Defence Forces Review 2008

Balkan Dilemma
During the entire conflict there appears to have been a very real problem with the whole
concept of command and control. In many wars command and control presents a problem
at some stage and in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the end of the conflict the
existence of the International Criminal Court at the Hague was high in the minds of many
former combatants. There is no doubt that events occurred during the course of the war which
went far beyond the pale of accepted military behaviour in wartime. Having said this, it must
be remembered that all sides engaged in activities which were reprehensible and even if many
who took part behaved in a manner which in no way could cause them to be accused of war
crimes, there were those who did.
War crimes have always posed a problem whenever and wherever the question of war crimes
has arisen and there is general agreement internationally that war crimes ought not to go
unpunished. Some war crimes are so obvious that there will be little doubt as to either the
nature of the crime or as to the identity of those responsible. Responsibility appears to be the
key issue and this has been a major cause of argument for a very long time. Following World
War II and the trials at Nuremberg and more particularly following the trials conducted by the
Far Eastern Commission, the whole question of command and control has been a major issue
with lawyers and it remains a question yet to be resolved in any satisfactory manner. A further
problem that became obvious in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the capacity of political actors
to use the issue of war crimes to accuse people at random; in effect the issue became a weapon
and unfortunately neither the UN nor anybody else countered this in any effective manner.
Many people will readily agree that there ought to be an international forum to try those
indicted for war crimes, but the question arises as to how this may be best approached. My
own view is that there ought not be a permanent forum, but rather that there ought to exist
the mechanism to establish such a forum from time to time. I also believe from experience
that the whole question of war crimes ought to be very strictly controlled with a view towards
ensuring that any mechanism instituted to address the issue must include a further mechanism
to ensure that it cannot be used by politicians, media or any other entity as a weapon against
anybody. I have long argued that the UN, or indeed any other entity involved in such a process
must conduct the process in such a manner that precludes any attempt to confuse the concepts
of indictment by due process and actual guilt. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Bosnia
and Herzegovina where accusation by anybody seemed often to be equated with guilt on the
part of those accused.
Unfortunately, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in included participation not alone by
conventional military forces, but also by militias comprising of units that were in reality not
subject to control in the conventional sense. Many former commanders with whom I have
dealt remain quite adamant that such ‘rogue’ forces were beyond control and they further
point to the fact that the confusion experienced during the conflict often made it impossible
for those involved in conventional military activities to effectively control all of those under
the their command. This argument is not new, of course and has been thrown up for a very
long time by military commanders who have stood accused of being responsible for crimes
committed by those technically under their command. Command is not always an effective
process and many will claim that command and control are sometimes two very separate
issues. The situation during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina certainly merits scrutiny
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