Bosnians Convicted of Crimes Against Serbs

BERLIN — The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Monday convicted three men of atrocities against Bosnian Serbs at a prison camp in 1992, but it acquitted the Muslim commander of central Bosnian forces of ultimate responsibility for the murders, rapes and torture.

The release of wartime commander Zejnil Delalic is likely to intensify already widespread criticism that those who plotted the worst violence in Europe since the Nazi era are allowed to go free while authorities punish their underlings.

Prosecution of Delalic had been seen as a test of the tribunal’s power to hold those in high command responsible for the criminal actions of their forces. His acquittal bodes poorly for the prospects of bringing to justice the two men considered chief orchestrators of the Bosnian horrors: Serbian nationalist leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic.

War crimes indictments have been issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia against Karadzic and Mladic, but the two men remain at large in the Serbian half of war-ravaged Bosnia-Herzegovina.

While the release of Delalic angered Serbian survivors of the Celebici camp, the convictions handed down by the three-judge panel were the first to punish atrocities committed against Bosnian Serbs--the forces blamed for most of the war’s excesses.

Bosnian Serbs have complained bitterly that the war crimes tribunal has unjustly focused on their ranks, and Monday’s convictions of two Muslims and a Croat could strengthen Serbian trust in the international court.

Prosecutors attempted to include Delalic in a chain of command over the Celebici camp by showing that it was within his region of control, that he knew about it and that his forces had sent Serbian prisoners there.

Delalic denied knowing about any crimes that occurred at Celebici.

Celebici camp commander Zdravko Mucic, a Bosnian Croat, drew a seven-year sentence for having been “clearly derelict in his duty” in having allowed those under his authority “to commit the most heinous of offenses without taking any disciplinary action,” presiding Judge Adolphus Karibi-Whyte of Nigeria said in announcing the conviction.

Deputy camp commander Hazim Delic and camp guard Esad Landzo, both Muslims, received respective sentences of 20 and 15 years. Delic was charged with two murders, torture and rape, while Landzo, at 25 the youngest of the defendants and the only one to express remorse, was accused of three killings and many instances of torture.

Karibi-Whyte made clear that Delic received the longest sentence because of the rape charges brought against him. In condemning the 34-year-old defendant for “a despicable act which strikes at the very core of human dignity,” the tribunal showed its determination to prosecute rape more harshly than it has been dealt with in the past.

Prosecutor Grant Niemann of Australia vowed to appeal the acquittal of Delalic.