Prosecutor v Radislav Krstić: ICTY Authenticates Genocide at Srebrenica and Convicts for Aiding and Abetting

Authors

Mark Drumbl, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Note

Publication Title

Melbourne Journal of International Law

Publication Date

2004

Abstract

The Krstić Appeals Chamber decision makes two major contributions to international criminal law. It also provides a number of additional insights and clarifications. In this case note, I will critically examine the two major contributions. Firstly, Krstić authenticates that genocide was in fact perpetrated against the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica. This serves an important didactic purpose. Srebrenica is the only incidence of genocide the ICTY has found amidst the pervasive violence that roiled the former Yugoslavia. Secondly, Krstić narrows the scope of joint criminal enterprise as a mechanism to attribute individual criminal liability for acts perpetrated by groups acting collectively. At the same time, it ensures that individuals are held responsible for collective violence through the secondary theory of aiding and abetting. Both of these contributions are germane to practitioners who may have occasion to invoke international criminal law in litigation before national, regional, or international courts. They are also of great importance to scholars of mass atrocity. On a less antiseptic note, the Krstić decision will have repercussions among victims, bystanders, and perpetrators in the former Yugoslavia, and accordingly may play some role in the essentially political process of peace and reconciliation in the wake of the endemic violence that has occurred there.

Recommended Citation

Mark Drumbl, Prosecutor v Radislav Krstić: ICTY Authenticates Genocide at Srebrenica and Convicts for Aiding and Abetting, 5 Melb. J. Int'l L. 434 (2004).