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379. See Judith Armatta, “Srebrenica Guilty Pleas Have Many Repercussions,” Coalition for International Justice, May 21, 2003; Marlise Simons, “In a Startling Plea, a Serbian Policeman Confesses to Atrocities,” New York Times, July 27, 2003; Arthur Max, “Yugoslav Tribunal Is Court Making History,” AP, Aug. 3, 2003; Marlise Simons, “Serb at Hague Pleads Guilty to Brutalities,” New York Times, Sept. 5, 2003; Marlise Simons, “Officers Say Bosnian Massacre Was Deliberate,” New York Times, Oct. 12, 2003. 380. See Marlise Simons, “Plea Deals Being Used to Clear Balkan War Tribunal’s Docket,” New York Times, Nov. 18, 2003. 381. Interview with Emir Suljagić, author, Sarajevo, July 14, 2009. 382. Id. Suljagić recalled that in the period that followed these confessions, the Serbian government geared up to counter evidence of its own involvement in the Srebrenica massacre as the International Court of Justice moved toward resolution of a case filed a decade earlier by Bosnia and Herzegovina, alleging that the State of Yugoslavia had violated the Genocide Convention. We discuss that development in Section D.3. 383. Tim Judah, “The Fog of Justice,” 51 N.Y. Rev. Books, Jan. 15, 2004. 384. Interview with Zdravko Grebo, director, Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, July 13, 2009. 385. Interview with Sead Golić, Association of the Families of Missing, Forcibly Detained and Murdered Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brčko, July 22, 2009. 386. Some witnesses, while in no position to second-guess the sincerity of Plavšić’s confession, were careful to note that her acknowledgement of past wrongs was just a step, one among many, that could foster reconciliation in the region. For example, Alex Boraine, then-president of the International Center for Transitional Justice, told the Tribunal he believed that Plavšić’s statement had the potential to “prompt other leaders responsible for similar crimes to acknowledge their culpability [and] to recognise the jurisdiction of this Court,” and it “could—could—help catalyse or initiate a process of honest truth-telling and acknowledgement throughout former Yugoslavia.” Drawing upon comparative experience, Boraine emphasized that truth-telling and acknowledgement of past wrongs were “one—only one—of the aspects which have been extremely helpful in creating a climate where people can begin to co-exist.” Case of Biljana Plavšić (IT-00-39 and 40/1), Trial transcript, Dec. 17, 2002, at 605–606, www.icty.org/x/cases/plavsic/trans/en/021217IT.htm. 387. Interview with Mirsad Duratović, Prijedor, Dec. 8, 2006. Duratović cited the example of Darko Mrd¯a, one of the defendants who entered a guilty plea in the summer of 2003. The ICTY Web site includes this paragraph in its summary of the Mrd¯a sentencing judgment: As to the mitigating circumstances, the Chamber took into consideration Darko Mrd¯a’s cooperation with the Prosecution. The Chamber also held that Darko Mrd¯a’s guilty plea helped to establish the truth surrounding the crimes committed at Korićanske Stijene and could contribute to promoting reconciliation between the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was noted incidentally that his plea made it possible to obviate the expense of a lengthy trial and the need for a large number of victims and witnesses to come and testify at the Tribunal. Therefore, his guilty plea was considered to be a mitigating factor. In addition, the Chamber found Darko Mrd¯a’s expression of remorse to be sincere and took this into account in mitigation. The Chamber found that Darko Mrd¯a’s personal circumstances 164 NOTES
should be considered in mitigation, but that little weight should be attached to them in this regard. ICTY Web site at http://www.icty.org/x/cases/mrda/cis/en/cis_mrdja_en.pdf. 388. Interview with Mirsad Duratović, Prijedor, Dec. 8, 2006. Sadik Trako made much the same point about the ICTY’s failure to ensure that another ICTY defendant who pleaded guilty, Miroslav Bralo, provided accurate information about the locations of victims’ corpses. According to Trako, although Bralo had provided information about their location, authorities did not discover bodies at that location. Describing local residents who were still searching for relatives’ bodies, Trako said: “They’re angry because the tribunal didn’t get the correct information [ from Bralo]. I see it as if he’s playing with The Hague.” Interview with Sadik Trako, president of Association of Victims and Missing Persons in Lašva Valley, Vitez, Dec. 6, 2006. 389. Interview with Mirsad Duratović, Prijedor, Dec. 8, 2006. 390. See “Exhumation at Korćanske Stijene Begins,” BIRN’s Justice Report, July 21, 2009; “Bosnian authorities recover remains of war crime victims,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Aug. 5, 2009. 