“A Miscarriage of Justice”
Sanja Seferovic Drnovsek, a Director of the Bosnian-American Genocide Institute and Education Center, a presentation of the book “Peace and Punishment”, Florence Hartman, St. Louse, a bookstore “Novella”, May 31, 2010, organized by the Congress of North America Bosniaks.
Florence Hartman was a journalist, and had been covering the Balkans since 1987, writing for the French daily “Le Monde”, from Belgrade, before taking her role at the International Tribunal established for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2000. As a witness of the totalitarian regime of Slobodan Milosevic, a president of Serbia, when and where the seeds were planted and grew the roots of genocidal policy enforced against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992-1995, she wrote a book about that time “Milosevic, la diagonal du fou”. This book brought me back in 1988, when I worked in Belgrade, also witnessing the time “before earthquake”, as I had described my feelings before to I left Yugoslavia.
After reading “Peace and Punishments” I felt a sensation of miscarriage of trust in justice. The term “A miscarriage of Justice” Florence used to describe the decision of the Appeals Chamber, in 2006. Rather than remedying the error which 3 judges of the International Tribune established for Former Yugoslavia , from 2003, when they made a secret agreement with Belgrade and requested protective measures for all the documents establishing that the Serbian State had authority over its partners in crime in Bosnia, and protect Serbia from genocide conviction, 5 judges of the International Court of Justice , presided by Italian Fausto Polar , confirmed the previous decision and become willing partners in the manipulation organized by the Belgrade government, wrote Hartman on pg. 121 of her book. They found a new evidence that decision from 2003 was “wrong as a matter of law”, understanding that Belgrade was not attempting to protect its “national security” but instead to obstruct justice and its search for the truth, they confirmed the previous decision. Information directly implicating the Serbian State in the war in Bosnia, and the Srebrenica genocide remained inaccessible to the ICJ and the public.
The establishment of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the international body of the United Nation, had a good intention to bring Slobodan Milosevic, a war criminal, to the justice, but from the beginning with abnormalities. Arbour Louise, a Canadian judge, accused Slobodan Milosevic for the war crime in Kosovo, not including his role in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Carla Ponte was enthusiastic to expand charges against Milosevic to Bosnia and Croatia and she had to deal with difficulties.
This obvious unjust criticized Cherif Bassiouni, well known professor of International law, who was a main person investigated evidence of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His committee was dismantled in 1994 when he was closed to confirm with evidence of direct connection between Slobodan Milosevic and the crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I supposed to be part of one of his team that was planned to go and investigate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and I was surprised when I heard this news.
There were many other obstacles and unjust regarding the Bosnian case. Graham Blewitt, who was brought to help a judge Goldstone, did not want to complicate the Bosnia war and see it as an international conflict but the civil war.
In decision of ICTY from 2003, Richard May, Patrice Robinson and Gon Kwon, accepted Belgrad’s arguments that disclosure of truth ,the archives, would prevent peace from being restore, they would affect the state’s international position and ruined the economy. They agreed to keep secret from the public , and to prevent other courts to use in the case of genocide , in exchange for Serbia’s cooperation in some criminal cases pending before the Tribunal. If that evidence was disclosed, Serbia could be proved guilty in a parallel case pending before International Court of Justice (Bosnia v. Serbia) and the families of the Bosnian victims could seek damages from Serbia.
Both courts of justice saw the transcripts of minutes of the Supreme Defense Council meetings on-site in Belgrade. They were witnesses who participated and could illustrate the chain of command, method of financing and direct participation of special units, which came from Serbia, in the campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The navel cord between politicians and war criminals, Karadzic, Mladic, Pesic etc, has never been disconnected.
Milosevic died without judgment, and Serbia, decision from 2007 ICJ, was free of judgment for its invloment in Srebrenica genocide, that’s mean Slobodan Milosevic, was not guilty of genocide charges. The International courts of Justice took a place of ICTY and both United nation judicial body took the side of Serbian regime, the deadliest regime in Europe since Nazi. It would be the first international process against Prime minister of one state accused of genocide charges. They did not do it because of Dayton agreement which was another unjust, making a deal with war criminals and establishing weak Bosnia.
One of the latest examples of unjust from judicial bodies is the case of Florence Hartman, a journalist and former spokesperson for the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia’s Prosecutor office, faced a criminal trial before ICTY. She was accusing of illegal activities for the reason that she talked about the secret agreements between judges and Belgrade regime.
“How can judicial decisions be secret,” told me Florence Hartman. "This is my defense."
Why? So much unjust on Bosnia’s back?
“Because of this’ Why', I worked as a journalist and reporter with the court,” said Florence Hartman. “I managed to find out how the regime of one country functioning, how judicial mechanisms works, mechanisms for establishing truth and justice."
.
Florence Hartman's book gave much explanation of these phenomena and the functioning of international courts. Judges are not independent of the policy of States from which they come, primarily because of the role of great powers. Judges from England, Italy, Korea, Jamaica, Canada, Australia......? The role of great powers!
After all, despite all the explanations, it remains a big Why?
After my pessimistic taught about justice and unjust in the world, and what can we do about that, I realize, that this book and Florence Hartman would be the light that would give me the guidance which way to go-and this is to search for Justice and never give up, like she did not.
Together with Bosniaks and honest people-activists, we must persist in our mission and the mission of the Bosnian-American institutes for genocide and education center, to seek truth and justice.
"The truth belongs to you and no one can take from you ," told us Hartman the end of the presentation of her book "Peace and Punishment."
If we cannot endure the persistent, careful, systematic investigation and presentation of the truth and find the right, the seeds of future crimes in Bosnia or elsewhere will again emerge. The world will have an uncertain future.
