Slobodan Milosevic and the War Crime Tribunal

 

 

by Matt Hagerty
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Life in the Balkans before Milosevic

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To fully understand the wrath and terror Slobodan Milosevic caused on Serbia and areas of the Balkans, you have to fully understand how life was before Milosevic and how stable the area had become. Before Milosevic was elected president, a man by the name of Josip Broz (Tito) was president of Yugoslavia.   Tito was a communist leader originally born in Austria- Hungary in 1892. The greatest accomplishment of Tito was uniting Yugoslavia under one rule.  Tito was responsible for suppressing all of the nationalistic movements in Yugoslavia and he made sure that all of the different people and ethnicity's lived together within Yugoslavia. The time in which Tito ruled was the first time in a while that the Balkan's were peaceful or starting to become peaceful. However the peace and tranquility would turn to violence when Slobodan Milosevic came to power.  

 
Slobodan Milosevic Comes to Power

After the death of Tito in 1980, there were many riots in Kosovo due to the overcrowding in the universities, and the under qualified teachers working there. Among the many riots, Serbs and Montenegrin's houses were being burnt down, their shops were looted and many were beaten.   Serbians were also not very happy with the amount of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo an area sacred to the Serbs. There the Serbs defeated the Turks in 1389 at the battle of Kosovo Polje. The Serbs felt that they were unappreciated in their role in stopping the Turks in the 13th century and letting it become free. These events and the treatment of the Serbians living in Kosovo, changed public opinion negatively in Serbia and Montenegro, especially towards ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo.  

The unrest in Kosovo continued while Slobodan Milosevic started to gain more power. Previous to 1987, Milosevic had totally ignored Kosovo, however in 1987, Milosevic went to Kosovo to address the issue of unrest in the area.   At a rally many people wanted Milosevic to punish the ethnic Albanians for the attacks of Serbians and Montenegrin's in Kosovo. Also at that time the Serbian constitution was being changed to remove Kosovo's autonomy, and have it become a province of Serbia.   In order to complete those actions, Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Serbia as President in late 1987.
Map Of Balkans

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Conflicts in the Balkans

Conflicts in Croatia & Bosnia

The first major conflict under Milosevic was in 1991 between Serbia and Croatia. When Croatia claimed independence the Serbian minority in Croatia called on Slobodan Milosevic to help them out. Of course Milosevic did and by December over 1/3 of Croatia was taken over by Serbia.   Throughout the conflict there were a total of around 20,000 people killed and over 400,000 became homeless. Due to Milosevic's actions, economic sanctions were placed on Serbia.

Tensions between Bosnia and Serbia had existed for a very long time; however, it finally boiled over in 1992.  Slobodan Milosevic and Bosnian Serbs wanted an idea called Great Serbia. This meant that Serbia would take over lands and become by far and away the most powerful nation in the Balkans.   So with that plan in mind, Bosnian Serbs and Serbian Nationalists attempted to seize the Bosnian capitol, Sarajevo. Throughout the 3 years fighting in Sarajevo, the citizens were deprived of common comforts such as food, electricity and communications.   By the end of the siege, over 12,000 people were killed in Sarajevo alone.  

Throughout Bosnia, Bosnian Serbs and Nationalists under the guidance of none other then Slobodan Milosevic, set up ethnic cleansing policies.  Bosnians, Croats, Muslims and none Serbian background were either killed or exiled. Throughout the rampages, whole villages were burnt down and many people were forced to leave their homes.   By the end of the conflict there were around 200,000 people who were killed and then over 200,000 people who were injured.

 

Conflict in Kosovo

Kosovo was under Slobodan Milosevic's control while the wars in Croatia and Bosnia took place. However, Kosovar Albanians were opposed to Milosevic and all he stood for, and therefore they set up their own way of life with hospitals, schools etc.   At first they did practice peaceful protests under the guidance of Ibrahim Rugova. However the international community was doing nothing. While the UN and NATO were investigating crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Croatia, Kosovo was left out.   This proved to Kosovar Albanians that there non- violent tactics weren't working and that there would have to be blood shed in order for the world to help.

The situation in Kosovo was becoming really strained and only getting worse, up until the last straw in November of 1997. At that time the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), publicly denounced Milosevic's regime and called on support from the Kosovo Albanian community.   The call to help the fight of the KLA was overwhelmingly accepted and many Kosovo Albanians joined to fight.  But, the Serbian Government wouldn't take the fact that they would have rebel troops in their own province. So when ever their was a conflict in Kosovo between Serbs and the KLA, Milosevic called on his troops to destroy the opposition.

 

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When the Serbian government retaliated, they retaliated in ways that were against humanity and against common law.  For example if a Serbian was harmed by the KLA, a whole village of Kosovar Albanians might be destroyed, and either the citizens would be killed or they would be forcefully moved.   The first one of those attacks happened in the Drenica region of Kosovo in the spring of 1998. There, 51 people were killed by Serbian forces, for a KLA provocation. However, the international community did nothing to stop this, only a warning to Milosevic was given.

