Framework for War Crime Justice

Last year, the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saw what Amnesty International cites as two landmark events in the struggle to curb and punish human rights abuses. One was the arrest of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, who is being detained in Britain pending possible extradition to Spain. Pinochet’s 17 years of military rule rested on widespread killing and torture. The other significant event was the establishment under U.N. auspices of a permanent international war crimes tribunal. Last month the tribunal indicted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four other top Serbian officials for crimes against humanity. As Serb forces withdraw from Kosovo, grisly and compelling proof of those crimes is emerging daily.

Kosovar refugees’ stories of mass murder, widespread rapes and the disappearance of thousands of ethnic Albanians had provided an outline of the atrocities committed in Kosovo. Now, as NATO and other forces spread out over the province and find the execution places and graves, some of the horrific details are being filled in. Hundreds of American and other forensic experts are preparing to sift the criminal evidence that Serbian forces tried to obscure as they retreated. The testimony of eyewitnesses who remained in Kosovo is being gathered. In many cases it should be possible to identify killers and rapists. Some arrests have already been made.

There’s no way to know how many of those who are responsible for the terror inflicted on Kosovo, from Milosevic on down, will ever be brought to trial. The important thing right now is the determination of the international community to document what happened to the Kosovars, to name those guilty when possible, to lay the foundation for possible future prosecutions before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. A judicial framework for trying and punishing war crimes has long been needed. Now it is a reality. The rule of law is being moved forward when it is most needed.