International justice

The Providence Journal: In the view of the International Court of Justice, an overwhelming amount of evidence is needed for one nation to successfully sue another over genocide. In a historic ruling on Feb. 26 it found that Bosnia had fallen just short.
The 15-judge panel in The Hague declared the notorious 1995 massacre at Srebrenica, carried out by Bosnian Serbs, a genocidal act. Further, it said that Serbia could have prevented the killings, which claimed an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
But it refused to say that Serbia bore direct guilt.
Bosnian Muslims were understandably sickened by the decision. But the judges who ruled in the complex, first-of-its-kind case were bound by the 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide, which requires strict proof of a government's intention. Bosnia would have had to supply clear evidence that Serbia planned to annihilate Muslims simply for being Muslims.
Bosnian Muslims would argue that the evidence of their own eyes was sufficient. As the former Yugoslavia broke apart, Serbia's government exploited ethnic strife in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnian-Serb army that carried out the massacre was allied with Serbian leaders, who hoped to expand their territory. Witnesses say they saw Serb forces directly engaged in the conflict, and human-rights advocates support their claims.
Close ties
In its ruling, the International Court of Justice acknowledged the close ties. But it lacked access to war records that might have strengthened Bosnia's case. These are in the hands of the United Nations Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which has been pursuing criminal cases related to the massacre. Under a special deal with Serbia, only tribunal judges and lawyers may see this information.
The death of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic last March, shortly before his war-crimes trial was to end, frustrated many Bosnians' hopes that Serbia's role in the conflict would be made incontrovertibly clear. Now, their hopes have been dashed again.
Had Bosnia succeeded in its lawsuit, it stood to recover billions of dollars in damages. The ruling thus protects Serbia from what might have been a devastating economic blow, and a probable nationalistic backlash. However, the court did find that Serbia was obliged to turn Ratko Mladic over to the war-crimes tribunal. The Bosnian-Serb general stands indicted for crimes against humanity.