ICJ deliberates BiH, Serbia-Montenegro genocide case

11/05/2006

The International Court of Justice in The Hague went into deliberations Tuesday on the Bosnia and Herzegovina genocide case against Serbia-Montenegro.

By Davor Konjikusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 11/05/06

The genocide trial was held at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. [Getty Images]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is now deliberating what experts are calling the court's "toughest case ever". The Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) genocide case against Serbia-Montenegro is the first time that a whole country is being accused of genocide.

The 16 ICJ judges went into deliberations on Tuesday (9 May). They must first decide whether they have the jurisdiction to rule on the case. If the ICJ decides to proceed, it could be months before a verdict is reached.

BiH is seeking compensation for the loss of life and property during the 1992-1995 conflict, when an estimated 200,000 people were killed and entire Muslim towns and villages were devastated. Although no exact amount was named, Serbia could be obliged to pay billions of dollars if found guilty.

Serbia-Montenegro lawyers claim that the accusations are exaggerated. They also deny the court's jurisdiction, noting that the UN suspended membership to then-Yugoslavia before the case was filed in 1993.

"The entire idea of questioning the authority of the court comes from the fact that in year 2000 we became members of the UN, and only signed the Convention on Genocide in 2001. The implications of this are twofold: that prior to this date we were not members of the UN, and therefore we cannot be put on trial by this court, for only UN members, with few exceptions that are not applicable here, can appear before this court," said Vladimir Djeric, a member of Serbia-Montenegro's legal team.

One of the key arguments of Serbia-Montenegro's team is the decision by the ICJ in December 2004 to throw out the suit filed by Serbia-Montenegro against NATO. The court noted that when the suit was filed in 1999, the former Yugoslavia was not a member of NATO.

BiH says that Serbia claimed to be the rightful successor state to the unraveled Yugoslav federation, and that it cannot pick and choose when it wants legitimacy.

During the arguments and rebuttals in the trial, Serbia did not deny that BiH was a victim of atrocities, but said that their country was not responsible for actions committed before the democratic revolution in 2000.

"We never sought to defend the deplorable regime of Slobodan Milosevic, to which all the representatives before you during these proceedings were opposed," Serbia's chief representative, Radoslav Stojanovic, told the judges.

However, BiH maintains the murder, terrorisation and expulsion of Muslims was planned, organised and financed in Belgrade, and that a pattern of behaviour was established that amounted to genocide.

"It is the accumulation of solitary crimes -- the dreadful repetition of evil acts -- that emerges finally, clearly, as the super crime of genocide," said US lawyer Thomas Franck, who is acting as counsel for BiH.

Croatia has also filed a genocide suit against Serbia-Montenegro, which has not yet been heard.