That Someone Guilty Be Punished - Open Society Foundations

D. Significant Verdicts, Other Rulings, and
Jurisprudence
1. Calling a massacre by its proper name: genocide
While many in Bosnia are disappointed in sentences imposed by the ICTY, some deeply so,
the Tribunal’s judgments of guilt have at times provided profound gratification. One stands
out for its signal importance in this regard: the ICTY’s determination, first reached in the case
against Radislav Krstić, that “Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide” in Srebrenica. 403 In
clarion terms, the ICTY Appeals Chamber affirmed the Trial Chamber’s determination that a
genocide occurred in Srebrenica:
The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms,
the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper
name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning
to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act. 404
In a context of pervasive Serb denial that Serbs committed genocide in Srebrenica, Tarik
Jusić believes that the Krstić judgment was indeed “very important” in the sense the Appeals
Chamber meant. In Jusić’s words: “It is important that things are named as they are. If it is
a genocide, historically it’s important that this is said by an independent body that’s 3,000
kilometers from here.” 405 Journalist Senad Pećanin also sees this determination as crucial,
emphasizing Bosnian society’s inability to reach a consensus judgment about responsibility
for Srebrenica: “Without the ICTY, who knows? We would have to wait decades to know who
was responsible. That’s a really important prosecution.” 406
Like many we interviewed, Dobrila Govedarica believes that “clarifying that Srebrenica
was a genocide” was the Tribunal’s “most important achievement and without the ICTY it
wouldn’t be possible.” She explained the judgment’s significance this way: “For history and
for the future, you can never question that … and that’s definitely important for victims.” 407
Mirsad Tokača made a similar point. Describing Krstić as “one of the most important” accomplishments
of the ICTY, Tokača said: “Only based on this decision, the ICTY is successful.”
In his view, the Tribunal’s determination of genocide is important not only “theoretically [and]
in terms of judicial practice,” but also “for Bosnian society. Finally there is no dilemma. …
After this decision, there is no negation and refusing of the fact that genocide happened.” 408
Jasna Bakšić Muftić also believes it was “very important to find that genocide was committed
in Srebrenica,” and describes what this has meant to the mothers who lost their sons
there. Rural and largely uneducated, many of these women became deeply “engaged as mothers”
in trying to find justice. In Bakšić Muftić’s view, their daily protesting would have deepened
their suffering if their goals remained unfulfilled: “You’re always waiting for, waiting for,
66 ACHIEVEMENTS, FAILURES, AND PERFORMANCE