Pillay: Arrest of Goran Hadžic reinforces global fight against impunity

GENEVA (20 July 2011) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday welcomed the arrest by Serbian authorities of Goran Hadžic, the last remaining fugitive sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Hadžic, one of the political leaders of the so-called “Republic of Serbian Krajina” in Croatia during the early nineties, was indicted by the ICTY in 2004. He stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity between 1991 and 1993, including persecution, murder and extermination of the Croat and non-Serb civilian population, the imprisonment of civilians in detention facilities where torture, beatings and killing took place, the deportation or forcible transfer of tens of thousands of non-Serbs, and the wanton destruction of property in Croatia.

The High Commissioner noted that the requirements of UN Security Council resolutions 808 and 827 of 1993, which established the ICTY, were close to being fulfilled, with all those accused before the ICTY now arrested.

“A strong message has been sent today to those who commit human rights violations that they will be held accountable, if not by domestic judicial processes, then by international justice mechanisms,” Pillay said. “Hadžic’s arrest marks a watershed in the important work of the ICTY, 18 years after it was formed to render justice and redress to the victims of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.”

The High Commissioner said she expects that the momentum created by these latest developments in the ICTY will serve to strengthen existing processes and initiatives in the field of international criminal justice, not only in the region, but also elsewhere in the world. Processes related to domestic war crime trials and efforts at reconciliation and dialogue should receive a strong impetus from recent high-profile arrests, and from milestone judgments by the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

ENDS

Learn more about the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/HighCommissioner.aspx

For more information or media requests, please contact press officers Ravina Shamdasani (+ 41 22 917 9310 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org) and Xabier Celaya (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org).

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