Bosnia to appeal UN court’s ruling clearing Serbia of genocide

Bosnia to appeal UN court’s ruling clearing Serbia of genocide

by Joseph Anthony
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Survivors of Srebrenica’s 1995 massacre pray for their relatives, at a memorial cemetery in Potocari in July 2016

Bosnia is to ask the United Nations’ top court to review its 2007 ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide during the 1990s civil war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, a member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, said the request will be submitted before 26 February, when the ten-year deadline for appealing expires.

The appeal will be initiated despite a lack of consent from his Croat and Serb counterparts in the presidency.

Many officials in Bosnia had argued against the move, saying it could spark a new political crisis in the country.

Some Bosnian Serbs have said they will consider a boycott of central institutions over the move to show their opposition.

However, Mr Izetbegovic argued there was no need for the presidency to decide since it had been requested by a lawyer the presidency appointed in 2002.

The UN court ruled in 2007 that the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica was genocide, but cleared Serbia of responsibility for the killings.

The International Court of Justice said there was not enough evidence to suggest that the Serbian government was directly responsible.

Srebrenica was Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War II.

The ICJ did find, however, that Serbia, which gave political and military backing to Bosnian Serbs, had breached international law by failing to prevent the slaughter.

Mr Izetbegovic has said Bosnia has “new arguments,” notably those presented during the trial of Ratko Mladic.

The Bosnian Serb wartime army chief is awaiting judgment at a UN tribunal.

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