International Crimes—NATO, Ashdown Sanctions for Bosnia, Serbia

Over the weekend, Paddy Ashdown, outgoing High Representative and European Union Special Representative in Bosnia announced that the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) funds that had been frozen since early last year will not be returned to the SDS.^[1] The restoration of the funds had been conditioned upon the arrest of war crimes suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic no later than the end of 2005.^[2] Recent, unconfirmed reports have placed Karadzic still in hiding in the Serb‑controlled area of Bosnia and Mladic in nearby Serbia.^[3]

Karadzic and Mladic were originally indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1995 for alleged acts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity under the ICTY Statute.

Ashdown spokeswoman Ljiljana Radetic told reporters that because Karadzic and Mladic remain at large, the “money will, over the coming months, be re-allocated to the budget of the Bosnia‑Herzegovina institutions."^[4] Roughly €100,000 ($121,000) of the money is expected to be transferred to the Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), the state court’s war crimes chamber, and the state election commission.^[5] German diplomat Christian Schwarz‑Schilling will replace Mr. Ashdown at the end of this month.^[6]

In a related announcement, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced a deadline for the capture and extradition of the two former Bosnian Serb leaders by the end of 2006.^[7] de Hoop Scheffer implied that the capture of Karadzic and Mladic would satisfy the final “conditions” for entering into a Partnership for Peace (PfP) Accord. Signing a PfP Accord strengthens the relations of NATO with nonmember countries and is often a de facto condition for full membership in the NATO defense alliance.^[8]

Serbian President Boris Tadic is also quoted as calling for the two to turn themselves in, in the interests of the greater national good.^[9] In previous posts we have discussed the increasing pressure placed on Bosnia and Serbia by the United Nations, the European Union, and the international community to bring the remaining ICTY indictees at large to stand trial in The Hague.

Also this week, most of the world’s international criminal courts will reconvene after the judicial winter break. The Iraqi Special Tribunal is scheduled to recommence on January 21.

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[1] Ashdown Punishes Bosnian Serb Party Over Karadzic, Reuters [hereinafter Reuters], Jan. 5, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Mark John, NATO Demands Results on Karadzic, Mladic in 2006, Reuters [hereinafter Mark John], Jan. 9, 2006.
[4] Id.
[5] Reuters supra note 1.
[6] Bosnia: Schwarz‑Shilling to Replace Paddy Ashdown, AKI News Agency, Dec. 14, 2005.
[7] Mark John supra note 3.
[8] Mark John supra note 3. The article notes that since 1994, 10 of the 30 countries that have signed such accords have become full NATO members.
[9] Serbian President Tadic Summons Top War Criminals Karadzic and Mladic to Surrender, FOCUS News Agency, Jan. 6, 2006.