Genocide Treaty - Ethnic Cleansing - Substantive and Procedural Hurdles in the Application of the Genocide Convention to Alleged Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia
Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUNDOn Tuesday, October 15, 1991, in a controversial vote, the parliament of the Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaimed their republic a sovereign state and adopted documents to secede from Yugoslavia.' In so doing, Bosnia-Herzegovina joined Croatia and Slovenia who declared independence in June of 19912 Fearing political and economic domination by the communist, Serbian controlled government of Yugoslavia, 3 the nearly two million Muslims and eight hundred thousand Croats within Bosnia-Herzegovina voted in a landslide public election in favor of independence in December of 199 .'Timothy Heritage, Bosnia Moves Toward Independence in Fresh Blow to Yugoslavia, Reuters, para. 2 (Oct.15, 1991).2 Slovenia and Croatia, resenting the economic drain of the less wealthy southern republics pushed for democratic governments in their own region and a loose federation for all the republics of Yugoslavia.Serbia, dissimilarly, wanted to retain the communist system with a strong centralized government which could retain the resources of the other republics while protecting the serb minorities within them.Charles L. Nier Ill, The Yugoslavian Civil War: An Analysis of the applicability of the Laws of War Governing Non-International Armed Conflicts in the Modern World, 10 DICK.J. INT'L L. 310.As of January, 1993 as many as 10,000 people have died in the civil war in Croatia resulting from Croatia's declaration of independence.Chronology of Yugoslav War, Press Association Newsfile, para. 3 (Jan.23, 1993).3 The Yugoslavia of 1991 was a nation of 23 million inhabitants of diverse ethnic and regional identity.Yugoslavia was composed of six semi-autonomous republics.The ethnic groups within Yugoslavia were largely associated with their home republic (i.e.Serbs come from Serbia, Croatians from Croatia, and Slovenes from Slovenia).However, there has been a great deal of migration over the centuries.Consequently there are a large number of Serbs within Bosnia and Croatia, and Croatians within Bosnia.No one ethnic group constitutes a majority in what was Yugoslavia, but Serbs (9.3 million) were the largest of all the ethnic groups.Furthermore, no one ethnic group constitutes a majority within the Republic of Bosnia.See infra part II, HIsTORIcAL BACKGROUND OF THE YuGOsLAV PEOPLE.4 The fear of political and economic domination by communistruled Serbia similarly led the republics of Croatia and Slovenia to seek independence from Yugoslavia.Bosnia-Herzegovina Decides to Seek Independence, United Press Int'l, para.7 (Dec.20, 1991).
Author: John W. Webb
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W47546746