“SRJ wasn’t UN member in 1999”

Serbia’s lawyer's say the Hague court is not authorized to process Croatia’s charges of genocide against Serbia because the former Yugoslavia was not a UN member in 2000.

Izvor: Beta

Thursday, 29.05.2008.

15:42

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Serbia’s lawyer's say the Hague court is not authorized to process Croatia’s charges of genocide against Serbia because the former Yugoslavia was not a UN member in 2000. UN membership is a necessary condition for cases under the auspices of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the organization’s highest court. “SRJ wasn’t UN member in 1999” Heading the Serbian legal team, Tibor Varadi said that Croatia’s view today was at odds with its position in 2000, when it refused to accept that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ) had inherited UN membership from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ). The insistence of Slobodan Milosevic’s government at the time that continuity existed between the SFRJ and the SRJ, and that the SRJ had inherited the place of the former federation in all international organizations, was a result of “erroneous and stubborn” political views, Varadi stressed. He said that after the democratic changes of 2000, the new SRJ government immediately chanced its position and sought UN membership, becoming a UN member in November 2000. In response to Croatian claims that the SRJ government was involved in aggression and genocide in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Varadi retaliated citing a Hague Tribunal verdict according to which Croatian military forces had participated in armed conflicts on the territory of the neighboring and sovereign state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He said that Serbian-Croatian relations had improved significantly since the war, and asked what good it would do if the court declared itself competent for the case in the end. Serbian legal advisor Vladimir Djeric reiterated that the International Court of Justice had ruled that Serbia’s suit against NATO member states for the 1999 air strikes had been outwith its jurisdiction, on the grounds that the SRJ had not been a UN member in 1999. If the ICJ now decided otherwise, “it would be giving Serbia two different answers to the same question” of whether or not Serbia had been a member of the UN and a signatory of the Genocide Convention in 1999, Djeric pointed out. Serbia closed its case today, and the Croatian team will make its closing statement tomorrow.

“SRJ wasn’t UN member in 1999”

Heading the Serbian legal team, Tibor Varadi said that Croatia’s view today was at odds with its position in 2000, when it refused to accept that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ) had inherited UN membership from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

The insistence of Slobodan Milošević’s government at the time that continuity existed between the SFRJ and the SRJ, and that the SRJ had inherited the place of the former federation in all international organizations, was a result of “erroneous and stubborn” political views, Varadi stressed.

He said that after the democratic changes of 2000, the new SRJ government immediately chanced its position and sought UN membership, becoming a UN member in November 2000.

In response to Croatian claims that the SRJ government was involved in aggression and genocide in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Varadi retaliated citing a Hague Tribunal verdict according to which Croatian military forces had participated in armed conflicts on the territory of the neighboring and sovereign state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He said that Serbian-Croatian relations had improved significantly since the war, and asked what good it would do if the court declared itself competent for the case in the end.

Serbian legal advisor Vladimir Đerić reiterated that the International Court of Justice had ruled that Serbia’s suit against NATO member states for the 1999 air strikes had been outwith its jurisdiction, on the grounds that the SRJ had not been a UN member in 1999.

If the ICJ now decided otherwise, “it would be giving Serbia two different answers to the same question” of whether or not Serbia had been a member of the UN and a signatory of the Genocide Convention in 1999, Đerić pointed out.

Serbia closed its case today, and the Croatian team will make its closing statement tomorrow.

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