[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Serbia to be first nation charged with genocide
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 02:27:58 +0100
** Forum Nasional Indonesia PPI India Mailing List **
** Untuk bergabung dg Milis Nasional kunjungi:
** Situs Milis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ **
** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral
scholarship, kunjungi
http://informasi-beasiswa.blogspot.com
**http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article347980.ece
Serbia to be first nation charged with genocide
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
Published: 27 February 2006
Serbia will come under intense international scrutiny today as it becomes the
first nation to defend genocide charges, while separately facing censure for
failing to surrender war crimes suspects.
Belgrade will be accused at the International Court of Justice of sponsoring
ethnic cleansing in the 1990s which led to the worst massacres on European soil
since the Second World War. Previously, only individuals have been charged with
genocide, the most serious war crime.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers in Brussels will threaten to hold up talks on
the creation of a free trade zone with Serbia because of Belgrade's failure to
arrest the former Bosnian Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic.
This rebuke may not satisfy the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del
Ponte, who has called on the EU to put pressure on Belgrade and privately
pressed for a formal suspension of the negotiations.
The two events underline the extent to which the region's bloody past
overshadows Belgrade's effort to draw closer to the EU.
Today's hearing at the World Court comes 13 years after Bosnia and Herzegovina
first charged the Serb authorities, accusing them of the worst case of ethnic
cleansing since the Nazis' Final Solution. Though the Serb military was not
involved in the war, Belgrade stands accused of backing the Bosnian Serb forces.
Were the case to be proved, the Belgrade could be forced to pay billions of
euros in compensation, as well as suffering the disgrace of being labeled a
state sponsor of genocide.
Bosnia argues that only by acknowledging Belgrade's role in massacres there can
reconciliation be achieved.
Genocide was outlawed under the 1948 Genocide Convention, though the first
conviction came 50 years later when a UN court on Rwanda sentenced a former
mayor, Jean-Paul Akayesu, to life imprisonment.
Since then, hearings at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia in The Hague have decided that genocide took place at Srebrenica.
The tribunal has convicted the Bosnian Serb military commanders Radislav Krstic
and Vidoje Blagojevic of the offence.
But showing that genocide - a difficult crime to prove - was committed by a
state will be more difficult. A paper produced by the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting argues that genocide "requires a particular mindset - namely
the special intent to destroy a population - which, on the face of it at least,
appears difficult to attribute to a state".
It points out that, because Serbia's alleged sponsorship of genocide was
through proxies, it will be even harder to prove.
The World Court may decide it does not have legal jurisdiction. A case taken by
Serbia against Nato countries was thrown out in 2004 because Yugoslavia was not
a member of the UN at the time. Belgrade is likely to argue that, if it cannot
initiate a case at the World Court, if cannot be called on to defend one.
Serbia will come under intense international scrutiny today as it becomes the
first nation to defend genocide charges, while separately facing censure for
failing to surrender war crimes suspects.
Belgrade will be accused at the International Court of Justice of sponsoring
ethnic cleansing in the 1990s which led to the worst massacres on European soil
since the Second World War. Previously, only individuals have been charged with
genocide, the most serious war crime.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers in Brussels will threaten to hold up talks on
the creation of a free trade zone with Serbia because of Belgrade's failure to
arrest the former Bosnian Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic.
This rebuke may not satisfy the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del
Ponte, who has called on the EU to put pressure on Belgrade and privately
pressed for a formal suspension of the negotiations.
The two events underline the extent to which the region's bloody past
overshadows Belgrade's effort to draw closer to the EU.
Today's hearing at the World Court comes 13 years after Bosnia and Herzegovina
first charged the Serb authorities, accusing them of the worst case of ethnic
cleansing since the Nazis' Final Solution. Though the Serb military was not
involved in the war, Belgrade stands accused of backing the Bosnian Serb forces.
Were the case to be proved, the Belgrade could be forced to pay billions of
euros in compensation, as well as suffering the disgrace of being labeled a
state sponsor of genocide.
Bosnia argues that only by acknowledging Belgrade's role in massacres there can
reconciliation be achieved.
Genocide was outlawed under the 1948 Genocide Convention, though the first
conviction came 50 years later when a UN court on Rwanda sentenced a former
mayor, Jean-Paul Akayesu, to life imprisonment.
Since then, hearings at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia in The Hague have decided that genocide took place at Srebrenica.
The tribunal has convicted the Bosnian Serb military commanders Radislav Krstic
and Vidoje Blagojevic of the offence.
But showing that genocide - a difficult crime to prove - was committed by a
state will be more difficult. A paper produced by the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting argues that genocide "requires a particular mindset - namely
the special intent to destroy a population - which, on the face of it at least,
appears difficult to attribute to a state".
It points out that, because Serbia's alleged sponsorship of genocide was
through proxies, it will be even harder to prove.
The World Court may decide it does not have legal jurisdiction. A case taken by
Serbia against Nato countries was thrown out in 2004 because Yugoslavia was not
a member of the UN at the time. Belgrade is likely to argue that, if it cannot
initiate a case at the World Court, if cannot be called on to defend one.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
***************************************************************************
Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia
***************************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________________
Mohon Perhatian:
1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik)
2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari.
3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi
4. Satu email perhari: ppiindia-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
5. No-email/web only: ppiindia-nomail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
6. kembali menerima email: ppiindia-normal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ppiindia-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
** Forum Nasional Indonesia PPI India Mailing List **
** Untuk bergabung dg Milis Nasional kunjungi:
** Situs Milis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ **
** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral
scholarship, kunjungi
http://informasi-beasiswa.blogspot.com **
Other related posts:
- » [nasional_list] [ppiindia] Serbia to be first nation charged with genocide
