1. What comes to mind when you hear of
Serbs or Serbia?
Bojana Misljen IR 400 Senior Seminar
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2. The role of external actors in Serbs’
resistance to ICTY’s reconciliation efforts
in Yugoslavia following the Yugoslav War
of 1990s.
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3. By end of the presentation you will know…
Work of the ICTY
External Actors
USA and the ICTY
USA and the “Operation Storm”
Conclusion
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4. Work of the ICTY
10 trials remain to be completed/
appealed
161 indicted 109 are Serbs
1 female
Serb’s conviction rate 97 %
71 % of Serbs have a negative view of the
Tribunal
Bojana Misljen IR 400 Senior Seminar
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6. USA and the ICTY
Do international standards apply to all?
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7. The USA and “Operation Storm”
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8. Conclusion
The Serb resistance of the ICTY will continue as long as the impartiality and
impunity of crimes committed against Serbs go unaddressed.
Crimes that need to be addressed
NATO Bombing of Serbia
The Operation Storm
In order for impartiality and impunity to end it is important to decrease the
influence of the external actors on the ICTY.
What needs to be changed?
Elections of judges
International Norms should be applicable to all UN Member States
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Hi, all…
Who would have thought that we’d make this far? When we think of Serbia we, usually, blame it for the fall of Yugoslavia and the war of 1992. BUT… Did you know that Serbs were victims of the war, too? How you heard of the NATO Bombing of 1992? Or the Operation Storm in which the USA has helped to orchestrate, a largest ethnic cleansing since the WWII?
The countries of former Yugoslavia have been uncooperative with the ICTY officials, believing that those accused by the Tribunal are national heroes. They have supported the accused individuals and their families through financial and legal resources. Consequently, the success and the legacy of the Tribunal depend on the support that it receives from the international actors.
For this reason, the international actors do everything in their power to enforce the statues of the ICTY on the accused and their countries of nationality. Some of the ways that international actors support the ICTY’s mission is through economic sanctions, stopping of foreign aid, and even impeding the sovereignty of sovereign states by sending forces to arrest accused individuals; thereby, breaking international standards of statehood as understood under sovereignty and emphasizing the close ties between the external actors and the judicial institution in question.
One of the ways that the international actors that have contributed to the victimization of Serbs during the fall of Yugoslavia is by violating evaded international norms in order to protect their own national interests and sovereignty. As a result, one of the ways that the powerful evade international norms is by not ratifying international agreements such as the Rome Statute. This allows the United States not to recognize and cooperate with the international judicial institutions because it does not want its citizens to be subjected to the international statues of criminal justice.
In the case of the United States this is witnessed through the passage of the American Service Members’ Act of 2002 which seeks to protect American servicemen from prosecution by the international courts such as the ICTY and the International Criminal Court. The Act authorizes the President to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any US or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court,” even invasion of The Hague. In addition, the Act prohibits the international courts of The Hague from harboring US nationals, receiving classified information, or investigating on the US soil.
The Act was passed within the year of an arrest warrant for Croatian generals of Operation Storm, paving the way for uncooperative United States policies towards the Tribunal that it helped to establish in an attempt to keep its prestige in international politics.
In the case of the United States not ratifying the Rome Statute and being a financial powerhouse of the ICTY helps the United States protect its national interests and those its citizens. The United States’ stand on the Rome Statue and the international judiciary allows the country to avoid scrutiny for their involvement in the crimes against Serbs. The fact that the United States did not ratify its stand towards international tribunals helps them distance themselves from the revelations that could result from an ICTY investigation The House Bill 3540 of 1997, just two years after the Operation Storm, permitted the United States to allocate $25 million in commodities and services to the Tribunal and to withhold aid to countries who harbor persons indicated by the Tribunal. Since its establishment, the Tribunal is grateful to countries like the United States for supporting the mission of the Tribunal by donating resources and money.
The uncooperative attitude towards the international judiciary has hindered the investigation of alleged crimes, in which the West has participated, committed against Serbs civilians during the Operation Storm. In ICTY’s investigation of Operation Storm, the United States failed to provide evidence that was requested by the Tribunal. The lack of cooperation of from the United States with the ICTY has equated to the acquittal of masterminds of Operation Storm: Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak, and Mladen Markac Harris,
Despite the effort at distance, the United States should be held accountable for the Serb victims of Operation Storm (The Strom) during 1995 in Croatia.
The Storm was a joint criminal enterprise that cost the US nearly $5 million by encouraging, monitoring and assisting with The Storm. The CIA provided intelligence and technical support while the White House and the State Department drafted the Washington Agreement. This agreement was an attempt to create a Croatian-Bosnian Military alliance whose purpose was to expel, terrorize and incriminate Serbs not only in Croatia but throughout the Yugoslav territories.
With little resistance from the Serbs of Republic of Serb Krajina, an entity that is now part of the Croatian territory, the Operation Storm became the “biggest refugee crisis of the Balkan wars.” Between 150,000 and 200,000 Croatian Serbs were driven out of Croatia into neighboring states, mainly Serbia, in less than 72 hours. The ICTY has yet to convict individuals for what Serbs believe to be the largest ethnic cleansing in history, following the Operation Storm.