391. Interview with Nidžara Ahmetašević, editor, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in BiH, Sarajevo, July 13, 2009. 392. Dan Saxon, “Exporting Justice: Perceptions of the ICTY Among the Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim Communities in the Former Yugoslavia,” 4 J. Hum. Rts. 559, 560 (2005) (citations omitted). 393. See ICTY Web site at http://www.icty.org/sid/324. 394. Interview with Asta Zimbo, then director, Civil Society Initiatives Program, International Commission on Missing Persons, Dec. 6, 2006. 395. Interview with Ivan Lovrenović, editor-in-chief, Dani, Sarajevo, July 17, 2009. Lovrenović did not address the concerns just noted, perhaps because his observations were offered in response to a question concerning positive aspects of the ICTY’s work. 396. Interview with Sadik Trako, president of Association of Victims and Missing Persons in Lašva Valley, Vitez, Dec. 6, 2006. Another person told us he does “not think that justice will be served” until the man who was most responsible for his brother’s death “comes before the people and apologizes” once he finishes serving the 21-year sentence he received after pleading guilty in Bosnia’s War Crimes Chamber. Interview with Sabahudin Garibović, Association of Former Camp Detainees, Kozarac, July 23, 2009. 397. Nancy Amoury Combs, Copping a Plea to Genocide: The Plea Bargaining of International Crimes, 151 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1, 150 (2002). 398. The following indictees have pleaded guilty since the trial of Biljana Plavšić and provided substantial cooperation to the prosecutor: Momir Nikolić (2003), Dragan Obrenović (2003), Darko Mrd¯a (2003), Miroslav Deronjić (2003), Miodrag Jokić (2003), Dragan Nikolić (2003), Ranko Češić (2003), Milan Babić (2004), and Ivica Rajić (2005), Predrag Banović (2003) and Dragan Zelenović (2007) expressed commitment in the respective plea agreements to cooperate with the prosecutor, and the Tribunal judged such commitment to constitute a mitigating circumstance. Only in the case of Miroslav Bralo (2005), the Tribunal judged co-operation as merely “moderate” and weighed it accordingly. 399. This trend may be partly attributable to an amendment to the ICTY’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which “legitimized” these types of plea arrangements. Rule 62ter was adopted in December THAT SOMEONE GUILTY BE PUNISHED 165
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That Someone Guilty Be Punished The
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That Someone Guilty Be Punished The
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Table of Contents Acknowledgments 7
Page 9 and 10:
Acknowledgments Diane Orentlicher,
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Methodology This report draws upon
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I. Introduction On May 25, 1993, th
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Victims’ Justice The Security Cou
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in the . Srebrenica genocide. Many
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Journalist Nidžara Ahmetašević r
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survive “ethnic cleansing.” Muh
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ings [of Bosnia’s judiciary were]
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from territories under Serb control
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C. Peace and Justice If the ICTY fa
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groups are approximately the same s
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F. Cooperation by Bosnian Authoriti
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Women [who were captured by Serb so
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Tribunal’s expressive function in
Page 38 and 39:
We found this view to be nearly uni
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Branko Todorović, who heads the He
Page 42 and 43:
full establishment of healthy and c
Page 44 and 45:
Sali-Teržić believes that justice
Page 46 and 47:
committed war crimes, a notion that
Page 48 and 49:
J. “Justice Isn’t Just in Legal
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Vehid Šehić, who believes the ICT
Page 52 and 53:
Because our own research did not in
Page 54 and 55:
imposed on two other perpetrators c
Page 56 and 57:
feared it would be reduced to half
Page 58 and 59:
Enumerating victims’ frustrations
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While some of our Bosnian interlocu
Page 62 and 63:
2. Biljana Plavšić On October 2,
