Radovan Karadzic, Wanted for War Crimes in Balkan Wars, Captured in Serbia

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24 July 2008 :: J.E. Robertson

Radovan Karadzic, considered one of the three “most-wanted” men in Europe, has been captured in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. He is accused of war crimes for his role in allegedly planning the murder of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica and of 12,000 during the siege of Sarajevo, during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. His alleged crimes have been officially classed as genocide by the war crimes court at the Hague, and the accusations are the worst allegations of mass murder in Europe since World War II.

Dr. Karadzic was arrested by Serb security forces at his home near the capital Belgrade, where he was living in hiding, under the assumed name Dragan David Dabic, practicing as an “alternative health guru”, disguised by a long white beard. He has evaded capture, by a variety of means, for 13 years, since he was first indicted for war crimes.

In the early days after his indictment, Karadzic was flagrantly protected by Serb authorities, who treated him and other individuals indicted for alleged war crimes as patriots and as part of the class of individuals that must be defended in order to defend the political establishment. But as other surrounding nations began moving closer to and then joining the European Union, and Serb intransigence on justice for war crimes came to be the leading reason the nation was barred from membership, popular sentiment moved away from the nationalist parties that had brought war to the former Yugoslav state.

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Karadzic nearly ran for office after his indictment, the climate was so favorable to protecting him from an international arrest warrant, and there was a threat of UN or NATO forces being converted to an arrest force, designed to capture the political leaders who had overseen the ethnic cleansing in the Balkan wars. Karadzic went into hiding, and Serb authorities for years claimed to be unware of his whereabouts. Now it was Serb authorities and a Serbian tribunal that have made his capture and charged him with 11 counts of crimes against humanity.

His lawyers say they will fight his extradition to the Hague to face prosecution for war crimes and genocide. But Dr. Karadzic has also said he will defend himself if forced to face the Hague tribunal. This course was followed by Slobodan Milosevic, who used the tribunal as a platform to denounce the western powers and the International Criminal Court itself, saying he refused to recognize their jurisdiction over his actions as head of the Serbian state.

According to a report in the Guardian’s Comment is Free:

[Karadzic's] life story reads like a movie script. Born in a tiny Montenegrin village he made it to Sarajevo, entered university, became a famous poet then finally won the presidency of Republika Srpska – not to mention global infamy for his crimes in the Balkan wars.

Above all else, though, Karadzic is a war criminal, and he became one for sheer vanity. All his achievements were not enough, he wanted power. Vanity is not a crime in itself, unless it drives you to atrocities such as ordering the extermination of almost 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica in 1995.

Slavenka Drakulić writes that:

The fact that Karadzic is finally captured is a chance for them to turn a new (although not blank) page. There will be euphoria abroad, Serbia’s new government will be hailed as brave, but it is up to Serbian citizens to see this as a chance for themselves, too. The important politicians are long dead, a number of war criminals have been arrested and it is now individuals who have to look into their own lives and their own contribution to politics over the last 20 years.

Perhaps the most important effect of this belated arrest is another one: Karadzic’s trial will reveal truths about the war. Regardless of political controversies about the international criminal cribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in every trial a piece of truth becomes evident.

How much truth, however? And how much will it do to resolve centuries’ old conflicts that underpinned the violence of the 1990s? Many people from the fractious republics of the former Yugoslavia have said they recall that prior to a deliberate campaign waged by Milosevic and his party operatives, there was not such vicious ethnic hatred among the different peoples of the region, but that they had deliberately stirred up ancient disputes in order to divide and conquer, to consolidate their power.

That sort of thing may come to light, and be clarified to some extent. Individuals linked to the crimes of which Radovan Karadzic is accused, may also be called to account for their role in the atrocities; there may be consequent prosecutions, and Serbia may choose to evolve collectively in such a way that the very individuals who claimed to be their leaders and patriots may be seen as those who brought chaos and violence into their midst.

Some European leaders have said the arrest means Serbia moves closer to the criteria necessary for first consideration as a potential future accedent to the European Union, though there is no indication of talks designed to move that process forward or to ensure new Serbian political initiatives that would fall in line with the political and judicial requirements for EU membership.