Narratives of Justice In and Out of the Courtroom: Former Yugoslavia and Beyond PDF
Preview Narratives of Justice In and Out of the Courtroom: Former Yugoslavia and Beyond
Springer Series in Transitional Justice Volume 8 SeriesEditor OliveraSimic,GoldCoast,Queensland,Australia Forfurthervolumes: http://www.springer.com/series/11233 Dubravka Zarkov • Marlies Glasius Editors Narratives of Justice In and Out of the Courtroom FormerYugoslavia and Beyond 2123 Editors DubravkaZarkov MarliesGlasius InternationalInstituteofSocialStudies/EUR UniversityofAmsterdam TheHague Amsterdam TheNetherlands TheNetherlands ISBN978-3-319-04056-1 ISBN978-3-319-04057-8(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-04057-8 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014932418 © SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthe materialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerptsinconnection withreviewsorscholarlyanalysisormaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeingenteredand executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. 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Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Introduction Thisbookconsidersrelationshipsbetweencontemporarypracticesofinternational andnationalwarcrimetribunals,andthewaysinwhichcompetinghistories,politics and discourses on law and justice are being re-imagined and re-constructed, both within and outside of the courtrooms. We take discourses and practices of several international tribunals for war crimes as our starting point, and then focus on the struggleswithandforjusticeintheaftermathoftheYugoslavwars,inthreecountries: Bosnia,SerbiaandtheNetherlands. Practice-orientedscholarsoftransitionaljusticehavetendedtoanalyzeinterna- tional criminal courts, such as the International Criminal Tribunal forYugoslavia (ICTY)andRwanda(ICTR),intermsoftheirsuccessorfailureinestablishingthe factsofwarcrimes, andachievingthe‘liberalnormativegoods’ofretribution, ac- countability,deterrence,endingimpunityandreconciliation.Theseanalysestendto focusonintendedeffectsofinternationalcriminaljusticeonsocieties.Inthisbook wetrytodepartfromthisusualwayofaddressingthetopic.Wedonottreateither ‘international-legal’or‘local-cultural’understandingsofviolence,justiceorhistory asgiven,essentialorstatic.Instead,thecontributionsfocusonthedynamicrelation betweeninternationalcriminalcourtsandlivedrealitiesofthewar-affectedsocieties andtheglobalworld,andgobeyondintended orproclaimed effects. Internationalcriminallawanditscourtsgeneratebothlessandmorethantheyset outtodo.Theycreateasymbolicspacewithinwhichcompetingnarrativesofcrimes, perpetratorsandvictimsareproduced, circulatedandcontested, andintimatelyre- latedtothenarrativesofjustice,responsibilityandguilt.Inotherwords,international criminallawandthecourtsgather,andinturnproduce,knowledgeaboutsocieties inwar,theirhistoriesandidentities,andtheirrelationstothewiderworld.Butthe knowledge produced within the courts does not go hand-in-hand with that of the wider society. There, individual people and groups, institutions and organizations, andingrainedpowerstructuresproducetheirownversionsofhistory,theirownfacts andfigures.Whatinterestsusareboththenarrativeswithinandoutsideofthecourts, but also the relationship between them—the ways they co-produce each other, the waysdifferentnarrativescompeteandcontest,anddifferenttruthsareconstructed. Thus,thisbooktakesasitsunderlyingassumptionthat,whilstthecourtsandcourt cases are ostensibly only concerned with establishing the legal guilt or innocence of the accused, the very establishment of the courts and the specific trials become v vi Introduction anotheroccasiontoproduceneworutilizeexistingnarrativesaboutpastandpresent conflicts and violence and the role of various actors within them. In addressing those issues, the editors and contributors assume no single position towards the international criminal law, criminal courts in general, or the ICTY in particular. Rather, we take them all as contested terrains, showing what theoretical and geo- politicalinfluencesleavetheirmarkonspecificdynamicsincourtandintheregion, aswellasonthespecificperspectivesofthecontributors. Thediversityofthosepositionsismeant,first,toemphasizetheconstructednature ofthemeaningsofjustice,aswellastostressthepoliticalandsymbolicsignificance of those struggles. Second, we emphasize that the production of knowledge is the ultimateobjectiveofthosestruggles: knowledgethatallowsordisallowspolitical, socialandsymbolicsolidaritiesforbuildingapeacefulfutureinthepost-Yugoslav region,andfarbeyondit. Thefirstsetofcontributions,inthesectionNarrativesofLawandJusticeinthe InternationalCourtrooms,situatesthenarrativesandknowledgeproductionaround theICTYwithinalargerhistoricalandgeo-politicalperspective,analyzingtheICTY withincontemporarydiscoursesandpracticesofinternationalcriminallaw,aswell asatheoreticalandnormativesetofquestionsaboutinternationalcriminallawand justice and its engagement with different cultural, political and geographical en- vironments. It situates the war in the formerYugoslavia