UNITED NATIONS Case No.: IT-96-21-A Date: 20 February ... - ICTY

Tadi} decision”. 42 The Prosecution contends that the Appeals Chamber has already considered
the same issues and facts in the Tadi} appeal, and found that the same conflict was international
after May 1992. In the Prosecution’s opinion, the Trial Chamber’s conclusion that “the
government of the FRY was the […] controlling force behind the VRS” 43 is consistent with
Tadi}.
3. The Nature of the Conflict Prior to 19 May 1992
31. The Trial Chamber first addressed the question of whether there was an international
armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 1992 and whether it continued throughout the
rest of that year, i.e., at the time relevant to the charges alleged in the Indictment. 44
32. The Trial Chamber found that a “significant numbers of [JNA] troops were on the
ground when the [BH] government declared the State’s independence on 6 March 1992”. 45
Further, “there is substantial evidence that the JNA was openly involved in combat activities in
Bosnia and Herzegovina from the beginning of March and into April and May of 1992.” 46 The
Trial Chamber therefore concluded that:
[…] an international armed conflict existed in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the date of its
recognition as an independent State on 6 April 1992. There is no evidence to indicate that the
hostilities which occurred in the Konjic municipality at that time were part of a separate
armed conflict and, indeed, there is some evidence of the involvement of the JNA in the
fighting there. 47
33. The Trial Chamber’s finding as to the nature of the conflict prior to 19 May 1992 is
based on a finding of a direct participation of one State on the territory of another State. This
constitutes a plain application of the holding of the Appeals Chamber in Tadi} that it “is
indisputable that an armed conflict is international if it takes place between two or more
States”, 48 which reflects the traditional position of international law. The Appeals Chamber is
in no doubt that there is sufficient evidence to justify the Trial Chamber’s finding of fact that
the conflict was international prior to 19 May 1992.
42
Appeal Transcript, pp 383-384.
43
Id.
44
Trial Judgement, para 211. The Trial Chamber relied upon the ICRC Commentary (GC IV) to hold: “We are not
here examining the Konjic municipality and the particular forces involved in the conflict in that area to
determine whether it was international or internal. Rather, should the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina be
international, the relevant norms of international humanitarian law apply throughout its territory until the general
cessation of hostilities.”
45
Ibid, para 212.
46
Ibid, para 213.
47
Ibid, para 214.
48
Tadi} Appeal Judgement, para 84.
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Case No.: IT-96-21-A 20 February 2001