Subject: WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
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X-Comment: The Transnational Radical Party List
Nothing to say about the examples of war crimes Mirjana Petrovic has cited
in her comment on the Tribunal established to judge the crimes committed in
former Yugoslavia from 1991 on. Nevertheless, it's necessary to point out
some elements. First: Ms. Petrovic has cited examples relating the Gulf War
and the US military action in Panama. It's possible also to cite many and
many other cases of crimes committed during wars of aggression or civil
wars during the period that goes from the establishment of the Organization
of the United Nations till the fall of the Berlin Wall: Cambodia, Vietnam,
Chile, Nicaragua and so on. Is this a good reason not to established an Ad
Hoc Court for former Yugoslavia, after 40 years of a persistent "black
hole" for the international law? In other words, is the absence of a trial
and a judgment on war crimes committed in the late 40 years a good reason
not to judge and punish criminals today? I believe not. Second: it's not a
question of quantity. 4,000 death in six months are important as well as
the other deaths for violations of human rights.
But the question of Mirjana Petrovic is another one: criminals in former
Yugoslavia are more criminal than the other, or are they the ones it's
possible to prosecute because they have no protection from former
superpowers? The answer: it's true that the civil war in former Yugoslavia
(such as in Europe) has had more resonance than other conflicts in Africa
or in the underdeveloped countries. This is our tribute to the media world
and the reality of news amplified by Cnn and other networks. It's not an
obstacle for starting with Yugoslavia to create a Tribunal judging war
crimes committed in Caucasus, Burundi, Somalia, and so on. Yugoslavia could
be the first step to found another consciounsness of international law and
human rights. And to establish, finally, an International Permanent
Criminal Court.
