Russia slams tribunal for former Yugoslavia
Russia has criticized the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia, Radio Liberty reported.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin highlighted the tribunal's
decision last month to free two Croatian generals, including Ante
Gotovina, the most senior Croatian military officer convicted of
war crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
Churkin also pointed to the tribunal's recent acquittal of Ramush
Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian former guerrilla commander who served
briefly as prime minister.
Addressing the Security Council on December 5, Churkin said those
decisions meant no one has been held accountable for murdering and
expelling Serbian civilians during a 1995 Croatian military
offensive or for murdering and torturing Serbs and their supporters
in Kosovo's war for independence.
Churkin said the war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia
demonstrated "neither fairness nor effectiveness."
The court's prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said serious crimes were
documented in both cases and the victims "have the right to
justice."
He encouraged national authorities in the region "to continue the
fight against impunity."