All during 1998, Milosevic was strengthening his forces in Kosovo in trying to destroy the KLA. However, that plan backfired because every time a village was burnt down, the KLA would recruit more members. In a certain instance in January of 1999, 41 people were killed in Racak, however Milosevic said that those members were the KLA.   But, evidence proved that they were just ordinary citizens. That was a turning point though in the conflict in Kosovo because now the international community was taking more notice.

In October of 1998, with the threat of NATO missile strikes, 2,000 OSCE workers were brought in to monitor the human rights conditions. The OSCE was not effective though. Violence escalated, and a peace plan was on the table to be signed. The Kosovar Albanians accepted the plan, while Milosevic refused to sign.   When the OSCE left Kosovo in late March, Milosevic began his massive sweep of the area.  Milosevic's troops went through Kosovo committing atrocities on the Kosovar Albanians.

NATO issued Milosevic a final warning, telling Milosevic to pull out or face the music.  Slobodan did not pull his troops out of Kosovo and on March 24th NATO started the missile attack against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. After the attacks, Milosevic's troops went on a rampage to rid Kosovo of the Albanian population.   Many Kosovar Albanians were forced to leave Kosovo, and enter as refugees in Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. Paramilitary groups were responsible for forcing people out of their homes at gun point, burning their homes, and the many executions.   As a result of what Milosevic did, there are over 500,000 refugees and countless amounts of people were killed.

 

 
UN War Crime Tribunal

Kostunica

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Milosevic in the Hague

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After NATO attacked strategic military points in Serbia and Kosovo, Milosevic was forced to give up and allow NATO forces to enter and liberate Kosovo.  Also at that time, Milosevic was being investigated by the UN for crimes against humanity.  In 1999, Slobodan Milosevic was voted out of office and replaced by Vojislav Kostunica.  Finally on April 1st 2001 Milosevic was arrested after a 2 day battle in his Belgrade Apartment.  However, Milosevic wasn't arrested for crimes against humanity but Tax evasion.  The UN wanted Milosevic extradited to The Hague to face war crime charges.   But, Vojislav Kostunica vowed not to send Milosevic to The Hague to face his tribunal because he felt that Serbs received unfair treatment there.  When Kostunica said that, America and other major countries threatened to withhold over 1 billion dollars in economic aid to Serbia.  The tribunal is very important because it is the first trial where a head of state is charged while in office.  Also when Milosevic is found guilty it will show that leaders will have to be held responsible for his actions.

Serbia finally did make its way to sending Milosevic to The Hague.  The Serbian parliament offered up legislation which would send Milosevic and any other suspects to The Hague, if a local court found sufficient evidence of war crimes.  At first, prosecutors for the UN had indicted Milosevic on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for his involvement in Kosovo, but charges for his involvement in Bosnia and Croatia soon followed.  Milosevic was finally brought to The Hague in June of 2001. 

When Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial by prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, he faced three separate indictments in the trial, and 66 charges of crimes against humanity.  The three indictments stem from the genocide and war crimes in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995, the conflict in Croatia in 1991-1992, and the war in Kosovo in 1999.  The prosecution first began with the case in Kosovo, where Milosevic is charged with the murders of 900 Kosovar Albanians and the eviction of over 800,000 Kosovar Albanians.  Del Ponte believed that what he did in Kosovo was all in the idea to create Greater Serbia. 

Milosevic however has said that he doesn't respect the UN war crime tribunal and that the tribunal has no legality.  Milosevic questioned the legality of the court because he said that it was against Yugoslav and Serbian laws, however, his request was denied. The leading evidence against Milosevic is that of a truck filled with corpses that was dumped in the Danube River in order to destroy of any evidence that would link Milosevic to war crimes. However, that truck along with bodies still inside was taken from the river by police to help in the investigation. Also after Serbian forces left Kosovo, over 4,000 bodies were exhumed for the investigation.

Milosevic's major defense point focused on the US and some Europeans countries and how they forced his downfall through the NATO attacks. Also Milosevic said that NATO was an "instrument of US foreign policy", and that he was only protecting Serbia and Yugoslavia from "western aggression". However, when evidence was shown about the brutality in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia, he showed pictures of what the NATO bombings did to refugees.

The trial is still going on today, and more and more evidence is being brought to prove to the council that Milosevic needs to be locked up forever. All 66 counts of crimes against humanity facing Milosevic carries life sentences. Milosevic is very adamant about his innocence, however the situation for him isn't looking very good. Slobodan Milosevic was responsible for the genocide of many Kosovar Albanians, and now he will have to come to terms with all his victims.

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Bibliography

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A.  Coolidge, Olivia. Makers of the Red Revolution. Boston: Houghton and Mifflin, 1963.

This was a great book, because it gave me information on Tito as the president of Yugoslavia.  I wanted to get information on how the Balkan?s were run before Milosevic, and it came to be that Tito was in charge.

 

B.  Milligan, Susan. Battle Lines Drawn in Kosovo as Ethnic Albanians, Serbs Hold Fast. The Boston Globe. 11 August. 1998. A 11

This was the first of my primary source documents. The article gave description on how awful life was for the Albanians under the Serb rule.

