Archive Article: War Crimes In Former Yugoslavia 21 July 02.
December 29, 2008

In the recent heated debate over whether Australia should ratify the treaty for the International Criminal Court, there were fears that Australians could end up in The Hague. Well, there are already some Australians at The Hague.

The Deputy Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia spoke at a recent public meeting organized by the Australian Red Cross (NSW). The Deputy Prosecutor is a very distinguished Australian: Graham Blewitt. Before going to The Hague, Mr Blewitt conducted an inquiry into alleged war criminals now living in Australia. Coincidentally, there are a number of other Australians who are also providing important services at The Hague. This is a “good news” story that the Australian media have tended to neglect.

The creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1993 represented a milestone in the enforcement of international humanitarian law. Not since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials following World War II, had there been an international court to investigate, prosecute and punish those people who committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has contributed a great deal to the international community’s understanding of international humanitarian law. Some of the credit for this progress belongs to Mr Blewitt and the other Australians at The Hague.

Coincidentally, although the United States has refused to be involved in the work of the new International Criminal Court, it has been a major supporter of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

The new International Criminal Court, which will also be based at The Hague, will be a permanent body. It will not be necessary in future to create ad hoc war crimes tribunals as was done in the 1990s for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Because Australia has ratified the new treaty, it will be in a good position to influence the development of this permanent International Criminal Court.

The creation of the International Criminal Court is also good news for the Australian Defence Force. The Defence Force supported the creation of the new Court because of the additional protection it will give to Australian personnel. Australian personnel are serving with distinction in a number of trouble spots around the world. They could be targeted for war crimes.

But anyone since July 1 contemplating committing war crimes now has to factor in the risk that they could up in The Hague. A person who commits war crimes against Australian Defence Force personnel – or anybody else – may therefore end up at the International Criminal Court. This fear may deter some potential war criminals.

After all, I assume that all the people who have been prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia never imagined that they would be held accountable for their actions. The last international war crimes trials were held half a century ago and they seemed to be a thing of the past.

But standards change. What may have been overlooked in the past is not necessarily overlooked now. Hence: we have war criminals now appearing in The Hague. Graham Blewitt and his colleagues have contributed to that improvement in standards.

Broadcast On Friday 19th July 2002 On Radio 2GB’s “Brian Wilshire Programme” At 9pm And On 21st July 2002 On “Sunday Night Live” At 10.30pm