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Bosnia: Karadzic Arrest a Blow Against Impunity; EU Should Push Now for Detention of Mladic
Human Rights Watch
New York, July 21, 2008: The arrest of former president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadzic marks a major blow to committing crimes with impunity in the Balkans. Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes including the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. Despite the gravity of the alleged crimes, Karadzic had been at liberty for 13 years after his initial indictment.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has twice indicted Karadzic on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. One indictment is for crimes committed in Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb troops detained and executed thousands of men and boys. Eyewitnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch at the time described horror as the victims were lined up in front of mass graves and shot.
Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic remains at large. Mladic has also been indicted twice along with Karadzic on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. He is currently on the run. The previous Serbian government had claimed that it had no information about Mladic’s presence in Serbia; however, ICTY prosecutors and independent Serbian media have alleged that Mladic was in Serbia under the protection of elements of the army outside the effective control of the civilian authorities. In addition, authorities in Belgrade acknowledged that Mladic had received a Yugoslav army pension until 2002, and they have detained several people accused of helping hide Mladic.
The ICTY had first indicted Karadzic and Mladic in July 1995 on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes alleged to have occurred in several cities across Bosnia. In a separate indictment in November 1995, the ICTY charged both Karadzic and Mladic with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes based on the mass execution of civilians after the fall of Srebrenica.
The ICTY delivered its first and only genocide conviction against General Radislav Krstic in August 2001 sentencing him to 46 years in prison. Krstic was second in command to Mladic of the Bosnian Serb troops at Srebrenica. In April 2004, while reducing Krstic’s sentence to 35 years, the ICTY Appeals Chamber confirmed that genocide occurred in Srebrenica upholding Kristic’s conviction for aiding and abetting genocide.