 

C.  Stojanovic, Dusan. Milosevic tries on Tito?s shoes, and is Pelted Serb Leader Faces widespread Protest. The Boston Globe. 24 July. 1997: A 2

The second of primary sources revolves around on how Milosevic tried to act and govern like the late Josip Broz. This gave me an idea on how Slobodan Milosevic acted and therefore how he ruled his country.

 

D. Associated Press. Socialist Claim Victory in a Serbian Election. The Boston Globe. 22 September. 1997: A 16.    

The third of my primary source documents shows the beginning aspect to the election of Slobodan Milosevic. Gave idea on how he came into power.

 

E. Associated Press. UN Demands Serbian Cease- Fire and Warns of Military Action. The Boston Globe. 24 September. 1997: A 16.

My final Primary source document is about the atrocities that were committed in Kosovo, by Milosevic?s troops. Also the article talked about what UN and NATO were demanding out of Serbia.

 

F.  Slobodan Milosevic, President of Yugoslavia. Current Leaders of Nations. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Research Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2003. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC.

This gave a great bibliography of Slobodan Milosevic. Gave his political background and his different political views, which is very important to understand the man.

 

G.  Slobodan Milosevic. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd Ed. 17 vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Research Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2003. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC.

This also gave some background information on Milosevic. However this differed a bit, because it had more events in it, which is very important because, I can get a timeline of his life.

 

H.  Slobodan Milosevic. News Makers 1993, Issue 4. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Research Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2003. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC.

This was last of the Background information on Milosevic.  I included this because it was by far the most detailed out of the three. It was a very nice compliment to the other two.

 

I.  Simons, Marlise. Mystery Witness Faces Milosevic. The New York Times. 24 April. 2003: A 6.

I used this source because it gave me how the War Crime Trials are going.  A really important and vital part to this project is the trial, therefore the more in depth information I get, the better.

 

J. Author Unknown. The Lesson of Slobodan Milosevic?s trial and tribulation; The UN War- Crimes Tribunal. The Economist. 15 February. 2003

This is about the War- Crime Tribunal in the Hague. This gave a greater idea on how the trial has gone so far. Also it talks about all the delays that have taken due to many circumstances.

 

K. Bass, Gary J. Milosevic in The Hague. Foreign Affairs. May- June. 2003: pg. 82

This article from a magazine shows what?s going on the in Hague at this moment. It has a great amount of detail and should be very nice for this project.

 

L. Author Unknown. The Milosevic Indictment. 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/yugo/article/0,2763,514441,00.html

This work, gives what really happened in Kosovo. Also it outlines all the charges the UN is seeking against Mr. Milosevic, and how they intend to prove it.

 

M. Author Unknown. Slobodan Milosevic. 1998. http://www.cnn.com/resources/newsmakers/world/Europe/milosevic.html

In this CNN document, you get to know Slobodan?s family. This is just more information to make my project even stronger.    

 

N. Author Unknown. The charges against Milosevic. 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/Europe/1402790.stm

This article outlines all the different conflicts, Slobodan Milosevic had. In Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, all where Milosevic had conflicts, there was info that leads to the UN tribunal. It all comes together to form an excellent article.

 

O. Jansen, Richard G. Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo an Abbreviated History. April 25, 1999. http://lamar.colostate.edu/~grjan/kosovohistory.html (8 January 2004)

I chose this piece because it showed many important facts on how Slobodan Milosevic came into power.

 

P. Author Unknown. Kosovo: Uneasy Peace. No date posted. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in-depth/Europe/2000/uneasy_peace/war_crimes.stm (8 Jan 2004)

This was just an overall fantastic site, giving lots of great information.

 

Q.Author Unknown. Trying Milosevic.2004.http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/Europe/yugoslavia/tryingmilosevic.html

This was a great source of information because it gave in depth detail of whets going to happen at the war tribunal, and how he got there.

 

Images

A. Author Unknown. Europe: Balkans. No Date posted. http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/~aminet/pix/map/Balkans.jpg (8 Jan. 2004)

 

B. Author Unknown. Milosevic.gif. No Data posted. http://www.123.cl/canales/noticias/img/milosevic.gif (8 Jan. 2004)

 

C. Author Unknown. Josip Broz- Tito: January 1 1997. http://www.titoville.com/images/tito-small.jpg (8 Jan. 2004)

 

D. Author Unknown. Country Profile: Serbia and Montenegro. http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1035000/images/_1039269_kostunica150.jpg (10 Jan 2004)

 

E. Author Unknown. Milosevic at the Hague: Mockery of Justice, Democracy. http://www.truthinmedia.org/Images2001/sm-hague.gif (11 Jan 2004)

 

F. Author Unknown. Environment and War: What's Kosovo Got To Do With It?. ( 13 Jan 2004)

 

G. Author Unknown. Humanitarian Law Project. http://hlp.home.igc.org/images/kosovo.jpg ( 13 Jan 2004)

 

H. Author Unknown. Kosovo- Focus on Human Rights. http://hrw.org/campaigns/kosovo98/photo/pics699c/ckos699f.htm