Bosnia to open war crimes court for Hague suspects

[struggle4progress]

08 March 2005

<snip> Some of Europe's worst crimes since World War 2 were committed in the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed up to 200,000 lives. Most cases so far have been tried by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The Sarajevo Chamber, opening on March 9, will take over some of the suspects indicted by the UN tribunal in what Bosnia's Western backers hope is a sign the country is able to deal with the legacy of its bloody past. <snip>

The UN tribunal, under pressure to cease operations in 2010, wants to transfer some mid- and low-ranking cases to national courts and focus on major suspects from the 1990s Balkan wars.

It is currently debating the transfer of two major war crimes cases to Bosnia - against Zeljko Meakic and three other Bosnian Serbs accused of crimes in detention camps in northwest Bosnia and against Bosnian Serb Radovan Stankovic over crimes in the eastern town of Foca. A third case is on the list. <snip>

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/manawatustandard/0,2106,3209896a6408,00.html

[Igel]

1. Good for them. I think it's better for a country to come to

gripes with its past itself, than to let other people deal with it.