VARIOUS/FILE: World Court judgement on Bosnia's accusation of genocide by Serbia and Montenegro in 1992-95 war expected on 26th February

The World Court in The Hague will deliver a judgement next Monday in a landmark case in which Bosnia accused Serbia and Montenegro of genocide in the 1992-95 war. A woman who lost three family members in a massacre in Srebrenica, a human rights activist and the Serbian Republic (Republica Srbska) prime minister speak about the search for justice and what may be achieved. The World Court in The Hague will deliver a judgement on February 26 in a landmark case in which Bosnia and Herzegovina accused Serbia and Montenegro of genocide in the 1992-95 war. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, opened the case last year, 13 years after Bosnia started the case against the rump Yugoslav state from which it seceded in 1992, triggering a war in which at least 100,000 people were killed. Hatidza Mehmedovic was one of those people affected, losing her husband and two sons in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Although their names have already been engraved in the white stone of the Memorial Centre in Potocari, she is still waiting to find their remains to lay them to rest. "This (war) did not happen by our will, there was an aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide was committed, and we expect to see justice, justice and nothing but justice," says Hatidza standing next to the list of almost 200 family members whose names are written on the monument. Natasa Kandic is a Serbian human rights activist who was among the first to speak out about involvement of her government in the war in Bosnia. "We all know very well what has happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can name it genocide or use some other term, but we know that there would be no crimes in Bosnia if there was no direct involvement of Serbia and its regular forces, starting from planning, to organising, to executing war crimes," she says. Kandic made public last year a video showing six Muslim men being executed by Serbian forces in 1995 near Srebrenica. "We should bear in mind that Serbia has had a specific strategy and policy (of covering war crimes and its involvement in war in Bosnia), very wrong in my opinion, but that may result in lack of proof for its (Serbia's) conviction at court," said Kandic. This is the first case in which a state is on trial for genocide. A U.N. convention on the prevention and punishment of genocide was adopted in 1948 after the Holocaust. If Bosnia wins, it could seek billions of (U.S.) dollars in compensation. "(If convicted) Serbia would find itself in a very difficult position. It (Serbia) would be the first country ever which would be convicted of genocide as a country. It would be a legal precedent and would damage Serbia's position in all international relations, not only with Bosnia but practically in all issues of dispute," says Dejan Anastasijevic, journalist and analyst for Serbian magazine 'Vreme' (Time). Bosnia's Muslims and Croats followed Slovenia and Croatia in breaking away from Yugoslavia in April 1992, against the wishes of Bosnian Serbs, who were left as a one-third minority in what had previously been a Yugoslav republic ruled from Belgrade. Backed by the Yugoslav army, the Serbs responded by swiftly capturing two thirds of Bosnia, besieging Sarajevo and launching "ethnic cleansing" in which tens of thousands of non-Serbs were killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. Some say however that the case itself is going to cause more divisions and problems, not only between Serbia and Bosnia but within Bosnia itself. "Whatever will be the verdict of the ICT(J) (International Court of Justice) I am afraid that it will not have a really positive consequence, not only because of dissatisfaction of one side but also because of the internal tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina," says Jakob Finci, director of Centre for European Integration Strategies based in Sarajevo. Thousands of Bosnian Serbs demonstrated last year in Bosnian town of Bjeljina against the lawsuit that was brought by Muslim-led Bosnian government in 1993. "It (genocide case against Serbia and Montenegro) is not right because almost half of Bosnia and Herzegovina is opposed to it. It is only because Bosnian Muslims wanted it (to sue Serbia and Montenegro for genocide)," said a resident of Banja Luka, biggest town in the Serb Republic that forms part of the country Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the Muslim-Croat federation. "We have already stated that that lawsuit is not legitimate and that it will generate a lot of problems here," said Milorad Dodik, the Serb Republic (Republica Srbska) Prime Minster. The U.N. war crimes tribunal, not far from the ICJ in The Hague, has already determined that the 1995 Serb massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, was genocide. But those who lost their family members in the Srebrenica massacre do not see any future until the past has been resolved. "What future can we expect? What kind of Europe do we want? There is no way to Europe (European Union) until this is resolved. They ( Serbia) talk about some reforms. This is where reforms should start. Road to Europe goes through Srebrenica. This is a way to Europe," said Hatidza Mehmedovic at the memorial centre in Potocari. mb/jrc

ITN Source | February 25, 2007

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