Center Calls on United States to Take More Aggressive Actions to Arrest Karadzic and Mladic

November 23, 2005

The Center for Balkan Development applauds the constitutional reform agreements reached in Washington, D.C., yesterday by Bosnia’s three leaders but says this is not enough and urges the U.S. government to take more aggressive actions to arrest Bosnian Serb war criminals Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

“Words alone are not enough. There are more aggressive tactics that the Administration and NATO can do to ensure that these arrests happen,” said Glenn Ruga, Center for Balkan Development director. “Ten years after the Dayton Accords, Bosnia needs and deserves a unified government with strong central leadership, but its future also depends on the arrest of the two men most responsible for the terrible crimes committed during the war.”

The Center, in consortium with the international Campaign to Arrest Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, calls on the Bush Administration to:

• Declare that the arrest of Mladic and Karadzic is a top priority for the Administration;
• Allocate specific U.S. intelligence capabilities and military resources to locate and arrest Karadzic and Mladic;
• Share relevant intelligence with NATO allies and other interested parties to facilitate locating Karadzic and Mladic;
• Coordinate efforts with NATO and other European counterparts in locating and arresting Karadzic and Mladic;
• Use sustained diplomatic and economic pressure on Serbia and on the Bosnian Serb Republic in Bosnia to insure their full cooperation with international efforts to arrest Karadzic and Mladic.

Yesterday in Washington the three members of the Bosnian presidency, with the support of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, agreed to abandon the unwieldy tripartite system and adopt a single presidency by March 2006.

The State Department has also acknowledged that the arrests of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are of equal importance to the long term stability and development of the Western Balkans.

Secretary Rice stated during yesterday’s ceremony, “…America's position is clear and uncompromising. Every Balkan country must arrest its indicted war criminals or it will have no future in NATO. I am pleased that earlier today the leaders of Bosnia's Serb community stated publicly their unequivocal commitment to the capture, arrest and transfer to The Hague of Mladic and Karadzic. These are encouraging words and now they must lead to serious action. There can be no more excuses and no more delays. Ten years is long enough.”

Such support from the State Department is a positive step and such a commitment by the Bosnian Serb and Serb leaders is encouraging; but, as evidenced by past statements, words alone are not enough. Arrests must be made.

Leading up to the 10th anniversary of Srebrenica this past July, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica promised American officials that the arrests would happen by the anniversary, and of course they did not happen. UN War Crimes Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte made a statement last month at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government that the arrests will happen by the end of this year, but has offered no evidence to support her claim. Serbian President Boris Tadic claimed during a similar gathering earlier in the fall that he unequivocally supports the arrest of Mladic but also said it is not his responsibility and he does not know where he is. At a meeting last week between the Center and Undersecretary of State Nicholas to discuss the arrests, Burns confirmed the Administration’s support for the arrests but also said that it is up to the signers of the Dayton Accords to carry them out.

“The United States has invested billions of dollars in military and peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and in economic and social reconstruction throughout Bosnia. These war criminals’ continued freedom from justice stands as an insult to the victims of the genocide and to the courageous men and women of U.S., NATO, and UN forces who risked their lives for peace and justice in the Balkans,” said Ruga. “It also gives succor to those extremists who continue to obstruct the ongoing efforts to bring long-term peace and stability to Bosnia and the entire region.”

Long-term peace and stability in the region hinges on both the victims and perpetrators of war crimes seeing those personally responsible for these crimes brought to justice. The 2005 anniversaries, as they bring international attention back to the Balkans, represent an opportunity for the Unites States to finish what it began at Dayton and to deliver to the victims of aggression the justice that is due them. While it is true that the United States only has 120 troops left in Bosnia, there are more aggressive tactics that the Administration can and should take to ensure that the arrests will happen.

The Center for Balkan Development recently submitted a petition to Undersecretary Burns signed by nearly 10,000 people from around the world demanding for the arrest of these war criminals.