“A major step towards justice for victims of the armed conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” this is how Amnesty International described the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia’s judgement which found Radovan Karadžić guilty on one count of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes for his role in the armed conflict, both for his individual responsibility and as part of a joint criminal enterprise. Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment.
Educated as a psychiatrist, Karadžić co-founded the Serb Democratic Party in Bosnia and Herzegovina and served as the first President of Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996 when he became a fugitive until he was finally arrested in Belgrade, in July 2008.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Karadžić of genocide in relation to the massacre in Srebrenica, where more than 7,000 Bosnian men and boys were killed. It also found him responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including the torture, rape and killing in detention of thousands, perpetrated with the intent to systematically remove the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat populations in territories claimed by Bosnian Serbs.
The court infact also found that his role in the siege of Sarajevo was so instrumental that without his support it would not have occurred. It held that the whole population of Sarajevo was terrorized and lived in extreme fear, facing indiscriminate attacks between 1992 and 1995.
“This judgment confirms Radovan Karadžić’s command responsibility for the most serious crimes under international law carried out on European soil since the Second World War,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia. “We should not forget, however, that more than 20 years after the Bosnian War, thousands of cases of enforced disappearances are unresolved, with a disturbing lack of political will still blocking access to justice, truth and reparation for victims.”
And even for the survivors and victims’ families, the justice was not fully served. Karadžić infact was given a 40-year sentence, not life, which would mean that, with the time already served, he will probably have left about 19 years in jail.
Karadžić was also acquitted of a second genocide charge, concerning the massacres that marked the start of the Bosnian war in 1992.
“This judgment is a reward for Karadžić.” Hatidza Mehmedovic told The Guardian, she is the founder of the Mothers of Srebrenica association, and she lost her children and husband in Srebrenica. “We have no more faith in prosecutors and judges.”
Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images
