BOSNIA - SERBS AND CROATS ANGRY OVER DELIC VERDICT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001484

SIPDIS

EUR (JONES),EUR/SCE (HOH, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),S/WCI
(WILLIAMSON, VIBUL-JOLLES),INR (MORIN); NSC (BRAUN); OSD
(BEIN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ICTY KAWC KJUS KCRM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - SERBS AND CROATS ANGRY OVER DELIC VERDICT

REF: A. 07 SARAJEVO 2316

B. 07 SARAJEVO 1990

C. SARAJEVO 1236

D. SARAJEVO 1476

Classified By: Michael J. Murphy. Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (U) SUMMARY: The September 15 decision by the
International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to
acquit Rasim Delic on several charges of murder and cruel
treatment and to sentence him to just three years in prison
received prominent press coverage in Bosnia. Delic was found
guilty on one count of failing to prevent crimes committed by
mujahedin against Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war.
Bosnian Serb and Croat politicians blasted ICTY for issuing
what they described as a lenient verdict, and cited it as
evidence that crimes committed against Serbs and Croats
during the war will not be adequately prosecuted. Bosniak
(Bosnian Muslim) reactions to the verdict and sentence were
subdued. Delic was the former Commander of the Bosnian Army
during the 1992-1995 war and the highest ranking Bosniak
indicted by ICTY. END SUMMARY.

Delic Convicted of War Crimes
--------------


2. (U) On September 15, ICTY found Rasim Delic guilty of
failing to take the necessary measures to prevent and punish
crimes of cruel treatment committed by the El Mujahed
Detachment, also known as the mujahedin, against 12 Bosnian
Serbs at the Kamenica Camp in July and August 1995; the camp
was located in Zavidovic in central Bosnia. Delic was
acquitted of three other counts of murder and cruel
treatment, including the 1995 deaths of 24 Bosnian Croats in
central Bosnia, and the September 1995 killings of 52 Bosnian
Serb soldiers detained at Kamenica Camp. The court found
that Delic had no reason to know that these crimes were about
to be or were committed.

Serb and Croat Political Leaders Express Outrage
-------------- ---


3. (U) Bosnian Serb politicians reacted swiftly and
critically to ICTY's verdict, asserting that it confirmed
their long-standing charges that ICTY was biased against
Serbs and unprepared to prosecute crimes committed against
them by Bosniaks. On September 16, local papers carried
statements of Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Milorad
Dodik who lamented that "justice for the Serb victims of the
war is really unreachable," adding that the verdict "has
erased the minimum of our confidence in the impartiality of
The Hague Tribunal." On September 17, Serb member of the
Tri-Presidency Nejbosa Radmanovic was quoted in the press as
saying that the verdict sends a message that "Bosniaks who
kill Serbs and Croats will not be punished." Radmanovic
likened Delic's sentence to what one might receive for
pick-pocketing or car theft, and expressed hope that Delic's
subordinates would also be prosecuted for war crimes. Mladen
Ivanic, President of the Party for Democratic Progress,
echoed these themes.


4. (U) Representatives of the leading Croat political
parties, Croatian Democratic Union BiH (HDZ BiH) and Croatian
Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990),accused the ICTY of
treating leniently Bosniak war criminals who had committed
crimes against Croats. HDZ-1990 issued a press statement
predicting that, "in light of all previous trials of senior
Bosnia and Herzegovina army commanders" that "those
responsible for crimes committed against Croats will go
unpunished."

Bosniaks' Reaction: Subdued
--------------


5. (U) By contrast, the Bosniak reaction to the verdict was
subdued. Sulejman Tihic, President of the Party for
Democratic Action (SDA),one of the two leading Bosniak
political parties, stated publicly that his party would
refrain from passing judgment on the verdict until the
appeals process was completed. The Bosniak member of the
Tri-Presidency and President of the Party for Bosnia and
Herzegovina (SBiH) Haris Silajdzic did not comment on the
verdict. Some Bosniak victims groups made comments implying

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that they were relieved Delic had been convicted on only one
count and had not received a stiffer sentence.

Comment
--------------


6. (C) The reaction to the Delic verdict underscores the
continuing ethnic tensions among Bosnia's three main ethnic
groups and the continued difficulty each has dealing honestly
and responsibly with Bosnia's wartime past. Not
surprisingly, Serbs have cited the Delic verdict, like they
did the July acquittal (on appeal) of Bosniak wartime
commander Naser Oric, as evidence of ICTY's, and by extension
the international community's, bias against them. Croats
have not figured in the most prominent war crimes cases in
recent months, but the Croat community is also extremely
sensitive about crimes committed against it by foreign
fighters during the war. Bosniak leaders continue to refuse
to publicly acknowledge that, while they were most certainly
the war's biggest victims, their forces, particularly the
mujahedin, committed horrible crimes against Serbs and Croats.
ENGLISH