War Crimes Tribunal passes judgment against Ratko Mladic (November 22)

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands all war criminals of the
Bosnian war who have not yet been brought to justice to be held accountable.
On the occasion of the announcement of the judgment against the former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, the human rights organization will be holding a vigil in front of the building of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, to emphasize its appeal to the European Union and the international community. “Impunity is paralyzing the people and the political landscape of Bosnia, obstructing the process of reconciliation and a genuine reunification of the country. This is not in the interest of Europe. The jurisdiction of Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to be reformed,” said Jasna Causevic, the STP’s expert on south-eastern Europe.

“The surviving victims need justice,” the human rights activist emphasized. “It is a scandal that the surviving inhabitants of Srebrenica who decided to return now have to live in constant fear of meeting the murderer of their husbands, sons, or brothers. And how is a victim of mass rape supposed to cope with meeting her tormentors? That’s a tremendous imposition! If there is to be sustainable reconciliation between the ethnic groups of Bosnia, the war criminals of that era must be punished.”

The Serbian-administered part of the country, the Republika Srpska, is considered a refuge for Serbian war criminals. There, they are able to lead an undisturbed life – in office and in dignity – which is why hundreds of thousands of displaced Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats did not dare to return to their hometowns. “Encouraged by the fact that the international community largely remained silent, today’s leadership of the Republika Srpska is now calling for the region to become independent. This would be the completion of the cruel work of Radovan Karadžic and Ratko Mladic,” Causevic criticized. Europe must finally take the initiative to undo the de facto division of Bosnia – and the reunited country should be allowed to join the European Union.

Mladic was one of the main initiators of the genocide crimes, the war crimes, and the crimes against humanity during the Serbian war against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995). He is accused of genocide crimes and complicity in the genocide of the Bosniaks and the Croats in Foca, Kljuc, Kotor-Varoš, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Srebrenica, and Vlasenica. He is also accused of many other war crimes.

Header Photo: Jelle Visser via Flickr