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Others interviewed during the same
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executions, the execution in Korić
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D. Significant Verdicts, Other Ruli
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at least 2012; another, Ratko Mladi
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could be legally attributed to Serb
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Hasečić leads, the Association of
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ings … went before any expectatio
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enica survivor Kada Hotić describe
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they are in the shadow of Karadži
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First, individuals who had been for
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Kovačević, who was under indictme
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says it was “not the major reason
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their names are not publicly disclo
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V. Truth and Acknowledgment The off
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A. Acknowledging and Condemning Atr
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We encountered another brand of non
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Herzegovina that only serves to cau
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3. Acknowledgement on the part of o
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More generally, Bosnians’ percept
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is standard procedure for prosecuto
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crimes occurred and meet with local
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Srd¯an Dizdarević believes that t
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VI. Impact on Domestic War Crimes P
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But if his words seemed to invite s
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Rules of the Road In the aftermath
Page 115 and 116: Responding to a question about the
Page 117 and 118: In examining the results and prospe
Page 119 and 120: the ICTY’s strategy for completin
Page 121 and 122: a. Rule 11 bis cases While Rule 11
Page 123 and 124: ut the documentation is still in th
Page 125 and 126: December 2006, Vaso Marinković, th
Page 127 and 128: tional judges and prosecutors are n
Page 129 and 130: The ICTY prosecuted just one person
Page 131 and 132: In recent years, state authorities
Page 133 and 134: in the late 1990s, as it finally be
Page 135: oning with the dark pages of its re
Page 138 and 139: 9. Interview with Fadil Budnjo, pre
Page 140 and 141: 38. As we note in Chapter VI, then
Page 142 and 143: 58. Richard J. Goldstone, For Human
Page 144 and 145: 84. In 1997, the Peace Implementati
Page 146 and 147: the Security Council, S/2005/781, D
Page 148 and 149: 135. Interview with Mirsad Duratovi
Page 150 and 151: 160. The ICTY prosecutor issued the
Page 152 and 153: 2009; Patrice C. McMahon and Jon We
Page 154 and 155: 221. An example of such an individu
Page 156 and 157: izručenje” (“Most RS Citizens
Page 158 and 159: 267. In November 2001, Dragan Kolun
Page 160 and 161: Families of Missing, Forcibly Detai
Page 162 and 163: vict’s sentence, including “the
Page 164 and 165: 348. See Marlise Simons, “Crossin
Page 168 and 169: 2001 and was based on U.S. federal
Page 170 and 171: 426. Interview with Kada Hotić, vi
Page 172 and 173: 467. The average length of trials c
Page 174 and 175: 495. Gideon Boas and Timothy L.H. M
Page 176 and 177: estored to them. The early return o
Page 178 and 179: 561. Murselović recalled that at t
Page 180 and 181: other charges. See Marlise Simons,
Page 182 and 183: of the Convention on the Prevention
Page 184 and 185: admit to the existence of war crimi
Page 186 and 187: 681. “Controversial group in Sreb
Page 188 and 189: and disruption of war and immediate
Page 190 and 191: Herzegovina, 46 Colum J. Transnat
Page 192 and 193: 729. International Crisis Group, Wa
Page 194 and 195: Change, Analysts Say,” New York T
Page 196 and 197: tation of the Peace Agreement to th
Page 198 and 199: Republika Srpska (31.9%). See South
Page 200 and 201: 798. E-mail communication with Pipi
Page 202 and 203: 822. As of July 2009, all but one o
Page 204 and 205: as “horrible,” while noting tha
Page 206 and 207: Jails Overflow,” BIRN’s Justice
Page 208 and 209: sarily devoted mainly to prosecutin
Page 211 and 212: Open Society Justice Initiative The
Page 214: When the United Nations Security Co
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