Rights group presses Croatia on war crimes

Author (Person)
Series Title
Series Details 9.12.10
Publication Date 09/12/2010
Content Type

Croatia has failed to speed up war crimes trials or prosecute the organisers of atrocities during its early 1990s war for independence, despite its efforts to join the European Union in the near future, Amnesty International, the human rights group, argued in a report called 'Behind a Wall of Silence' published in December 2010.

Although the war in Croatia ended almost 15 years ago, the Croatian authorities still lack the political will to deal fully with their past. This leads to impunity for members of the Croatian Army and police forces who allegedly committed war crimes against Croatian Serbs. The legal framework in Croatia remains inadequate for prosecuting war crimes as it does not explicitly define crimes against humanity, the principle of command responsibility or war crimes of sexual violence. There is a continuing ethnic bias against Croatian Serbs in prosecution of war crimes.

Related Links
Amnesty International: Croatia: Behind a wall of silence: Prosecution of war crimes in Croatia http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR64/003/2010/en
BBC News, 9.12.10: Amnesty faults Croatia's record on war crimes victims http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11950951

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