Although the Bosnian War has been over for almost a decade, the repercussions from that bitter conflict are still being felt today. Although most of the parties involved in the conflict have now quieted in their respective countries, cries for justice still ring out. One mechanism to pursue justice for those wronged is the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a tribunal established to prosecute accused war criminals. As a result, the horrors of that conflict are still being debated with these prosecutions. The other mechanism is the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which does not prosecute individuals but issues rulings on particular disputes between nations. In this case, Bosnia and Herzegovina “sued” Serbia for genocide committed during the 1992-1995 conflict.
The ICJ ruling on this complicated case is sure to please neither side. Serbia has been spared being tarnished as a “genocidal state” or of guilt of genocide, and, more importantly, as a result they are not required to pay reparations. However, the massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 was deemed to be an act of genocide. Serbia was found guilty of failing to prevent the massacre and of failing to comply with its international obligations to punish those who committed the massacre. The judges believed that Serbia had enough influence with its Bosnian Serb population to prevent the Srebrenica massacre. Bosnia claims that Serbia, especially under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, financed, armed, and encouraged the ethnic cleansing campaigns of the Bosnian Serbs to facilitate the grandiose vision of a “Greater Serbia”. Serbia countered that they were not responsible for the actions of Serb paramilitary groups and that the war was a conflict between ethnic groups and not aimed at destroying Muslims as an ethnicity.
While many in Bosnia feel robbed by this verdict and the Serbs are relatively content, the verdict of the ICJ was probably about as fair as it could have been under the circumstances. It is difficult to prove that an entire state and its institutions conspired to commit genocide. But, the ICJ declaration on Srebrenica was an official recognition of tragic and horrific events that are now portrayed to the world as genocide. Bosnian Muslims may gain some comfort in that notion. In some ways, they have lost twice: Slobodan Milosevic died before his war crimes trial could be completed, and Serbia was not found guilty of genocide. Yet, in front of the world, they were found guilty of failing to prevent genocide, one step away from complicity.
Serbia must tread lightly in their affairs; they are under enormous pressure to deliver war criminals. In addition, they are interested in joining transnational institutions such as the European Union, but the path from pariah to international community member will depend on how well they deal with the ghosts of their troubled past. They cannot move forward until they have resolved the past.
