heritage.sensecentar.orgTARGETING HISTORY AND MEMORY - The ICTY and the investigation, reconstruction and prosecution of

the crimes against cultural and religious heritage TARGETING HISTORY AND MEMORY Dubrovnik Old City Sarajevo National Library Mostar Old Bridge Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo Unprosecuted EN | BHS ! TARGETING HISTORY AND MEMORY The ICTY and the investigation, reconstruction and prosecution of the crimes against cultural and religious heritage The ICTY and the prosecution of crimes against cultural and religious property The massive intentional destruction of cultural and religious property in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo during the 1991–1999 Wars of Yugoslav Succession was the greatest destruction of cultural heritage in Europe since World War Two. The devastation – which took place almost entirely during violent campaigns of ethnic cleansing waged against civilians in an attempt to create ethnically homogenous territories – was one of the defining features of the conflicts. Bosnia-Herzegovina was most severely affected, particularly its Ottoman and Islamic heritage. Among the most iconic images of the wars were the burning of the National Library during the Siege of Sarajevo in August 1992 and the shelling of Mostar’s Old Bridge in November 1993. While the devastation brought global condemnation, particularly attacks in urban settings, it was in towns and villages across wide swathes of ethnically-cleansed countryside where destruction was worst. That destruction was almost never collateral, a side effect of military action. The vast majority of attacks on cultural and religious property were pre-meditated, systematic, and took place far from the frontlines – rarely in isolation, but accompanied by multiple atrocities against the targeted groups. In cities like Sarajevo and Mostar, structures that symbolised or held proofs of Bosnia’s historic diversity were attacked: libraries, archives and museums. This was the deliberate destruction of a country’s and a people’s identity and memory which many have called cultural genocide. The search for justice for victims of the wars in the former Yugoslavia was to become an important testing ground for international humanitarian and human rights law, not only with regard to more commonly recognised violations, but also with respect to the protection and preservation of cultural and religious property. Cultural property has long been given legal protection in times of armed conflict, most notably with The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 (The Hague Convention), on the basis of its universal significance to mankind. However, the development of international human rights law after World War Two brought an emphasis on addressing the need for justice for victims of human rights abuses, their right to redress and reparation, and to call to account those who committed, or were responsible for, such abuses. Part of this trend was the growth of international humanitarian law that advanced more complex reasons for the protection of cultural property, among them a people’s right to enjoyment of their cultural heritage and recognition of the links between cultural heritage and identity. With its ground-breaking legal precedents, the ICTY has played a seminal role in the development of this trend. The inclusion of crimes relating to cultural and religious property in the ICTY’s Statute was an important addition to international legal instruments. However, the ICTY’s most distinctive contribution to the prosecution of crimes against cultural heritage has come through its landmark indictments and judgements which, in case after case, have established that the destruction of structures that symbolised a group’s identity during campaigns of ethnic cleansing were a manifestation of persecution and crimes against humanity. Helen Walasek Author of Bosnia and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage (Ashgate 2015) Selection of documents ICTY Statute (excerpt) The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property Second Protocol to the Hague Convention UN Commission of Experts final report, May 1994 Report on the situation of human rights, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, May 1993 Report on the situation of human rights, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, November 1993 Council of Europe Information Reports(1992-1997) Dectruction of cultural property report, UN Security Council, December 1994 Dayton Agreement Annex 8 TARGETING HISTORY AND MEMORY Dubrovnik The Old City The shelling of the Old City of Dubrovnik in late 1991 was dealt with in two indictments by the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor. The first indictment against four officers of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), General Pavle Strugar, Admirals Miodrag Jokić and Milan Zec, and Captain Vladimir Kovačević, was issued in February 2001. The second indictment was the so-called ‘Croatian Indictment’ against Slobodan Milošević, former president of Serbia and FR Yugoslavia. Of the 32 indictment counts Milošević was charged with for crimes all over Croatia, twelve related to the attack on Dubrovnik and its Old City. General Strugar was the only one of the four indicted JNA officers who was put on trial for the shelling of Dubrovnik’s Old City. The shelling itself was qualified as the destruction or deliberate damaging of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, arts and science, historical monuments, and works of art and science. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. In appeal proceedings, his sentence was reduced to 7.5 years. The indictment against Admiral Zec was withdrawn because of lack of evidence. Admiral Jokić admitted his guilt and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Captain Kovačević was found to be unfit for trial and was sent to a closed psychiatric institution in Serbia. During the ‘Croatian phase’ of the Milošević trial, the Prosecution spent three months presenting its evidence on the attack on Dubrovnik. Milošević challenged the charge that Serbia – whose president he was at the time – had anything to do with the JNA’s ‘Dubrovnik Operation’. Selection of documents Monuments in Dubrovnik Old Town European Commission Monitoring Mission Log Sheet 6 December 1992 Dubrovnik Defence Command Report 5-6 December 1991 UNESCO Report on War Damage 27 November - 22 December 1991 Dubrovnik: Significance of the Old Town Expert Report by Dr. John Allcock Minister Rudolf Letter to General Strugar 6 December 1991 War Diary of 9th Military Naval Sector 6 November - 16 December 1991 Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of the Commune of Dubrovnik Dr. Colin Kaiser (Council of Europe Information Report) Was Dubrovnik ever shelled? Testimony of Ante Marković on Slobodan Milošević trial 10 Years After Old Town Day After Judgements TARGETING HISTORY AND MEMORY Sarajevo National Library The National and University Library in Sarajevo, locally known as Vijećnica (City Hall), is undoubtedly the most important monument of the city’s Austro-Hungarian cultural heritage destroyed during the course of the 44-month siege. Opened in 1896, the landmark edifice was designed in the pseudo-Moorish style, and until World War I housed the Sarajevo city administration. During 1910–1915, it was the seat of the first Bosnian Parliament ( Bosanski sabor ). Between the two World Wars it served as the district court and city hall. After World War II, it housed the National and University Library. The shelling of the National Library in August 1992 set the building ablaze and destroying millions of books, prompting widespread outrage and condemnation by the international public. It was qualified as the ‘cultural mutilation‘ of Sarajevo and an attempt to ‘erase Bosnia’s history’. The first indictment against Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, as well as the ‘Bosnian Indictment’ against Slobodan Milošević, charged them with ‘intentional and wanton destruction of religious and cultural buildings [...] including [...] mosques, churches, libraries [...]’. The shelling and burning of the iconic building was discussed during the public...