Bosnia Herzegovina, including the massacre in Srebrenica, where thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed in 1995.
The ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague came as a major setback for Bosnia-Herzegovina which wanted billions of dollars in reperations from its Balkan neighbor. Yet, the court made clear that Serbia could have done more to prevent genocide during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia Herzegovina. "Serbia violated its obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide in Srebrenica" by not using its influence in the region, the court said.
It also "violated its obligations under the Convention by having failed fully to co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)" the court added, a reference to Belgrade’s failure to arrest key war crimes suspects, including Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who has been linked to the Srebrenica massacre.
Reading from the lengthy judgment statement the president of the International Court of Justice, Judge Rosalyn Higgins, said however there was no evidence that Serbia was directly behind Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two.
Up to eight thousand Muslim men and boys were killed in Srebrenica in 1995 when Serb forces overran the Bosnian town after it was abandoned by outgunned United Nations Dutch peacekeepers. But Judge Higgins made clear that "the acts of genocide at Srebrenica cannot be attributed to Serbia’s state organs."
BOSNIAN SERBS
She said the court could also not establish that Serbia had been complicit in the genocide at Srebrenica by supplying aid to Bosnian Serbs at a time when it knew those forces had the intent to commit genocide.
Belgrade had argued that it could not be blamed for actions by individual ethnic groups during "a civil war."
Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian aid group led by American Evangelist Billy Graham’s son, Franklin, has been among organizations reaching out to survivors of the massacre, often working in difficult circumstances, BosNewsLife monitored.
It has expressed concerns about the "lack of hope" and hatred in the region. The group partnered with local churches to provide food packages to families, including Muslims, unable to afford to buy anything after the 1992-1995 armed conflict ended.
TENSIONS REMAIN
Monday’s ruling was not expected to ease tensions in the region, analysts said. Political analyst Jakob Finci told EuroNews Television that he believes the case itself is going to cause more divisions and problems within Bosnia Herzegovina.
"I’m afraid it will not have a really positive consequence, not only because of dissatisfaction of one side but also because of the internal tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina," he said.
