For all intents and purposes, the war in Bosnia “officially” ended in 1995. Here we are ten years later, and precious little in the way of justice has been meted out to those Bosnian Serbs responsible for the genocide visited upon Bosnian Croats and Muslims.
Sure, a few small-time murderers and thugs have surrendered to the Hague tribunal, but the real criminals- like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic- remain at large, and there seems to be no real impetus to capture them. IF Europe truly wanted to capture those truly responsible for the genocidal Bosnian War, there aren’t many places to hide. Bosnia is a relatively small place.
Additionally, the seemingly never-ending trial of Slobodan Milosevic is yet another example of what passes for justice in Europe.
IN 1995, Bosnian Muslims fled to Srebenica — a designated United Nations “safe haven,” but U.N. troops couldn’t or wouldn’t save them from the Bosnian Serb army. Serbian thugs first divided the men from the women, children and the elderly, and then drove them away in separate buses. In the massacre that followed, Serbian troops gunned down some 7,000 to 8,000 Muslim men.
Europe was outraged then at what good people called Europe’s first holocaust since World War II. Europe and the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague today are too busy being high-minded to be outraged.
It tells you how feckless the court has become when it sentences a defendant for aiding and abetting in genocide to a modest 18 years in prison - - and the Associated Press describes the sentence as “lengthy.”
Specifically, the court found former Bosnian Serb Col. Vidoje Blagojevic, 54, guilty of aiding and abetting the genocide, murder, persecutions and inhumane acts. The 18-year sentence, if fully served, factors out to less than one day per Srebenica victim.
The reality here is that the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague is more concerned about “fairness” (to the accused) than justice (for the victims). This concern for “fairness” has led to delay after interminable delay in bringing these thugs to justice. Of course, the concept of “fairness” doesn’t seem to extend to the victims of those who come before ICTY. When you can coordinate the massacre of 7,000-8,000 innocents and be sentenced to all of 18 years, how can “fairness” even be considered part of the equation?
In dragging out their proceedings, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague has succeeded in minimizing and marginaling the death and suffering of so many innocent Bosnian civilians. “Justice”? Not bloody likely. No one is going to confuse ICTY with the triumph that were the Nuremberg tribunals.
Somehow, I would have thought the victims deserved better. How can anyone reasonably argue that 18 years is an adequate sentence for someone responsible for the death of over 7,000 innocent civilians? How can anyone reasonably argue that allowing Mladic and Karadzic to continue walking the Earth is justice? No reasonable person could credibly argue this point.
I understand ICTY’s concern for fairness, but fairness to whom? In the final analysis, justice delayed is justice denied. “Fairness” be damned, ICTY has a reponsibility to the victims and their families- one that the tribunal has yet to even come close to meeting.
