Monday, February 26, 2007

Justice is non-existent for Bosnia!

Today’s acquittal of Serbia means that the concept of justice is highly overrated. While the court in the Hague acknowledged that Serbia provided Bosnian Serbs with arms during the war in Bosnia it simultaneously failed to fully acknowledge the complicity of the Serbian authorities in the Bosnian carnage. If you aid someone who you know is committing an atrocity then you must be found equally guilty as the person committing the actual atrocity. An accomplice, and there is no doubt that Serbia aided and abetted the genocide in Bosnia, must be held to account. Failure to do so has severe implications for all of us. This basically means that a state that knowingly and deliberately provides a group of people with arms who then commit war crimes can escape responsibility for those crimes. The Serbian authorities were fully aware of the atrocities perpetrated by the Bosnian Serb army and still provided Serbs in Bosnia with both ground troops and arms. Today’s verdict sends an unambiguous message to the rest of the world: any state can use a proxy army to achieve its goal without having to face any repercussions. Let the others do the dirty job for you and simply stand back and watch the carnage.


One of the main reasons Serbia was acquitted today is its powerful lobbyists. Numerous examples from the history show that those with the money can escape a conviction. Simply influence the right people and the victory is yours. I believe in justice but I also know that justice cannot be done unless you have the money. Serbia has been giving shelter to Karadzic and Mladic now for 13 years without having to face any consequences whatsoever. Serbia has refused to cooperate with the War Tribunal in the Hague and to extradite the notorious war criminals. This verdict is ridiculous and completely unfounded. This is the greatest setback for the people of Bosnia since the end of the war.

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