Sam,
How has the death of Slobodan Milošević been sitting where you are? The whole thing seems complex, anticlimactic, and deeply insufficient. Obviously, this is a good bit closer to home for you than for any of us U.S. types. I'm awfully curious as to what your thoughts have been and how this is playing out in The Hague. Wishing you all the best.
Perplexed,
Isaac
posted by IsaacNoah at 1:14 AM
1 Comments:
Hmm, yes, it's a many-sided issue. The first thing to realize is that Slobodan Milosevic (sorry, I can't find those accents) is only one of 161 people indicted by the ICTY (Int'l Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia). 8 other trials are still going on, and the tribunal will keep on going to the end of its timetable. That said, Milosevic was the real big-ticket accused, and his death will dramatically limit media coverage of the tribunal, which is a serious blow -the idea behind the tribunal is to send a strong moral and ethical message to the world, and the less media time they get the harder that is to do. I think many people will probably view the tribunal as a failure now that Milosevic "got away." A shame.
As far as I can see, though, the tribunal was doing its best. One of the biggest problems the UN faces in conducting these trials is that many of the accused have little or no respect for the tribunal and attempt to use their rights as accused to wreak administrative havoc, discredit the tribunal, and delay their own trials. All or most of the trials are broadcast on daily television in the former Yugoslavia, so the courtroom can be and often is used as a great propaganda pulpit. The accused will often complain about being mistreated by UN authorities and present bizarre conspiracy theories on the courtroom floor - all of this is then taken at face value and reprinted all over the Balkans by their old political allies who still control many of the media outlets in the area. There is reason to believe that Milosevic may even have manipulated his illness somehow (e.g. not taking his medication) to bring accusations of negligence against the tribunal and/or delay his trial - it is not impossible that his death was at least partly his own fault. In any case, this was not a surprise. He's been sick for a long time.
Yes, I suppose it is complex, anticlimactic, and insufficient. But in some ways, it's emblematic of the huge problems faced by such a tribunal. It's a lot to ask to give fair trial to a group of aging politicians, who, backed by their own external allies and media cronies, are fighting you every step of the way. Even if you do manage to collect all the evidence, arrange and pay for your legal teams, finish the trial on time, and get a decision issued before the accused dies, you face the challenge of selling your important ethical message to an indifferent Western media that tends to oversimplify or ignore your work, all the while trying to fight the rabid, politicized rants of the ex-Yugoslavian media, which condemns your every move.
That came out sounding kind of depressing - I don't mean to sound so pessimistic about the tribunal. It is a tough job with a lot of setbacks, but on the other hand, they have finished trying almost 40 accused already and are moving through the list. And although Milosevic avoided the final verdict in the end, the people whose lives he victimized must take some comfort in the effort the UN took in the issue and the heavy slate of evidence and argument piled up against him. However history remembers it, the tribunal has done some good things, which is an admirable achievement considering what it faces.
Hope that's
3:17 PM, March 15, 2006
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