That Someone Guilty Be Punished - International Center for ...

2. Biljana Plavšić
On October 2, 2002, Biljana Plavšić, who had served as a member of the Bosnian Serbs’ Presidency
during the war, pleaded guilty to the crime against humanity of persecution. 343 Although
seven defendants had by then entered guilty pleas before the ICTY, this was the first time that
such a high-ranking Serb official had done so and, perhaps more important, had expressed
remorse. 344 When she entered her plea, Plavšić said:
To achieve any reconciliation or lasting peace in BH, serious violations of humanitarian
law during the war must be acknowledged by those who bear responsibility—regardless
of their ethnic group. This acknowledgement is an essential first step. 345
Many believed that Plavšić’s confession could have a catalytic effect on “the process of
reconciliation” in Bosnia, as one observer put it. 346 The Humanitarian Law Center, a leading
NGO in Serbia, welcomed the confession, noting that it “opens the way to the reconciliation of
individuals and ethnic groups, and to restoring the dignity of the victims.” 347 At her sentencing
hearing two and one-half months later, an extraordinary line-up of witnesses, ranging from
former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, hailed the
potential significance of her plea as a gesture of acknowledgement that could advance reconciliation.
348 So, too, did the prosecutor. As the Trial Chamber noted, “The Prosecution states
that ‘it accepts that Mrs. Plavšić’s plea of guilty and acceptance of responsibility represents an
unprecedented contribution to the establishment of truth and a significant effort toward the
advancement of reconciliation.’” 349
In Bosnia, reactions to the courtroom proceeding “ranged from pleasant surprise to
suspicion that the tribunal somehow compromised its values by making a deal” with Plavšić. 350
While some agreed with expert witnesses who testified that Plavšić’s confession could be a
watershed, others doubted her sincerity. Srebrenica survivor Munira Subašić thought Plavšić
had confessed “so she can get a lighter sentence” 351 (a suspicion later confirmed by Plavšić
herself). Another survivor, Sabra Kolenović, noted that Plavšić had stopped short of actually
apologizing. 352 Emir Suljagić, who spent much of the war in Srebrenica, did not detect even a
“note of apology” in Plavšić’s words. 353 Carla Del Ponte, who was the ICTY prosecutor at the
time of this hearing, would later write that she, too, was horrified when she heard Plavšić’s
confession. Del Ponte described the courtroom scene this way:
[Plavšić] got up during her sentencing hearing and read out a statement full of generalistic
mea culpas but lacking compelling detail. I listened to her admissions in horror,
knowing she was saying nothing. 354
60 ACHIEVEMENTS, FAILURES, AND PERFORMANCE