Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic arrested

[News_Editor]

Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic arrested

2011-05-26 19:33:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

BELGRADE (BNO NEWS) -- Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic was arrested in Serbia on Thursday, President Boris Tadic said during a news conference.

Serbian media reports said Mladic was arrested during a secret operation in the village of Lazarevo, but Tadic refused to give more details except to say that the former wartime general was arrested on Serbian soil. He was reportedly using the name Milorad Komadic when he was arrested.

"On behalf of the Republic of Serbia I can announce the arrest of Ratko Mladic," Tadic said. "An extradition process is underway. This is the result of full cooperation of Serbia with The Hague tribunal. Today we close one chapter of our recent history."

The news was welcomed by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, who congratulated Serbian authorities. "The arrest is good news for Serbia, for the stability of the region and gives new impetus to Serbia's EU accession process. His arrest is convincing proof of Serbia's efforts and cooperation with the [international Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]."

But Buzek also recalled that the last remaining war crimes fugitive, Goran Hadzic, is still at large. "All efforts should be made to arrest Hadzic and bring him to justice," Buzek said. Tadic, during his news conference, also pledged to arrest Hadzic.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also 'strongly welcomed' the arrest. "As Bosnian Serb military commander, General Mladic played a key role in some of the darkest episodes of Balkan and European history, including the siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of thousands of Bosnian men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995," Rasmussen said. "Almost sixteen years since his indictment for genocide and other war crimes, his arrest finally offers a chance for justice to be done."

Rasmussen added: "NATO has been a guarantor of security in the Balkans for the best part of two decades and today we have seen an important step towards a Europe that is whole, free and at peace. We remain committed to assisting the whole region on the way to Euro-Atlantic integration."

In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mladic's arrest is "a historic moment for the region that was torn apart by the appalling wars of the 1990s." He said it is right that he will now be brought to face international justice.

"Today our thoughts are with the relatives of those killed during the siege of Sarajevo and genocide in Srebrenica," Hague added. "We congratulate the Serbian authorities on this arrest, which is evidence of the Serbian Government’s commitment to co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia."

Hague said he hopes for the rapid transfer of Mladic to The Hague in the Netherlands. "Our sympathies are with all those who lost loved ones during those conflicts. Today should mark the beginning of a new chapter for the countries of Western Balkans," he added.

Mladic was one of the most wanted war crimes fugitives in the world and the initial indictment against him and Radovan Karadžić was confirmed in July 1995. They were charged with genocide and other crimes committed against civilians throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A second indictment was confirmed in November 1995 and dealt with events that took place in Srebrenica in July 1995.

The indictment states that Mladic was a member of a group, the objective of which was the elimination or permanent removal of Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat, or other non-Serb inhabitants from large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Numerous individuals participated in this and each participant, by acts or omissions, significantly contributed to the overall objective of the group.

The indictment also states that in 1990, following multi-party elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the policy of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) included an emphasis on unifying Serbs into a common state, and that by early 1991 the party had begun to organize certain areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serb regional areas. On June 25, 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Working in conjunction with certain elements of the Yugoslav People's Army, the SDS armed the Bosnian Serb population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A separate Bosnian Serb Assembly, dominated by the SDS, was founded on October 24, 1991 as the highest representative and legislative organ of the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On November, 21, 1991, the Bosnian Serb assembly adopted a decision to endorse the Serb autonomous districts proclaimed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on January 9, 1992, the Assembly announced the creation of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, later called Republika Srpska.

The indictment further alleges that shortly after Bosnia and Herzegovina was internationally recognized as an independent state on April 6, 1992, hostilities broke out in Sarajevo, marking the beginning of a conflict within the city, which would last until 1995. From May 1992, Bosnian Serb forces under the command and control of Mladic used shelling and sniping to target civilian areas of the city and its civilian population , killing and wounding civilians and inflicting terror upon the population.

On May 12, 1992, Radovan Karadžić announced the six "strategic objectives" of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These were to establish State borders separating the Serbian people from the other two ethnic communities, set up a corridor between Semberija and Krajina, establish a corridor in the Drina River valley, ensure access to the sea for Republika Srpska, and divide the city of Sarajevo into Serbian and Muslim parts and establish effective state authorities in both parts.

On May 12, 1992, the Bosnian Serb Assembly voted to create the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska (VRS), effectively transforming the Yugoslav People's Army units in Bosnia and Herzegovina into units of the VRS. At the same time, the Bosnian Serb Assembly appointed Mladic as Commander of the VRS Main Staff.

It is further alleged that from May 1992, Bosnian Serb forces under the command and control of Mladic took control of several areas in the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily in the north-western region known as the Bosnian Krajina and in the eastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In these municipalities, Bosnian Serb forces participated in a campaign of persecutions to drive the non-Serb populations from these territories. Thousands of non-Serbs were deported or forcibly transferred from these municipalities. Many non-Serbs were killed, and many others were held in detention facilities, where they were physically and psychologically abused and subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions. In addition, non-Serb homes, businesses, and religious sites and property were looted, destroyed and appropriated.

According to the indictment, from January to March 1993, Bosnian Serb forces under the command and control of Mladic attacked the Cerska area in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thousands of Muslims fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina government-controlled territory, including Srebrenica and Zepa. Thereafter, the Bosnian Serb forces began to focus particular attention on capturing the strategically located Srebrenica enclave and expelling the Bosnian Muslim population that had fled there in the wake of the 1992 and 1993 'ethnic cleansing' campaigns in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is further alleged that, between July 12 and about July 20, 1995, thousands of Bosnian Muslim men were captured by, or surrendered to, Bosnian Serb forces under the command and control of Mladic. Over 7,000 Bosnian Muslim prisoners captured in the area around Srebrenica were summarily executed from July 13 to July 19, 1995. From about August 1, 1995 through about November 1, 1995, VRS units under the command and control of Mladic participated in an organized and comprehensive effort to conceal the killings and executions of the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica by reburying, in isolated locations, bodies exhumed from mass graves.

The indictment states that as Commander of the Main Staff , Mladic was the most senior member of the VRS, subordinate only to the president of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić. He controlled the work of the Main Staff; made decisions for the Main Staff and subordinate units; assigned tasks to subordinates; issued orders, instructions and directives; and was responsible for the overall state and conduct of the VRS. He was personally responsible for ensuring that Bosnian Serb forces under his command and control respected and applied the rules of international law governing the conduct of warfare. It is further alleged that Mladic knew that all the crimes outlined in the indictment were about to be committed or had been committed by his subordinates, and that he failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such acts or punish the perpetrators.

Ratko Mladic is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility and superior criminal responsibility with genocide, complicity in genocide, persecutions, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians and taking hostages.

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