Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal: Current Issues for Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
May 23, 2002 |
| Report Number |
RL30864 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Julie Kim, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, established by U.N. Security
Council resolutions in 1993, was the first international war crimes court to be founded since the
post-World War II period. It is charged with prosecuting persons responsible for war crimes
committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991. To date, the Yugoslavia Tribunal has publicly
indicted over 100 persons for crimes relating to the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Over
40 persons are currently in proceedings at The Hague. Dozens more are under public or secret
indictment, and the Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor continues to investigate charges against
additional
suspects. The Yugoslavia Tribunal is separate from and unaffiliated with the International Criminal
Court established by the Rome Treaty of 1998, and launched by over 60 countries in April 2002.
On June 28, 2001, former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was transferred to The Hague.
The trial for Milosevic, the only head of state to stand before an international court for war crimes,
commenced in February 2002 and is expected to last a couple of years. Some of
Yugoslavia's new
democratic leaders had resisted his extradition but yielded to international pressure on the eve of an
international conference on financial assistance to Yugoslavia. Pressure was again applied to
Belgrade in April 2002, when the United States suspended bilateral financial assistance to Serbia
because of its limited cooperation with the Tribunal beyond Milosevic's transfer. In
response,
Belgrade passed new legislation to allow the transfer of war crimes suspects to The Hague and has
called on 23 named indicted suspects to surrender voluntarily or be subject to arrest.
The lingering presence of persons indicted and suspected of war crimes has been detrimental
to the peace process in Bosnia, by most assessments. The two top remaining indicted suspects,
former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remain at large. NATO
peacekeeping forces in Bosnia have seized over twenty alleged war criminals since 1997; however,
NATO efforts to seize Karadzic in eastern Bosnia in early 2002 were unsuccessful.
After Milosevic's fall from power in late 2000, the Clinton Administration removed
economic
sanctions against Serbia and began to provide economic assistance authorized by Congress to Serbia.
However, Congress mandated a deadline of March 31, 2001, for Belgrade to comply with
commitments to cooperate with the Tribunal, or face a funding cut-off. In April, the Bush
Administration certified that Belgrade was meeting these commitments, but continued to pressure
Belgrade to demonstrate further progress, especially the transfer of Milosevic (which took place in
June). Facing a similar deadline the following year, the Administration held off certification of
Serbian compliance with the Tribunal until May 21, when it cited recent measures of progress by
Belgrade and released remaining unobligated U.S. assistance to Serbia for FY2002. While it has
consistently supported the Yugoslavia Tribunal over the years, the United States is opposed to the
establishment of the International Criminal Court and formally renounced the ICC treaty in May
2002.
