A leading human rights group Amnesty International have welcomed the United Nations Court’s genocide conviction against former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Amnesty’s Europe Director Nils Muiznieks said that today’s decision is a historic moment which concludes a decades-long search for justice for the tens of thousands of victims of the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Ratko Mladic has been found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the most serious crimes under international law committed on European soil since the Second World War, and this verdict sends a powerful message around the world that impunity cannot, and will not, be tolerated. Whilst this sentence will bring some closure to the surviving victims and their relatives, the physical and psychological scars will remain. It is important to remember that thousands of cases of enforced disappearances remain unresolved, and many thousands of victims and their families continue to be denied access to justice, truth and reparation,” he added.
“The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has helped bring a measure of justice to thousands of victims of the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia and demonstrated what is possible when the international community comes together. It is now vital that the national courts take the baton and step up their efforts to bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials,” Amnesty’s Europe Director Nils Muiznieks further said.
