National University of Singapore

Centre for International Law

5 October 2012

War broke out in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991 and 1992

In Bosnia-Herzegovina there was a three way conflict

Massive human rights violations

Between 1992 -1995 100,000 dead and 2 million refugees and displaced persons

1992 Commission of Experts

25 May 1993 SC Resolution 827establishing the ICTY

Livno

Bosansko Grahovo Glamo~

[ipovo

Gornji Vakuf

Donji Vakuf

Jajce

Fojnica

Travnik

Novi Travnik

Vitez

Kre{evo

Busovaca

Grude

Ljubu{ki

Capljina

Neum

Po{usje

Tomislavgrad

[iroki Brijeg

^itluk

Kupres

Trebinje

Stolac

Ljubinje

Mostar

Jablanica

Bugojno

Prozor

Bile}a

Nevesinje

Had`i}i

Konjic

Gacko

Kalinovik

Trnovo

Zenica

Fo~a

Sarajevo

Kakanj Vare{

Breza Ilia{

Pale

Sokolac

Gora`de

Olovo

Kladanj

Cajni~e

Rogatica

Han Pijesak

Vlasenica

Rudo

Vi{egrad

Srebrenica

Bratunac

Cazin

Biha}

Titov Drvar

Bosanski Petrovac

Bosanski Krupa

Velika Kladu{a

Sanski Most

Bosanski Novi

Klju~

Mrkonjic Grad

Banja Luka

Prijedor

Bosanska Dubica

Skender Vakuf

Kotor Varos

Lakta{i

Bosanski Gradi{ka

^elinac

Tesli}

Zep~e

Prnjavor

Srbac

Maglaj

Te{anj

Zavidovi}i

Derventa

Doboj

Gra~anica

Banovi}i

Lukavac

Modri~a

Bosanski Brod

Zivinice

Tuzla

Srebrenik

Grada~ac

Od`ak

Kalesija

Sekovi}i

Br~ko

Lopare

Bosanski [amac Ora{je

Zvornik

Bijeljina

Map of Bosnia & Hercegovina Highlight of Srebrenica Opstina

Serb/Bosniak Muslim conflict .

Fall of the Srebrenica enclave in July 1995.

Principal criminal act is the murder of more than 8000 men and boys aged between 16 and 60 years of age.

Charged this as genocide and extermination and other related charges.

Also charged the movement of the civilian population of 25,000 to 30,000 people as

deportation.

V RS Structure

Eight Brigades/one Ind. Bn5th Mil i tary Police Battal ion

Communications, Engineering, Artil lery Bns

Drina CorpsGeneral Major Radislav Krsti}

Five other Army Corps

VRS M ain StaffL ieutenant Colonel General Ratko Mladi}

President and Supreme Commander of the VRSDr. Radovan Karad` i}

Crowd of People at Potocari

Burning of Personal Belongings

Nova Kasaba Mass Grave Site

“From all of whatever I have said and what I saw, I could come to the conclusion that this was extremely well organised. It was systematic killing. And that the organisers of that do not deserve to be at liberty. And if I had the right and courage, in the name of all those innocents and all those victims, I would forgive the actual perpetrators of the executions, because they were misled. That's all.” Witness “O” 13 April 2000

Quote from Court

4(2) Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) killing members of the group

Defence argued on appeal: intent to destroy is physical or biological destruction and not geographical displacement

Massacre of Bosnian Muslim men of military age

Defence argued at trial that this massacre was motivated by a military objective

Bosnian Serb army did not distinguish between military personnel and civilians

Group included boys and elderly men

Some members of Bosnian Serb army knew the destruction of significant proportion of male population consigned the Muslim population of Srebrenica to extinction

Forcible transfer of women and children and elderly was an additional means to ensure physical destruction.

Even though not a genocidal act genocidal intent may be inferred from other acts directed at the same group

No express statements of genocidal intent

Group to whom intent attributed not precisely defined

Can infer genocidal intent from the circumstances

No necessity to precisely define group to whom intent ascribed

17 April 1975 Armed Forces of Communist Party of Kampuchea seized Phnom Penh

An extreme program of social and economic revolution was implemented

Forced transfer of civilians to the countryside

Forced labour in agricultural co-operatives and state building projects

Over 200 security centres established to identify enemies of the state and “smash” them

Over 1.8 million citizens perished

Royal Government of Cambodia approached UN tin 1997

Agreement between UN and Cambodia signed in June 2003

Cambodian parliament passed law creating court in October 2004

“Internationalised” domestic court

Jurisdiction over domestic crimes and international crimes

Cambodian criminal procedure is in force seeking guidance from international procedure where necessary

Established in Phnom Penh in October 1975

It was directly linked to the Central Committee of the Communist party of Kampuchea

Purpose was to interrogate, torture and execute perceived opponents of the DK

Victims were those from the former regime, so called traitors within the current regime, their family members, Vietnamese and foreigners

At least 12,272 men women and children perished

Trial Chamber initially sentenced Duch to 35 years imprisonment

5 year reduction as a remedy for a period of illegal detention from 10 May 1999 to 30 July 2007

Credit for time served from 10 May 1999 until 26 July 2010

19 years

Prosecution appealed requesting life term

Reduced to 45 years to account for period of illegal detention

Supreme Court Chamber found by majority:

Period of illegal detention did not amount to abuse of process

The period of illegal detention cannot be attributed to the ECCC

Minority found that the period of illegal detention by the Cambodian military court was attributable to the ECCC

ECCC established within the domestic legal system

Cambodian law primary source of law

Intimate connection between period of illegal detention and proceedings at the ECCC

Duch illegally held from 1999 to 2007

1997 RGC asks UN for assistance to try Khmer rouge Cases

UN-RGC agreement 2003/4

Statements made throughout that Duch would be tried by ECCC

ECCC Co-Prosecutors opened case against Duch in July 2007

Duch transferred to ECCC 30 July 2007