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From notes@igc5.igc.org Mon Dec 4 01:07:00 1995 Received: from igc5.igc.org (192.82.108.36) by MediaFilter.org with SMTP (MailShare 1.0b10); Mon, 4 Dec 1995 01:07:01 -0500 Received: from cdp.igc.apc.org (cdp.igc.apc.org [192.82.108.1]) by igc5.igc.apc.org (8.7.1/8.7.1) id VAA09913; Sun, 3 Dec 1995 21:50:30 -0800 (PST) Date: 03 Dec 1995 20:49:33 Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"From: CNAEF@CENTER.COLGATE.EDU Subject: Re: war criminals problem To: Recipients of zamir-chat-l Message-ID: <01HYDVESI5MQ8ZMVJG@center.colgate.edu> In-Reply-To: X-Gateway: conf2mail@igc.apc.org Errors-To: owner-zamir-chat-l@igc.apc.org Precedence: bulk Lines: 28 From: CHARLES NAEF How to get rid of war criminals, specifically Karadzic and Mladic? The question presumes that the two leaders of the Bosnian Serbs have been tried and convicted by the Court at the Hague. They have been merely indicted and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. It may be possible to produce incontrovertible evidence that General Mladic was personally involved in actions that under international law are war crimes. Short of such evidence, it would be counterproductive to hold him responsible for some of the crimes that have been committed. Such a judgment would be seen by large numbers of Serbs and others as a pure act of vengeance visited upon the Bosnian Serb leaders by judges from countries who have carefully absolved their leaders from any guilt for war crimes that resulted from policies that they had ordered. Who else besides Lt. Calley was held responsible for My Lay? (I apologize for my phonetic spelling) War crimes tribunals instituted by the victors have their own problems. But trying for war crimes leaders who are still in control of their communities, leaders like Karadzic without whose cooperation the present truce and tentative steps towards peace are unlikely to succeed, is self-righteous foolishness. Only a war crimes trial conducted by Serbs in Serbia would have the salutory effect of establishing a standard of civility in that part of the world that might prevent such massacres as that which apparently happened at Srebrenica from occuring in the future.