U.S. hopeful for Mladić arrest

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Stephen J. Rapp, said that he is convinced that Serbia would continue cooperating with the Hague Tribunal. He also said that he hopes that Hague indictee Ratko Mladic would be arrested soon. U.S. hopeful for Mladic arrest At a gathering held at the Holocaust Museum in Washington commemorating 15 years since the Srebrenica massacre, Rapp said that Serbia is cooperating better with the Hague Tribunal, which has been seen in the last two years, after the change of government and the arrest of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic said. “There are very dedicated efforts by the police and security services in the search for information that would lead to the arrests of Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic …On the other side, these people have not been arrested, and work on the arrests should continue, which is important for the future of Serbia, its EU integration and participation in the Euro-Atlantic community,” Rapp told Voice of America. He said that when he last visited Serbia and Bosnia, he got the impression that a lot of effort is being put into the search for Mladic, adding that he hopes that Mladic would be arrested in the coming months. Rapp also said that institutions of international law need to be strengthened so that crimes like those committed in Srebrenica in 1995 would not be repeated. “We must remember that when these crimes occurred there was no effective international institution for implementing justice, and I am convinced that, if effective prosecutions and investigations exist, many crimes can be avoided. A society with a good system of implementing order and laws has crimes, but a lot less of them, and it is impossible for political leaders to kill millions, or thousands of people, as was the case in Srebrenica, and not be punished for it,” Rapp said.

U.S. hopeful for Mladić arrest

At a gathering held at the Holocaust Museum in Washington commemorating 15 years since the Srebrenica massacre, Rapp said that Serbia is cooperating better with the Hague Tribunal, which has been seen in the last two years, after the change of government and the arrest of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadžić said.

“There are very dedicated efforts by the police and security services in the search for information that would lead to the arrests of Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić …On the other side, these people have not been arrested, and work on the arrests should continue, which is important for the future of Serbia, its EU integration and participation in the Euro-Atlantic community,” Rapp told Voice of America.

He said that when he last visited Serbia and Bosnia, he got the impression that a lot of effort is being put into the search for Mladić, adding that he hopes that Mladić would be arrested in the coming months.

Rapp also said that institutions of international law need to be strengthened so that crimes like those committed in Srebrenica in 1995 would not be repeated.

“We must remember that when these crimes occurred there was no effective international institution for implementing justice, and I am convinced that, if effective prosecutions and investigations exist, many crimes can be avoided. A society with a good system of implementing order and laws has crimes, but a lot less of them, and it is impossible for political leaders to kill millions, or thousands of people, as was the case in Srebrenica, and not be punished for it,” Rapp said.