.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: an exercise in law, politics and diplomacy'', Oxford, OUP, 2004. * King, F. and La Rosa, A.: ''Current Developments. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', B.T.I.R., 1997, pp. 533–555. * Klip, A. and Sluiter, G.: ''Annotated leading cases of international criminal tribunals; (Vol. III) The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 2000–2001'', Schoten, Intersentia, 2003. * Köchler, Hans: ''Global Justice or Global Revenge? International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads'', Vienna/New York, Springer, 2003, pp. 166–184. * Kolb, R.: ''The jurisprudence of the Yugoslav and Rwandan Criminal Tribunals on their jurisdiction and on international crimes'', British Yearbook of International Law, 2001, pp. 259–315. * Lamb, S.: ''The powers of arrest of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', British Yearbook of International Law, 2000, pp. 165–244. * Laughland, J.: ''Travesty: The Trial of Slobodan Milošević and the Corruption of International Justice'', London, Pluto Press, 2007. * Lescure, K.: ''International justice for former Yugoslavia: the working of the International Criminal Tribunal of the Hague'', The Hague, KLI, 1996. * Mak, T.: ''The Case Against an International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia'', (1995) International Peacekeeping, 2:4, 536-563. * McAllister, Jacqueline R. 2020. "Deterring Wartime Atrocities: Hard Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal." International Security 44(3). Available at
Deterring Wartime Atrocities: Hard Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal
* McDonald, G.K.: ''Reflections on the contributions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, 2001, pp. 155–172. * Mettraux, G.: ''Crimes against humanity in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda'', '' Harvard International Law Journal'', 2002, pp. 237–316. * Morris, V. and Scharf, M.P.: ''An insider's guide to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', African Yearbook of International Law, 1995, pp. 441–446. * Murphy, S.D.: ''Progress and jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', American Journal of International Law, 1999, pp. 57–96. * Panovsky, D.: ''Some war crimes are not better than others: the failure of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to prosecute war crimes in Macedonia'', Northwestern University Law Review, 2004, pp. 623–655. * Pilouras, S.: ''International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Milosevic's trial'', New York Law School Journal of Human Rights, 2002, pp. 515–525. * Pronk, E.: "''The ICTY and the people from the former Yugoslavia. A reserved relationship.''" (thesis) * Roberts, K.: ''The law of persecution before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', Leiden Journal of International Law, 2002, pp. 623–663. * Robinson, P.L.: ''Ensuring fair and expeditious trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', European Journal of International Law, 2000, pp. 569–589. * Shenk, M.D.: ''International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda'', The International Lawyer, 1999, pp. 549–554. * Shraga, D. and Zackalin, R.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', European Journal of International Law, 1994, pp. 360–380. * Sjocrona, J.M.: ''The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: some introductory remarks from a defence point of view'', Leiden Journal of International Law, 1995, pp. 463–474. * Tolbert, David: ''The ICTY: Unforeseen Successes and Foreseeable Shortcomings'', The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Vol.26, No.2, Summer/Fall 2002, pp. 7–20 * Tolbert, David: ''Reflections on the ICTY Registry'', Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol.2, No.2, 2004, pp. 480–485 * Vierucci, L.: ''The First Steps of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', European Journal of International Law, 1995, pp. 134–143. * Warbrick, C. and McGoldrick, D.: ''Co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia'', International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 1996, pp. 947–953. * Wilson, Richard Ashby: 'Judging History: the Historical Record of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.' Human Rights Quarterly. 2005. August. Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 908–942.


External links

*
International Center for Transitional Justice, Criminal Justice page
*
International Progress Organization The International Progress Organization (IPO) is a Vienna-based think tank dealing with world affairs. As an international non-governmental organization (NGO) it enjoys consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations ...

Monitoring of the ICTY
* Del Ponte, Carla (2003).
The role of international criminal prosecutions in reconstructing divided communities
', public lecture by Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, given at the London School of Economics, 20 October 2003.
Topical digests of the case law of ICTR and ICTY, Human Rights Watch, 2004

Hague Justice Portal
Academic gateway to The Hague organisations concerning international peace, justice and security.
Hague Justice Portal

Why Journalists Should be Worried by the Rwanda Tribunal Precedents (deals also with ICTY) by Thierry Cruvellier for Reporters Without Borders

SENSE News Agency
a special project based in ICTY
Complete web-based video archive of the Milosevic trial

War Crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans
by Vojin Dimitrijevic, Florence Hartmann, Dejan Jovic, Tija Memisevic, edited by Judy Batt, Jelena Obradović, Chaillot Paper No. 116, June 2009, European Union Institute for Security Studies
Introductory note
by Fausto Pocar on the ''Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia'' in th
Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law


of the ''Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia'' in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Pocar_CLP.html Lectureby Fausto Pocar entitled ''Completing the Mandate: The Legal Challenges Facing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia'' in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law


by Fausto Pocar entitled ''Contribution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the Development of International Humanitarian Law'' in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law


by
Patrick Lipton Robinson Patrick Lipton Robinson (born 29 January 1944 in Jamaica) is a Jamaican member of the International Court of Justice for the term commencing February 2015. Prior to this he was formerly the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the ...
, ''Fairness and Efficiency in the Proceedings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia'' in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
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