War crimes tribunal 'closing one eye'
Arbibi AshoyPublished: Aug 4, 2008 7:54 AM | Updated: Aug 4, 2008 7:55 AM
The recent arrest of Serbian Radovan Karadzic and his looming trial at the Hague for genocide is a pathetic attempt by the international community to right a wrong which occurred.
The policy of the world superpowers to allow genocide to take place then hunt for the perpetrators of the genocide 20 years down the line is simply not good enough. Putting Radovan Karadzic on trial and claim justice is being served is scandalous, deceiving and immoral.
Practically all the genocides that happened in the past 50 years were accommodated and facilitated by the five world superpowers and permanent members of the United Nations - Russia, USA, China, France and Britain.
It is these same five countries which form the largest suppliers of weapons and munitions in the world.
From the genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia and the war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories or the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in Northern Iraq, it is these very same five nations which provided the war criminals with the weapons and the technical support needed to enable them to carry out the crimes they committed.
The issue of genocide against the Bosnians of which Radovan Karadzic is accused of is a classic case of Machiavellian politics.
The Bosnian genocide happened not only because the Serbs carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Bosnians but it was able to happen because of the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations on the Bosnians starting from the Sept 25, 1991.
This embargo was imposed because of the Western desire to contain the violence in the Balkans and to prevent it from spreading to other regions. So Western nations intercepted and blocked arms shipments destined for Bosnia from Iran such as the Dolphin One vessel which was carrying surface-to-surface rockets on route to Bosnia.
This embargo, which lasted, for four years, gave the Serbs military superiority and thus they were able to crush the Bosnian people's weak resistance and thgis enabled the Serbian army to carry out a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing with impunity such as the infamous Srebnica massacre for which Radovan Karadzic will be tried for.
This begs the question - isn't prevention the best cure?
Why the lack of will amongst the international community to prevent war crimes while still in its early stages instead of allowing a full blown genocide to happen? Could it be that war is profitable and the world's superpowers are the main gun and weapon makers in the world?
When it comes to apportioning blame for a crime, who is more guilty, the person who kills a man, or the person who holds down the arms of the man who is being killed to prevent him from fighting back?
Clearly the war crimes tribunal at the Hague is ‘closing one eye’ and doing a disservice to mankind by setting a precedent of only interfering in world affairs after the damage is done.
The policy of the world superpowers to allow genocide to take place then hunt for the perpetrators of the genocide 20 years down the line is simply not good enough. Putting Radovan Karadzic on trial and claim justice is being served is scandalous, deceiving and immoral.
Practically all the genocides that happened in the past 50 years were accommodated and facilitated by the five world superpowers and permanent members of the United Nations - Russia, USA, China, France and Britain.
It is these same five countries which form the largest suppliers of weapons and munitions in the world.
From the genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia and the war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories or the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in Northern Iraq, it is these very same five nations which provided the war criminals with the weapons and the technical support needed to enable them to carry out the crimes they committed.
The issue of genocide against the Bosnians of which Radovan Karadzic is accused of is a classic case of Machiavellian politics.
The Bosnian genocide happened not only because the Serbs carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Bosnians but it was able to happen because of the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations on the Bosnians starting from the Sept 25, 1991.
This embargo was imposed because of the Western desire to contain the violence in the Balkans and to prevent it from spreading to other regions. So Western nations intercepted and blocked arms shipments destined for Bosnia from Iran such as the Dolphin One vessel which was carrying surface-to-surface rockets on route to Bosnia.
This embargo, which lasted, for four years, gave the Serbs military superiority and thus they were able to crush the Bosnian people's weak resistance and thgis enabled the Serbian army to carry out a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing with impunity such as the infamous Srebnica massacre for which Radovan Karadzic will be tried for.
This begs the question - isn't prevention the best cure?
Why the lack of will amongst the international community to prevent war crimes while still in its early stages instead of allowing a full blown genocide to happen? Could it be that war is profitable and the world's superpowers are the main gun and weapon makers in the world?
When it comes to apportioning blame for a crime, who is more guilty, the person who kills a man, or the person who holds down the arms of the man who is being killed to prevent him from fighting back?
Clearly the war crimes tribunal at the Hague is ‘closing one eye’ and doing a disservice to mankind by setting a precedent of only interfering in world affairs after the damage is done.
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