Sanja Seferovic Drnovsek, a Director of the Bosnian-American Genocide Institute and Education Center, a presentation of the book “Peace and Punishment”, Florence Hartman, St. Louse, a bookstore “Novella”, May 31, 2010, organized by the Congress of North America Bosniaks.
Florence Hartman was a journalist, and had been covering the Balkans since 1987, writing for the French daily “Le Monde”, from Belgrade, before taking her role at the International Tribunal established for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2000. As a witness of the totalitarian regime of Slobodan Milosevic, a president of Serbia, when and where the seeds were planted and grew the roots of genocidal policy enforced against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992-1995, she wrote a book about that time “Milosevic, la diagonal du fou”. This book brought me back in 1988, when I worked in Belgrade, also witnessing the time “before earthquake”, as I had described my feelings before to I left Yugoslavia.
After reading “Peace and Punishments” I felt a sensation of miscarriage of trust in justice. The term “A miscarriage of Justice” Florence used to describe the decision of the Appeals Chamber, in 2006. Rather than remedying the error which 3 judges of the International Tribune established for Former Yugoslavia , from 2003, when they made a secret agreement with Belgrade and requested protective measures for all the documents establishing that the Serbian State had authority over its partners in crime in Bosnia, and protect Serbia from genocide conviction, 5 judges of the International Court of Justice , presided by Italian Fausto Polar , confirmed the previous decision and become willing partners in the manipulation organized by the Belgrade government, wrote Hartman on pg. 121 of her book. They found a new evidence that decision from 2003 was “wrong as a matter of law”, understanding that Belgrade was not attempting to protect its “national security” but instead to obstruct justice and its search for the truth, they confirmed the previous decision. Information directly implicating the Serbian State in the war in Bosnia, and the Srebrenica genocide remained inaccessible to the ICJ and the public.
The establishment of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the international body of the United Nation, had a good intention to bring Slobodan Milosevic, a war criminal, to the justice, but from the beginning with abnormalities. Arbour Louise, a Canadian judge, accused Slobodan Milosevic for the war crime in Kosovo, not including his role in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Carla Ponte was enthusiastic to expand charges against Milosevic to Bosnia and Croatia and she had to deal with difficulties.
This obvious unjust criticized Cherif Bassiouni, well known professor of International law, who was a main person investigated evidence of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His committee was dismantled in 1994 when he was closed to confirm with evidence of direct connection between Slobodan Milosevic and the crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I supposed to be part of one of his team that was planned to go and investigate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and I was surprised when I heard this news.
There were many other obstacles and unjust regarding the Bosnian case. Graham Blewitt, who was brought to help a judge Goldstone, did not want to complicate the Bosnia war and see it as an international conflict but the civil war.
In decision of ICTY from 2003, Richard May, Patrice Robinson and Gon Kwon, accepted Belgrad’s arguments that disclosure of truth ,the archives, would prevent peace from being restore, they would affect the state’s international position and ruined the economy. They agreed to keep secret from the public , and to prevent other courts to use in the case of genocide , in exchange for Serbia’s cooperation in some criminal cases pending before the Tribunal. If that evidence was disclosed, Serbia could be proved guilty in a parallel case pending before International Court of Justice (Bosnia v. Serbia) and the families of the Bosnian victims could seek damages from Serbia.
Both courts of justice saw the transcripts of minutes of the Supreme Defense Council meetings on-site in Belgrade. They were witnesses who participated and could illustrate the chain of command, method of financing and direct participation of special units, which came from Serbia, in the campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The navel cord between politicians and war criminals, Karadzic, Mladic, Pesic etc, has never been disconnected.
Milosevic died without judgment, and Serbia, decision from 2007 ICJ, was free of judgment for its invloment in Srebrenica genocide, that’s mean Slobodan Milosevic, was not guilty of genocide charges. The International courts of Justice took a place of ICTY and both United nation judicial body took the side of Serbian regime, the deadliest regime in Europe since Nazi. It would be the first international process against Prime minister of one state accused of genocide charges. They did not do it because of Dayton agreement which was another unjust, making a deal with war criminals and establishing weak Bosnia.
One of the latest examples of unjust from judicial bodies is the case of Florence Hartman, a journalist and former spokesperson for the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia’s Prosecutor office, faced a criminal trial before ICTY. She was accusing of illegal activities for the reason that she talked about the secret agreements between judges and Belgrade regime.
“How can judicial decisions be secret,” told me Florence Hartman. "This is my defense."
Why? So much unjust on Bosnia’s back?
“Because of this’ Why', I worked as a journalist and reporter with the court,” said Florence Hartman. “I managed to find out how the regime of one country functioning, how judicial mechanisms works, mechanisms for establishing truth and justice."
.
Florence Hartman's book gave much explanation of these phenomena and the functioning of international courts. Judges are not independent of the policy of States from which they come, primarily because of the role of great powers. Judges from England, Italy, Korea, Jamaica, Canada, Australia......? The role of great powers!
After all, despite all the explanations, it remains a big Why?
After my pessimistic taught about justice and unjust in the world, and what can we do about that, I realize, that this book and Florence Hartman would be the light that would give me the guidance which way to go-and this is to search for Justice and never give up, like she did not.
Together with Bosniaks and honest people-activists, we must persist in our mission and the mission of the Bosnian-American institutes for genocide and education center, to seek truth and justice.
"The truth belongs to you and no one can take from you ," told us Hartman the end of the presentation of her book "Peace and Punishment."
If we cannot endure the persistent, careful, systematic investigation and presentation of the truth and find the right, the seeds of future crimes in Bosnia or elsewhere will again emerge. The world will have an uncertain future.
