Serbia to formally sue Croatia for genocide

According to B92’s sources, Serbia will be filing charges against Croatia for genocide committed against ethnic Serbs between 1991 and 1995. The Serbian legal team has finished work on the lawsuit and will soon submit it to the International Court of Justice, (ICJ), B92 has learned. Serbia to formally sue Croatia for genocide There is already an ongoing genocide case before the ICJ where Croatia sued Serbia ten years ago. Serbia's suit, expected to be formally filed perhaps even before the end of 2009, will argue that Croatia's ethnic Serbs were subjected to genocide in the early 1990s. These allegations will be supported by the war crimes indictment issued by the Hague Tribunal and also by Croatia, against Croatian officials. The crimes committed against Serbs in the towns of Gospic, Sisak, Karlovac, Osijek, Paulin Dvor, and in Pakrac, Medak Pocket and Maslenica will all be detailed, as will those perpetrated during the Croatian attacks on Serb areas, knows as operations Flash and Storm. The ICJ will see evidence about not only the Serb victims who died up until 1995, but also those who were killed after the war and as they attempted to return to their homes, which they left as refugees. Serbia's lawsuit will also offer a historical angle as it will present the Serb-Croat relations, particularly highlighting the Second World War. It was then that mass slaughter of Serbs occurred in the death camp of Jasenovac, ran by Croatia's puppet Nazi regime, known as the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Ten years ago, shortly after the end of NATO's war against Yugoslavia, Croatia submitted its own genocide suit related to the war in the 1990s. The court rejected Serbia's argument that it had no jurisdiction in the case, considering that at the time the suit was filed, Serbia, that is, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ), was not a member of the UN. The ICJ, UN's highest court, gave Serbia until March 22, 2010, to respond to the allegations from the Croat lawsuit. The International Court of Justice (Tanjug, file)

Serbia to formally sue Croatia for genocide

There is already an ongoing genocide case before the ICJ where Croatia sued Serbia ten years ago.

Serbia's suit, expected to be formally filed perhaps even before the end of 2009, will argue that Croatia's ethnic Serbs were subjected to genocide in the early 1990s.

These allegations will be supported by the war crimes indictment issued by the Hague Tribunal and also by Croatia, against Croatian officials.

The crimes committed against Serbs in the towns of Gospić, Sisak, Karlovac, Osijek, Paulin Dvor, and in Pakrac, Medak Pocket and Maslenica will all be detailed, as will those perpetrated during the Croatian attacks on Serb areas, knows as operations Flash and Storm.

The ICJ will see evidence about not only the Serb victims who died up until 1995, but also those who were killed after the war and as they attempted to return to their homes, which they left as refugees.

Serbia's lawsuit will also offer a historical angle as it will present the Serb-Croat relations, particularly highlighting the Second World War.

It was then that mass slaughter of Serbs occurred in the death camp of Jasenovac, ran by Croatia's puppet Nazi regime, known as the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

Ten years ago, shortly after the end of NATO's war against Yugoslavia, Croatia submitted its own genocide suit related to the war in the 1990s.

The court rejected Serbia's argument that it had no jurisdiction in the case, considering that at the time the suit was filed, Serbia, that is, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ), was not a member of the UN.

The ICJ, UN's highest court, gave Serbia until March 22, 2010, to respond to the allegations from the Croat lawsuit.