Srebrenica mothers still want Milosevic sentenced
By Nedim Dervisbegovic

March 14, 2006 -(Reuters) The mothers, wives and sisters of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men massacred in Srebrenica by Belgrade-backed forces say Slobodan Milosevic must still be convicted, if only by history.

The United Nations tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday formally closed his four-year trial on 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo following his death three days ago.

"It took them a day to kill 8,000 people. The court had five years and still it didn't sentence Milosevic," said Kada Hotic of the Mothers of Srebrenica association, watching the close of his trial on television at the association's office in Sarajevo.

"It can't end like this. We want a sentence despite his death." The lack of a verdict would mean his policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing paid off in the end, she said.

With Milosevic dead, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic are the only high-level suspects who can still be held responsible for planning the July 1995 massacre at the U.N.-guarded enclave.

Both are on the run, leaving the women of Srebrenica little hope for justice.

"The only thing we have left is to pray they will receive God's punishment," said Munira Subasic, head of the association. "We don't expect justice from The Hague or from Bosnia's war crimes court."

Hotic said the court ought not to bother bringing Karadzic and Mladic to the dock unless it could hold a speedier, more effective trial than Milosevic's marathon process, which was often delayed by his health problems.

CIRCUS

"If their trial is going to be a circus like that of Milosevic and they give them sentences like the other criminals then we just don't need it," she said.

Nineteen people have been charged by the U.N. court over Srebrenica, and six of them already sentenced to jail terms ranging from five to 35 years. Seventeen lower-level perpetrators have been prosecuted by Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian courts.

The association said it would consult its lawyers this week about how to take further action on the Milosevic case.
"If there are again disputes between the peoples of Bosnia, The Hague will bear a huge responsibility because it did not carry out justice and punish perpetrators properly," Subasic said.

If they do not get justice from The Hague, the women still hope another Netherlands-based court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), will find Milosevic's regime guilty of genocide.

The ICJ, or the World Court, launched the first trial for genocide against a state last month, with Bosnia accusing Serbia of planning and supporting a systematic Bosnian Serb murder campaign aimed at wiping out Bosnia's Muslim population.

From: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14687431.htm