7.
Hague Tribunal
Punishment and justice: ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia)
“But we came to the conclusion, and the courts, both the ICTY and the International Court of Justice have supported our decision, that a decision to destroy a group of that size in an enclave, in the village of Srebrenica, constituted an act of genocide and that the necessary intention was there.“
- Richard Goldstone, the first Chief Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal
By killing all the military aged men, the Bosnian Serb forces effectively destroyed the community of the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica as such and eliminated all likelihood that it could ever re-establish itself in that territory.
The Chamber concludes that the intent to kill all the Bosnian Muslim men of military age in Srebrenica constitutes an intent to destroy in part the Bosnian Muslim group within the meaning of Article 4 (of the ICTY statute) and must therefore be qualified as genocide.
The Trial Chamber has thus concluded that the Prosecution has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war were perpetrated against the Bosnian Muslims, at Srebrenica, in July 1995.
Intent and Denial
“The denial of genocide that exists today in Bosnia and Herzegovina casts a dark cloud over its future and prevents the reconciliation process.“
- Dr Edina Becirevic, University of Sarajevo