Srebrenica: Thirty Years of Judicial Failures and Political Obstruction
It’s been thirty years since the genocide in Srebrenica, and justice is still dragging its feet. The judicial record? A mess of delays, political obstruction, and half-baked accountability. International courts have finally pinned responsibility on the top military and political leaders of the Bosnian Serbs, but domestic courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are still failing to deliver justice that matches the scale of the crimes.
The Srebrenica genocide, which happened in July 1995, is the worst war crime in Europe since World War II. Court rulings have clearly established that individuals, units of the former Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), paramilitary groups, and Serbia itself planned and executed crimes aimed at destroying the Bosniak national, ethnic, and religious group.
The Hague Tribunal handed down several landmark verdicts, including that of Radislav Krstić, commander of the Drina Corps of the VRS, who in 2001 became the first person convicted of genocide in The Hague. His sentence was later reduced from 46 to 35 years, but the genocide was confirmed. Zdravko Tolimir, former assistant to the VRS Main Staff commander, was sentenced to life imprisonment as a key organizer of the executions in Srebrenica and Žepa.
The biggest verdicts were against Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, both sentenced to life imprisonment. The international courts have issued at least seven verdicts formally qualifying the events in Srebrenica as genocide.
However, domestic courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina have issued the most convictions – 28 people sentenced to a total of 700 years in prison, with 14 found guilty of genocide. The most famous case involves seven VRS members convicted for the massacre at the Kravica warehouse, where over a thousand captured Bosniak men and boys were killed.
Yet in Serbia, justice is nowhere near satisfactory. Although some trials have been held for war crimes in Srebrenica, no verdict has qualified the crimes as genocide. Many accused have fled to Serbia, where they enjoy amnesty and freedom of movement. This situation highlights poor regional cooperation and a lack of political will to confront the past.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2007 that Serbia did not commit genocide nor was an accomplice, but violated its obligation to prevent genocide and punish perpetrators. Ratko Mladić was on the payroll of the then Yugoslav army, and the number of accused in the dock remains small due to poor prosecution management, political obstruction, and lack of will.
War crimes prosecutions are entering their final phase, with only five trials currently ongoing. New indictments are dwindling due to biological reasons, witness and accused attrition, and poor regional cooperation. The issue of reparations and compensation for victims remains open, with many families still seeking information about the fate of the missing.
The Srebrenica Memorial Center works to preserve memory using the latest standards in oral history and education, but justice remains delayed. Thirty years after the genocide, the truth about Srebrenica is no longer just a legal issue but a political hurdle, reflected in genocide denial and ignoring court rulings.
Think justice is slow? Wait till you see how politics and obstruction turn this into a circus. What do you think – will there ever be a fair ending to this story? Drop a comment, let’s see who else is tired of endless courtroom soap operas!
