Serbia Guilty of Negligent Genocide

3fingerspointback.

Posted to Legal on Wed Feb 28, 2007 at 03:46:37 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

In the first ever case of its kind, the International Criminal Court has ruled that Serbia is innocent of intentional genocide against Bosnian Muslims, but guilty of allowing forces under its influence to partake in genocidal acts.

The bulk of the case against Serbia concerned the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica of over 7000 Bosnian Muslims, mostly by the Bosnian Serb Vojska Republike Srpske army.  In a 13-2 decision, the ICC found that the VRS had committed genocide, that Serbia had some influence over the VRS, and that Serbia did not do anything to prevent the VRS from committing the massacre.  However, because the VRS was not acting under orders from Serbia when it conducted the action, Serbia could not have intended to commit genocide against the Muslim population of Bosnia.  The ICC also balked at applying the judgment to a state entity instead of individual actors.

The practical consequence of the judgment is that Serbia is therefore not responsible for paying reparations to Bosnia for the crime, although the judges reiterated the perennial calls for the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the VRS general who ordered the massacre, and Serbian political leader Radovan Karadzic.

Reactions have been predictably mixed.  While Serbian President Boris Tadic is using the judgment to distinguish his administration from those of his more bloodthirsty predecessors, hardline Serb parties are treating it as a vindication of Serbia's past policies.  Bosnian leaders are unhappy with decision, but eager to move on and rebuild their nation, possibly in a way that redraws the borders of the current Muslim-cleansed entity of Republika Srpska.  And survivors of the massacre are despondent, insisting that Yugoslav troops directly assisted in the massacres in their country.