President of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) Judge Theodor Meron met on Wednesday here with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic.
During the delegations meeting, Zvizdic stressed that BiH has achieved a high degree of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Zvizdic added that the truth is bitter, but it is the only remedy to the process of reconciliation, and he thanked Meron on his professional and correct work, which is based on insisting on truth.
He highlighted that BiH has handed over all persons who were on the ICTY’s list charged of war crimes.
“The truth must remain truth. Dealing with the truth and not redefining history is precisely what leads us to a more prosperous future,”Zvizdic added.
Talking about BiH’s and activities in the coming period, Zvizdic explained that competent courts will continue in processing the ones responsible for war crimes. Additionally, through the monitoring of the War Crimes Case Strategy with a special focus on the most complex cases of war crimes.
Meron informed Zvizdic about the plans of IRMCT to establish a group of activities aimed at increasing access to information about the Court, efforts to ensure accountability for war crimes at the national level and the establishment of IRMCT Information Center in countries of former Yugoslavia.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) was established by UN Security Council Resolution 1966 (2010) to complete the remaining work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after the completion of their respective mandates. The Mechanism has two branches, one in Arusha, Tanzania, and one in The Hague, Netherlands.
An ethnically rooted war that took place from 1992 to 1995 in BiH was fought between Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, resulting in 100,000 people killed and over 2 million displaced worldwide. After years of bitter fighting, Western countries with backing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) imposed a final ceasefire negotiated at Dayton, Ohio, U.S., in 1995
