We are always happy to present views that differ from our own, in particular if they are well argued. Such is undoubtedly the case with Prof. Klinkner’s (Bournemouth University, UK) analysis of the forensic evidence and its impact on the guilty verdict in the Karadžić trial. Rather than attempting to highlight the weak points in…
ICTY self-promotional farewell video
This video was created by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in late 2017, as the Tribunal was drawing to a close and its few remaining functions were to be taken over by the awkwardly named successor “Mechanism.” The video is more than self-promotional, it is unabashedly self-adulatory. Judge Carmel Agius’ arrogant opening…
Višeslav Simić: Perceptions of Misuse of Justice: The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal as a Future Conflict Seeding Tool
R v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy ([1924] 1 KB 256, [1923] All ER Rep 233) is a leading English case on the impartiality and recusal of judges. It is famous for its precedence in establishing the principle that the mere appearance of bias is sufficient to overturn a judicial decision. It also brought into…
Edward S. Herman and David Peterson: Marlise Simons on the Yugoslavia Tribunal: A Study in Total Propaganda Service (2004)
This outstanding discussion of the Hague Tribunal and its operational principles, told as a tale of sycophantic journalism practiced by New York Times correspondent Marlise Simons, was penned by the late Professor Edward Herman and his research assistant and co-author David Peterson. We recommend to readers to listen to this brief audio clip from the…
Professor William Schabas: Was there genocide in Srebrenica?
Canadian law professor and expert in genocide studies William Schabas articulated his dilemma after the Krstić judgment was pronounced in 2001. After pointing out the Trial Chamber’s apparent willingness in the Krstić case to “accept the Prosecutor’s contention that the intent in killing the men and boys of military age was to eliminate the [Srebrenica] community as…
Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti’s partially dissenting opinion in the Tolimir case (2015)
Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti’s partly dissenting opinion was written in the context of the Appellate Judgment in the Tolimir case, published in April of 2015. In the context of an incisive, Cartesian critique of the majority’s view, Antonetti concludes with some poignant observations: “[The Accused’s] role, which was irreversibly determined by this Appeal Judgment, does not,…
George Pumphrey: Karadzic Indictment not based on Law
“Mr. Karadzic you are charged with one count of genocide UNDER ARTICLE 4 OF THE STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL; with one count of complicity in genocide UNDER ARTICLE 4 OF THE STATUTE; with five counts of crimes against humanity UNDER ARTICLE 5 OF THE STATUTE and with four counts of war crimes UNDER ARTICLES…
George Pumphrey: Does ICTY operate according to rule of law standards?
Our comments, supplemented by video presentations, about the widespread practice at ICTY of encouraging plea-bargains with the Prosecution, accompanied by theatrical public confessions of guilt, have caught the eye of expat American political analyst George Pumphrey. Pumphrey has written extensively about Srebrenica, the International Tribunal at the Hague, and other issues of current interest. The…
Dutch Appellate Court ruling on Dutch State liability for Potočari refugee deaths (2017)
On 27 June 2017, a Dutch appellate court in the Hague ruled that the Dutch State is liable for the deaths of a certain number of Muslim Srebrenica enclave residents who had taken refuge at the UN compound in Potočari under the control of the Dutch Battalion but later fell into Serb hands. The Plaintiffs,…
The “patriarchal society” genocide argument
In the Krstić judgment (par. 90 – 94) the Hague Tribunal launched its “patriarchal society” argument in order to explain the embarrassing anomaly that Serbian forces transported an estimated 20,000 residents of the Srebrenica enclave, mostly women, children, and elderly, to Sarajevo-controlled territory instead of executing them, as the court’s “genocidal intent” hypothesis would have required…