CIAO DATE: 07/04

War Criminals in Bosnia's Republika Srpska: Who are the People in Your Neighbourhood?

Abstract

Five years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, which brought an end to almost four years of bloody war in Bosnia, many of those believed to have carried out some of the war's worst atrocities remain at large. The continued presence in the municipalities of Republika Srpska (RS) of individuals suspected of war crimes-some indicated either publicly or secretly by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)-represents a significant obstacle to the return of ethnic minority refugees. It also undermines seriously Bosnia's chances for building central institutions, generating self-sustainable economic growth, and achieving the political transformation necessary to begin the process of integration with the rest of Europe. Moreover, the continued commitment of most war crimes suspects to the goal of a Greater Serbia, and their willingness to use violence to achieve it, could-in the long term-provoke renewed conflict in Bosnia and continued instability in the Balkans.

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