Throughout the Yugoslav conflict, allegations of human rights violations were made against the Bosnian Serbs. Reports indicated that the Bosnian Serbs were conducting a massive campaign of genocide against the non-Serb population. These reports cited numerous atrocities including mass executions, torture and rape of military prisoners and the civilian population. By the summer of 1992, it was evident that the Bosnian Serbs were conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing, seeking to eliminate all traces of the non-Serb population from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
On July 13, 1992, the Security Council adopted a resolution which reaffirmed the obligation of all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and, in particular, the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The resolution provided "that persons who commit or order the commission of grave breaches of the [1949 Geneva Conventions] are individually responsible in respect of such breaches." On August 13, 1992, the Security Council reiterated its concern at continuing reports of widespread violations of international humanitarian law occurring within the territory of the former Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including reports of mass forcible expulsion and deportation of civilians, imprisonment and abuse of civilians in detention centers, deliberate attacks on non-combatants, hospitals and ambulances, impeding the delivery of food and medical supplies to the civilian population and wanton devastation and destruction of property.
The resolution condemned "any violations of international humanitarian law, including those involved in the practice of ethnic cleansing." It added that "all parties and others concerned in the former Yugoslavia, and all military forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, immediately cease and desist from all breaches of international humanitarian law." It also requested states and international organizations to begin gathering information relating to the violations of international humanitarian law being committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
On October 6, 1992, the Security Council requested that Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali establish an impartial Commission of Experts to investigate alleged human rights abuses. The commission was to provide "the Secretary-General with its conclusions on the evidence of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The commission issued an interim report in February 1993 which concluded that grave breaches and other violations of international humanitarian law had been committed including ethnic cleansing, willful killing, mass killings, torture, rape, pillage and destruction of civilian property, destruction of cultural and religious property and arbitrary arrest. Following the submission of the commission's interim report, the Security Council adopted a resolution on February 22, 1993 reiterating its alarm at the widespread violations of international humanitarian law. It provided "that an international criminal tribunal shall be established for the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991." The resolution also requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on the establishment of an international tribunal. The Secretary-General submitted his report to the Security Council on May 3, 1993. The report examined the organization and procedures for the proposed International Tribunal. It also provided a draft Statute of the International Tribunal.
On May 25, 1993, the Security Council adopted a resolution to formally establish an international tribunal "for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia." The tribunal has "the power to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991." Specifically, the Tribunal shall have the power to prosecute persons who committed or ordered to be committed grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the laws of war, genocide and crimes against humanity. The tribunal affirms the principle of individual responsibility by providing that "[a] person who planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of a crime" shall be individually responsible for the crime.
The Tribunal is located at The Hague, Netherlands. It has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, committed in the former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal affirms the principle of individual responsibility by providing that "[a] person who planned instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of a crime shall be individually responsible for the crime." Trials may not be conducted in the absence of the accused. Once in custody, defendants are entitled to the rights provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. For example, they are entitled to legal counsel. The maximum sentence that can be imposed by the tribunal is life imprisonment. It cannot impose the death sentence. However, defendants may appeal the rulings of the Tribunal.
By the end of 1996, the Tribunal had indicted approximately 75 people on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The most notorious of those charged include Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. However, only 7 people are in custody at The Hague. Several states have offered to enforce tribunal sentences, including Bosnia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Spain and Sweden.
The first trial conducted by the Tribunal ended in November 1996 after seven months of testimony. The accused, Dusan Tadic, pled innocent to 31 charges of genocide and crimes against humanity arising from his reign of terror at three Serb-run camps in northwest Bosnia in 1992. Tadic faces life imprisonment if convicted.
A second trial was averted when the accused, Drazen Erdemovic, pled guilty to genocide. He was accused of executing Muslim civilians in the U.N. protected enclave of Srebrenica after it was captured by Serb forces in July 1995. He was sentenced by a three-judge panel in November 1996 to 10 years imprisonment.
