Ambassador Tells World Court of
Yugoslav Links to Bosnian War
THE HAGUE, May 1 (Reuters) — A Bosnian Serb general provided a "smoking gun" link between Yugoslavia and alleged genocide at the heart of Bosnia's 1993 suit against the Belgrade regime, Bosnia's UN ambassador told the World Court on Wednesday. Addressing the court, the main judicial body of the United Nations, Muhamed Sacirbey said Bosnian Serb Army logistics chief General Djordje Djukic linked Belgrade to the war in Bosnia.
Sacirbey said Djukic, held until recently on war crimes charges by the U.N. criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia but released on health grounds, was also a high ranking officer in the Yugoslav army. "As (an) American diplomat put it, General Djukic was the smoking gun, the connection between the Belgrade regime and the so-called Bosnian Serb army," said Sacirbey.
Serbia's Move to Block World Court Suite
Bosnia's suit against Yugoslavia, which consists of Serbia and Montenegro, accuses Serbia of playing an active part in the Bosnian war and breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention by arming and supporting separatist Serbs in Bosnia. Serbia urged the World Court on Monday to throw out Bosnia's suit, saying Belgrade had played no part in the Bosnian war. It added that Bosnia had illegally seceded from Yugoslavia and its government did not represent all of Bosnia's people.
"This argument is certainly irrelevant to the issue of jurisdiction before the court today," said Sacirbey. "Nor is it a defense to responsibility for genocide." He also questioned whether Belgrade's hostility to the existence of Bosnia jeopardised last year's Dayton agreement which demanded formal mutual recognition between the warring parties in the Balkans. "If this case is abandoned then the consequences of ethnic cleansing, genocide, would also be less likely to be reversed in pursuing the full implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement," said Sacirbey.
"Bosnia and Herzegovina and its people have suffered the worst injustice in Europe since the unmatchable horrors of the Holocaust," he said, adding that 250,000 people, over five percent of the total population, had been killed. Sacirbey said 500,000 women had been raped systematically in rape camps, "constituting not only a heinous crime against individuals but also, an attempt to disrupt the reproductive capacity of an entire generation."
Not Trying to Prosecute Inviduals
He said Bosnia was not bringing the case against individuals, that was the job of the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Nor was it intended to condemn the Serb people, many of whom had taken risks to protect non-Serbs from occupying forces. "This case is directed at the state of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which bears responsibility for the violations of the Genocide Convention suffered by Bosnia and Herzegovina and its people," Sacirbey told the court. The motivation for the case was to foster reconciliation and rebuilding in Bosnia. "He who loves Bosnia cannot hate that word (reconciliation) because there is no Bosnia without reconciliation," said Sacirbey.The World Court — formally known as the International Court of Justice — is the main judicial body of the United Nations. It settles disputes between nations in accordance with international law. Serbia is contesting the court's jurisdiction in the case and this week's hearings are limited to that issue. The court is expected to announce a decision in several months' time on whether it can deal with the issues at the heart of the case.
"The suffering that has taken place and the harm that has been caused is too grave to be swept under the carpet or consigned to the annals of the past until a judicial determination is made," said Sacirbey.
Apr 29 · Serbia Claims No Role in Bosnian War
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