Genocide: - DIIS

Martin Mennecke and Eric Markusen
attack was aimed at civilians for the purpose of ‘ethnic cleansing.’” 50 After
16 months of hearings, Kupreskic and four others were found guilty
for their roles in the Amhici massacre. In his summary of the judgement,
Judge Antonio Cassese stated that, “[i]ndisputably, what happened on 16
April 1993 in Amhici has gone down in history as comprising one of the
most vicious illustrations of man’s inhumanity to man” and asserted that
the persecution perpetrated against the Muslims was “...only one step
away from genocide – the most abhorrent crime against humanity.” 51
These acts were only a part of a broader campaign of persecution and ethnic
cleansing of Muslims in central Bosnia carried out by Croatian forces.
On 3 March 2000 Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic was sentenced
to 45 years in prison for his responsibility for organized attacks against
Muslim civilians in nearly two dozen towns and villages in what is known
as the Lasva Valley. 52 On the basis of the evidence presented at the trial,
the judges concluded that the goal of such attacks was “...the forced departure
of the majority of the Muslim population in the Lasva Valley after
the death and wounding of its members, the destruction of its dwellings,
the plunder of its property, and the cruel and inhuman treatment meted
out to many.” 53
The fi nal case of Croatian atrocities against civilians to be considered here
took place in August 1995. Croatian forces, who had been advised by retired
American military offi cers, launched “Operation Storm” – a massive
campaign to recapture land known as the Krajina. This area had been a
homeland for Croatian Serbs for generations and had been militarily occupied
by Croatian Serbs since the autumn of 1991. 54 After fi ve days of
fi ghting, during which the Croatian Serb forces put up only a weak, dis-
50 Paras. 336 and 338 of the Trial Chamber judgement.
51 Prosecutor v. Zoran Kupreskic et al., Judgement, 14 January 2000, para. 1.
52 Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaskic, Trial Chamber, IT-95-14-T, 3 March 2000. New evidence submitted
by the Croatian government seems to clear Blaskic of responsibility for some of the
crimes alleged. The ICTY Appeals Chamber is currently considering whether to re-open
the trial, cf. Drago Hedl, Regional Report: Blaskic Case Reopened, Tribunal Update 288,
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, available at http://www.iwpr.net
53 Ibid., para. 754.
54 Silber and Little (1996), p. 345-54.
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