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1. Strengthening Transitional Justice in Bosnia: Regional Possibilities and Parallel Narratives

Author:
Dejan Guzina and Branka Marijan
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
In the media, news commentators continue to refer to Srebrenica as a lesson that should never be repeated again. Indeed, such “never again” statements have re-emerged in light of current events unfolding in Syria, as the international community debates what type of intervention should be used to stop further violence. The media have gone so far as to call the Syrian regime's possible use of chemical weapons against its population a “Srebrenica moment” — that is, a moment when moral outrage of civilian deaths leads to a push for military intervention (Lerman and Lakshmanan 2013). While little action has materialized in the case of Syria, the Srebrenican “never again” lesson is also far from being either agreed upon or learned from in Bosnia itself.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Crime, Genocide, Human Rights, and War
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Balkans, and Syria

2. Democratizing Justice in the Post-Conflict Balkans: The Dilemma of Domestic Human Rights Activists

Author:
Arnaud Kurze
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Years of international and national accountability efforts in the former Yugoslavia have only partially helped post-conflict societies to transition. To complement retributive justice efforts more recently, human rights activists have launched a campaign to establish a regional truth commission. This article explores the intricate efforts among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in several states across the region – particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina, croatia and Serbia – to coordinate this movement. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study illustrates the movement's struggle from within – caused by the conflicting interests of its members – and from outside, as it seeks support from international and region-specific organizations as well as national governments. While activists have remained unsuccessful in institutionalizing new truth spaces, this article argues that the state-centered strategy of human rights advocates during the campaign widened the gap between the activist leaders and victims' groups, their principal supporters.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

3. The International Security Presence in Kosovo and the Protection of Human Rights

Author:
Federico Sperotto
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
On March 11th, 2000, two children who were playing in the neighborhoods of Mitrovica, Kosovo, got hurt by an “unexploded ordnance”. One of them died in the explosion, the other was severely injured. An inquire clarified that the ordnance was a “bomblet”, a part of a cluster bomb dropped during the 1999 NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Cooperation, and International Law
Political Geography:
Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

4. Kosovo: Orders of Magnitude

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
The issue of the number of civilian causalities in the Kosovo war of 1999, especially of "battle-age" men, attracted considerable controversy both during the war and in its aftermath. This article considers the pattern of Serb atrocities in the province, and the pace and character of the forensic investigations conducted since the war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It argues that the lowest casualty estimates are highly unlikely, given the evidence of widespread mass executions gleaned from refugee testimony and forensic investigations. The article concludes with some thoughts on the implications of the casualty figures in the policy of human-rights arenas.
Topic:
Civil Society, Genocide, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Yugoslavia

5. Rape as Genocide: The Legal Response to Sexual Violence

Author:
Dr. Frances T. Pilch
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Security and Democracy
Abstract:
The last decade has witnessed a profound transformation in the treatment of sexual violence in international law. The overwhelming evidence of the widespread use of rape as a policy tool in the former Yugoslavia, combined with the tragedy of the genocide in Rwanda, in which rape was also widely prevalent, has led to a legal reconceptualization of sexual violence in internal and international conflicts. The ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, have genuinely broken new ground as they have confronted cases dealing with the complexities of rape, torture, and genocide. They have struggled with determining the legal definition of rape and finding a balance between the rights of witnesses and defendants. The revolutionary changes that have taken place in this area of the law in large part reflect the growing mobilization and influence of non-governmental organizations articulating the importance of the rights of women, and the increasing importance of the presence of women advocates, prosecutors, and judges.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Genocide, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, and Sierra Leone

6. Analyser le massacre. Réflexions comparatives

Author:
Jacques Sémelin
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
This text aims to examine a particularly difficult phenomenon to study—slaughter—although it is at the center of many wars today and yesterday. Slaughter is defined as a generally collective form of action that aims to destroy non-combatants, usually civilians. Slaughter is viewed as an extremely violent, both rational and irrational practice growing out of an imaginary construct pertaining to someone to be destroyed, whom the torturer perceives as a complete enemy. The aspiration of this text is to show the relevance of exploring slaughter from a comparative standpoint. It will go beyond the mere case study, or rather it will put the best of these studies (on ex-Yugoslavia, Rwanda, etc.) into perspective. To better understand the process by which the slaughter is put into action, two main directions guide the analysis: historic depth: it is in fact difficult to attempt to understand the slaughters that took place in 1990 without taking into account occurrences in the 20th century, including those termed "genocides." transdisciplinary overture: slaughter as a phenomenon is so complex in itself that it requires the eye of the sociologist, anthropologist and psychologist, as can be seen in the following pages.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Third World
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia and Rwanda

7. The Effectiveness of the Exercise of Jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court: The Issue of Complementarity

Author:
Sammy Smooha and Susan Hannah Farbstein
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
The prevalence of collective violence and the agony of mass atrocity may prove to be the twentieth century's most distressing and enduring legacies. From Germany to Uganda, from Cambodia to Sierra Leone, from the Former Yugoslavia to Rwanda, the past hundred years are replete with examples of terrifying violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed against diverse groups of people. Limited attempts to unveil the truth about past horrors, to hold individuals responsible, and to deter future offenses have repeatedly proven inadequate. A dearth of satisfactory moral and legal responses to these crimes often left victims suffering without any sense of reconciliation, while perpetrators routinely enjoyed impunity rather than facing justice.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Uganda, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Germany, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda

8. Croatia: Facing Up To War Crimes

Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
On 8 October 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) confirmed an indictment charging Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), with crimes committed in Croatia. This indictment had been keenly awaited for years in Croatia, where a widespread perception of international indifference to Serb crimes perpetrated against Croats between 1991 and 1995 has been ably encouraged and manipulated by the right wing.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Croatia

9. Milosevic in the Hague: What it Means for Yugoslavia and the Region

Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
On 28 June 2001, St Vitus's Day – an anniversary with enormous resonance in Yugoslavia – Serbian government transferred former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague. By this bold political move, the government demonstrated in the clearest way its will to break with the past. With the timing driven by the international donors conference scheduled for 29 June, the transfer also confirmed the effectiveness of conditioning economic assistance to Yugoslavia on concrete political progress.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, and Serbia

10. War Criminals in Bosnia's Republika Srpska: Who are the People in Your Neighbourhood?

Publication Date:
11-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Five years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, which brought an end to almost four years of bloody war in Bosnia, many of those believed to have carried out some of the war's worst atrocities remain at large. The continued presence in the municipalities of Republika Srpska (RS) of individuals suspected of war crimes—some indicated either publicly or secretly by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)—represents a significant obstacle to the return of ethnic minority refugees. It also undermines seriously Bosnia's chances for building central institutions, generating self-sustainable economic growth, and achieving the political transformation necessary to begin the process of integration with the rest of Europe. Moreover, the continued commitment of most war crimes suspects to the goal of a Greater Serbia, and their willingness to use violence to achieve it, could—in the long term—provoke renewed conflict in Bosnia and continued instability in the Balkans.
Topic:
Security, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Balkans