Serbia, Croatia Might Withdraw Genocide Claims

An inter-governmental agreement on genocide claims between Serbia and Croatia may bring both countries better results than those expected from adjudication in front of the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said this week.

“It is important to assess what are the chances of success as well as how is it possible to get what you want without an expensive and long trial,” he said.

“In general, it is always better to solve issues with an agreement, you can maybe get even more. But this is a decision that should be made by the government,” he added.  
Croatia’s genocide claim at the ICJ dates back to the year 1999, in which the country demanded that Belgrade be made liable for punishing all perpetrators of war crimes committed on Croatian territory, return looted cultural property and pay reparations for war damages from the conflict that began in 1991.
The Republic of Croatia originally filed the suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on July 2nd, 1999, citing Article IX of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. With the transformation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into Serbia and Montenegro and the dissolution of that country in 2006, Serbia is considered its legal successor.
Answering Croatia’s charges, Serbia submitted a counter-claim on January 4th 2010, maintaining that Croatia was guilty of genocide against Serbs during the military offensive codenamed Operation Storm in 1995, which was launched to recover territory seized by Serbian forces. Its claim also covers missing people, killed people, refugees, expelled people and all military actions, dating back to its alleged World War Two persecution of Serbs by the then- Independent State of Croatia.

Josipovic’s statement came a week after the most-likely Croatian candidate for the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vesna Pusic, said that Serbia and Croatia should solve their issues with an inter-governmental agreement.

Even before filing a counter-claim of genocide, Belgrade officials were trying to reach a compromise with Croatia, they said.

“Serbia was always active in attempts to reach a settlement outside of the court, but it never had a green light from its Croatian counterparts,” says Milan Antonijevic, director of the Serbian Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights.

He said that a resolution of genocide accusations between both states would allow both governments to deal with more practical issues.

“The withdrawal of the lawsuits would mean that we all want to turn another page and face the real problems, such as property rights, war damages payment and other concrete issues,” he said.

However, a member of the Serbian ICJ legal team, Savo Strbac, says that Croatian officials in the past have already made similar statements to the one given by Josipovic and Pusic, but with no results.

“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has the sole mandate to resolve (this case) in a way that will enable true reconciliation between people,” said Strbac.

After receiving Serbia’s final claim in November this year, it is expected that Croatia will submit the final claim response, and that the main trial at the ICJ should begin in 2013.