By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
Decisions,
even on apeal,
have
consequences.
The recent reversal
of the convictions
of former
Croatian
general Ante
Gotovina and
security chief
Mladen Markac
for their
roles in
Operation
Storm in 1995
now impacts on
the pending
resolution on
the
International
Criminal
Tribunal for
the Former
Yugoslavia,
sources
exclusively
tell Inner
City Press.
The resolution
had been
scheduled for
adoption on
December 12,
but did not
happen. Inner
City Press
looked into it
and has been
informed that
Russia has
proposed a
number of
amendments,
including on
the terms of
judges and how
to oversee the
ICTY's
remaining
work.
Some members
view this as
the
politicization
of
international
justice -- if
so, not unlike
the rejected
request to
Palestine to
agree not to
take cases to
the
International
Criminal Court
in exchange
for votes for
State observer
status at the
UN.
It's
worth
revisiting
what Gotovina
told Croatian
leader Franjo
Tudman: "A
large number
of civilians
are already
evacuating
Knin and
heading
towards Banja
Luka and
Belgrade. That
means that if
we continue
this pressure,
probably for
some time to
come, there
won’t be so
many civilians
just those who
have to stay,
who have no
possibility of
leaving." See
here,
page 5.
Serbs
committed war
crimes, for
sure, for
example in
Vukovar as
simply one
example. But
what is this Gotovina
to Tudman
quote, if
not a Joint
Criminal
Enterprise?
General
Assembly
President Vuk
Jeremic has
set up and
tweeted about
a debate on
the topic in
April, it's
said with the
intent to
bring in some
who fled in
1995. In
a December 5
speech, the
Serbian
representative
asked again
and again,
"Who killed
these people?"
And now, some over-dramatically say, who will kill the ICTY or the mandates of its judges? We will cover this and the April UNGA session, and the run-up. Watch this site.
