Ad Hoc International Criminal Tribunals
BALKANS: ICTY marks 20 years of work on war crime jurisprudence
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has highlighted its legacy in the former Yugoslavia, including its overall accomplishments and challenges, its contribution to the promotion of the rule of law in the region and the mechanisms of victim and witness protection and support in war crimes trials before national courts. Created by the UN in 1990 to judge crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, violations of the law and customs of war, as well as serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions, the ICTY has indicted 161 individuals and heard more than 4,500 witnesses to date. It currently has 25 proceedings pending. During the celebratory conference, the families of victims of the Bosnian Civil War accused the ICTY of being partial and ineffective, deploring the recent acquittal of several senior Serb officials because none were convicted of crimes committed in the conflict (TPIY, 18/11/13; EP, 27/11/13) (ICTY, 18/11/13).