Karadzic taken to Hague
WORKERS, SEPTEMBER 2008 ISSUE
The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested on 21 July. He is to appear before the US-sponsored and largely US-funded International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, charged with war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
Radovan Karadzic will be duly convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity, and he will not come out of jail alive. The verdict is already written, but the trial will be neither fair nor just nor public. As with Saddam Hussein's trial, the US will fix it and censor it.
Atrocities were undoubtedly committed – but by both sides. In June, the ICTY found the Muslim wartime commander of Srebrenica, Nasir Oric, not guilty of any responsibility for any of the killings – even though Yasushi Akashi, former UN Representative in Bosnia, admitted in the Washington Times of 1 November 1995, "the Bosnian government forces have used the 'safe areas' of not only Srebrenica, but Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihac, Gorazde for training, recuperation and refurbishing their troops." Mujehadin forces were allowed to attack out of these areas, but the Serbs were not allowed to pursue them back in. Between 1992 and 1995, these forces killed more than 3,000 Serbian civilians. The ICTY on its website tells us, "By holding individuals accountable regardless of their position, the ICTY's work has dismantled the tradition of impunity for war crimes and other serious violations of international law, particularly by individuals who held the most senior positions."
In 1999, NATO forces (primarily the USAF and the RAF) bombed Serbia for 78 consecutive days, ruining the economy and killing thousands of people. Shouldn't Clinton and Blair be tried for war crimes, as called for by the Tribunal's own statute?
But Louise Arbour, the court's chief prosecutor, said at the time, "I am obviously not commenting on any allegations of violations of international humanitarian law supposedly perpetrated by nationals of NATO countries. I accept the assurances given by NATO leaders that they intend to conduct their operations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in full compliance with international humanitarian law."