Why Hague Tribunal matters to Holland

Hague Tribunal's work is important to appease the responsibility Holland feels over Srebrenica, a Dutch analyst says. The process which is to be led against Radovan Karadzic is especially interesting to the Dutch government and public, our reporter in The Hague says. Why Hague Tribunal matters to Holland Ever since the UN war crimes court was founded, the Dutch government has hoped that Karadzic and Ratko Mladic would stand trial for the war crimes committed in Srebrenica, because Holland’s peacekeepers, who were in the Srebrenica region in 1995, are suspected of doing nothing to try and stop the massacre. Senior research fellow at Clingendael Institute Bibi van Ginkel expects that the Karadzic trial will be followed very closely in Holland. “From a political point of view, there is a great interest here in Karadzic and Mladic. In Holland we have been waiting for the two of them, so that they can stand trial for all these historical events, especially related to Srebrenica. Of course, the fact that Karadzic will be on trial now is very interesting for Holland, which will follow the trial closely,” Ginkel said. She expects that the Tribunal will try to speed up the Karadzic trial. However, the analyst believes that the process will not be finished before the planned shut down of the court's activities in 2010. “The trial will last several years, but its length will depend on the Tribunal’s strategy. I expect that they will select some of the crimes that are listed in the indictment. I think that there are two possibilities: either there will be a very pragmatic version that will deal only with the crimes that can be easily proven and would give him a long prison sentence, or it will be a big, public trial which will attract political attention, because Srebrenica and Sarajevo will be mentioned,” Ginkel said. The remaining two fugitives – Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic – are very important in this sense, she explained, adding that the pressure from European countries, especially Holland, for arresting and extraditing them will not go away. “I expect that this will not be the end of the pressure because they now think that they are successful, and the pressure will continue so that Mladic and Hadzic can be taken to the Hague Tribunal before it finishes its work,” she said. The arrests of the remaining two fugitives would also help Serbia’s European integration, according to Ginkel, who added that she believes the interim trade deal, a part of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, and the SAA itself will not be implemented until Serbia completes its cooperation with the Tribunal. “Belgrade might not have to arrest Mladic and Hadzic in order to achieve that goal, but it must show that it is doing everything in order to make it happen,” Ginkel said.

Why Hague Tribunal matters to Holland

Ever since the UN war crimes court was founded, the Dutch government has hoped that Karadžić and Ratko Mladić would stand trial for the war crimes committed in Srebrenica, because Holland’s peacekeepers, who were in the Srebrenica region in 1995, are suspected of doing nothing to try and stop the massacre.

Senior research fellow at Clingendael Institute Bibi van Ginkel expects that the Karadžić trial will be followed very closely in Holland.

“From a political point of view, there is a great interest here in Karadžić and Mladić. In Holland we have been waiting for the two of them, so that they can stand trial for all these historical events, especially related to Srebrenica. Of course, the fact that Karadžić will be on trial now is very interesting for Holland, which will follow the trial closely,” Ginkel said.

She expects that the Tribunal will try to speed up the Karadžić trial. However, the analyst believes that the process will not be finished before the planned shut down of the court's activities in 2010.

“The trial will last several years, but its length will depend on the Tribunal’s strategy. I expect that they will select some of the crimes that are listed in the indictment. I think that there are two possibilities: either there will be a very pragmatic version that will deal only with the crimes that can be easily proven and would give him a long prison sentence, or it will be a big, public trial which will attract political attention, because Srebrenica and Sarajevo will be mentioned,” Ginkel said.

The remaining two fugitives – Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić – are very important in this sense, she explained, adding that the pressure from European countries, especially Holland, for arresting and extraditing them will not go away.

“I expect that this will not be the end of the pressure because they now think that they are successful, and the pressure will continue so that Mladić and Hadžić can be taken to the Hague Tribunal before it finishes its work,” she said.

The arrests of the remaining two fugitives would also help Serbia’s European integration, according to Ginkel, who added that she believes the interim trade deal, a part of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, and the SAA itself will not be implemented until Serbia completes its cooperation with the Tribunal.

“Belgrade might not have to arrest Mladić and Hadžić in order to achieve that goal, but it must show that it is doing everything in order to make it happen,” Ginkel said.