On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a two-day international conference entitled “30 years since the establishment of the ICTY, legacy and challenges” began in Sarajevo yesterday, organized by the Association “Movement of the Mother of the Enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa” and Association of Genocide Victims and Witnesses.
The conference is attended by former and current judges, prosecutors, victim-witnesses, journalist witnesses, as well as students from the former Yugoslavia.
The goal of the conference is to point out the ICTY’s contribution to the international legal order, the contribution of witnesses in the processes, but also the question of how to proceed with the prosecution of war crimes.
Murat Tahirovic, president of the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, said that the conference is organized on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the ICTY.
Brammertz in Sarajevo: Thousands more war crimes suspects must be prosecuted
As he said, this year also marks the end of the important work that the ICTY started thirty years ago. The recent final judgment in the “Stanisic and Simatovic” case marked the end of the trial at the Hague Tribunal, he reminded.
“However, this is not the end of the process of seeking accountability in the former Yugoslavia. It is only the end of one chapter in the life of the ICTY and the Mechanism. A new chapter is beginning. There are still thousands of war crimes suspects throughout the countries of the former Yugoslavia who must be prosecuted. Fate of almost 10,000 missing still await resolution. More justice needs to urgently be achieved at the national level,” said Brammerz.
