Those are the words of the UN's refugee chief in Yugoslavia in 1995. Over the last four years, the country had disintegrated, torn apart in brutal clashes between different ethnic groups. And in the summer of 1995, the horrors had reached a new height. The Bosnian town of Srebenicia fell to Serbian forces. The UN peacekeepers were overwhelmed. And 5000 Bosnian Muslim civilians were slaughtered in cold blood.
The world was shocked into a response. NATO went to war with the Yugoslavian government and the Serbs. Under the onslaught of Western air attacks and the the threat of ground invasion, the Serbs were forced to sue for peace. The USA forced all sides to accept the Dayton Accords, and an uneasy peace settled over the Balkans.
But the legacy of Yugoslavia was not over. The Western world had been shocked at the savagery on it's doorstep, especially the return of genocide to Europe. The 'never again' of the Holocaust had failed.
And so those responsible were made wanted men. They would stand trial for crimes against humanity, and the rest of the world would see that genocide does not go unpunished.
It has not been a resounding success. It has proved very hard to get the culprits to trial. The trials themselves have been lengthy and complex. The main Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, died during his trial.
But today, the verdict has been passed against Radovan Karadzic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1990s. When he was first indicted, he disappeared. It took until 2008 for Karadzic to be caught, and another eight years to get to a verdict.
But the length of time is not important. Frustrating, yes. But today is the chance for the world to see that those who carry out appalling acts in the name of nation, people, or religion will not go unpunished.
I don't know whether Karadzic will indeed burn in a corner of hell, as the UN official hoped. But he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Justice will always be done. Occasionally, amidst the horror, we do get it right.
But the legacy of Yugoslavia was not over. The Western world had been shocked at the savagery on it's doorstep, especially the return of genocide to Europe. The 'never again' of the Holocaust had failed.
And so those responsible were made wanted men. They would stand trial for crimes against humanity, and the rest of the world would see that genocide does not go unpunished.
It has not been a resounding success. It has proved very hard to get the culprits to trial. The trials themselves have been lengthy and complex. The main Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, died during his trial.
But today, the verdict has been passed against Radovan Karadzic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1990s. When he was first indicted, he disappeared. It took until 2008 for Karadzic to be caught, and another eight years to get to a verdict.
But the length of time is not important. Frustrating, yes. But today is the chance for the world to see that those who carry out appalling acts in the name of nation, people, or religion will not go unpunished.
I don't know whether Karadzic will indeed burn in a corner of hell, as the UN official hoped. But he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Justice will always be done. Occasionally, amidst the horror, we do get it right.
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