and the practices of the ICTYwithininternationalpoliticalandlegaldebates,andcomparesICTYpractices andnarrativeswiththoseofothertribunals,mostnotablytheInternationalCriminal TribunalforRwandaandtheSpecialCourtforSierraLeone,aswellasthehistoricex- ampleoftheInternationalMilitaryTribunalinNuremberg.Thosecontributionsshow thatproductionoflegalknowledgeishighlyentangledwithgeo-politicalrelations— bothintermsofthehistoriesofglobalandregionalpoliticalaffairs,andintermsof contemporarypoliticalstrugglesoverlegitimacy. ThecontributionbyDubravkaZarkovsetsthescenewithatheoreticalreflection on how international criminal tribunals have been part of a larger shift in thinking about war, violence and justice, which produces and reinforces knowledge about, andontologicaldistinctionsbetween,‘local’victimsandperpetratorsontheoneside and the ‘international community’on the other side. The next three articles each focusonadifferentelementoftheknowledge-producingcharacterofthetribunals. ThearticlebyDorisBusstracestherelationbetweentheuseofexpertwitnessesand theaspirationbyprosecutorsandjudgestounderstandandnarratehistoricalcauses and contexts of large scale violence, using the International CriminalTribunal for Rwanda(ICTR)asacaseinpoint.Bussshows,withspecificreferencetothecases before the RwandaTribunal, how the initially strong reliance on expert testimony andexplicitaspirationtowritethehistoryofRwandangenocidegavewaytomuch morecontestationoftheauthorityofthesameexpertsinthecourt,andamorenarrow legalunderstandingofthecourt’sremitintheverdictpromulgatedbythejudges. MarliesGlasiusconsidersthehandlingofacrimethedefiningelementofwhich is supposed to lie not in its physical manifestation, but in the underlying intent oftheperpetrator:thecrimeofspreadingterroramongcivilians.Shehighlightsthe interpretiveriskjudgestakeuponthemselvesbyaspiringtoevaluateintent.Analyzing thetranscriptsofthetrialsofRadovanKaradzicbeforetheICTYandCharlesTaylor Introduction vii before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Glasius shows how the contestation of thecrimeofterrorinparticularhasinfactservedthedefendantsindelegitimizing thetrialitself.Shethenplacesthemovefromprohibitiontocriminalizationofsuch ‘acts of terror’in the context of a shift in understanding the nature of war, from an ugly form of politics that cannot be prevented but can be constrained, to the intendedoutcomeofcriminalplansofasmallsetofruthlessconflict-entrepreneurs. ShefinallyconsidersthattheInternationalCriminalCourt(ICC)hasnotchosento criminalize‘terror’,butsketchesanunresolvedtensionbetweenretributivedesireto punishtheintentiontoinstillfearandrecognitionoftheinterpretivelimitationsof legalprofessionals. PredragDojcˇinovic´contributionsimilarlyconcernscriminalizationofthingsthat go beyond physical violence as such. He discusses the status of grand narratives suchaspan-Germanism,‘GreaterSerbia’or‘GreaterCroatia’ininternationalcrim- inaltrials.Dojcˇinovic´ arguesthatinallmajorinternationalwarcrimestrials,grand narrativesconstitutepartoftheconceptualandevidentiaryfoundationofthepros- ecution, but before the ICTY in particular, they have gone beyond ‘background information’andhaveacquiredthestatusofclear-cutforensicevidence.Theprose- cutionintheSeseljcase,currentlyawaitingaverdict,hasgonethefurthestinarguing forcriminalizationofpropagandaassuch.UnlikethecontributionsbyBussandGla- siusthatstresscontingenciesofjudicialinterpretationofpoliticalactsandintentions, Dojcˇinovic´holdsthatactsofpropagandaandincitement,andtheproductionofgrand narrativesthatcarrytheseedsofcriminalacts,canandshouldbeputontrial. ThesectiononNarrativesofLawandJusticeafterYugoslavWarsexamines‘ef- fects’ratherthanthe‘effectiveness’ofinternationalcriminaljusticeontheregion, withaspecificfocusonthreecountries:theNetherlands,BosniaandSerbia.Aswe analyzemeaningsofjusticeandproductionofnarrativesonwarcrimesinthosethree countries,wearefacedwithcontingenciesproducedbythespecificsocial-political contextsineachstate.Thecontributorsanalyzeprocessespertainingtothediverse struggles about guilt, responsibility, trauma and justice. In all five contributions, the‘local’,the‘regional’andthe‘international’areconstitutedassitesofstruggles withvictimisation, trauma, resistanceanddenial, inwhichbothrelianceuponand battlesagainstspecificmeaningsofviolenceandtheirsocial,politicalandsymbolic implicationsareatplay. Vladimir Petrovic’chapter connects the first four chapters, focused on the pro- duction of knowledge in the courts, to the second set of chapters, with a chapter that illuminates the interplay between a piece of visual material introduced in the Milosevic trial, the infamous Scorpions video, and the impact of the same video footageonpoliticsandsocietyinSerbiaimmediatelyafteritsintroductionincourt. Petrovicconsidersthecircumstancesofthevideo’screation,itscirculationandthe role it has played both in public debates in Serbia and in the international and na- tionalcourtroom.Heeventuallydispelstheideaofan“immediateredemptiveeffect ofvisualevidence”,documentingtheforensicmeaningattachedtothevideobythe ICTY,itsinitialaccusatoryfunctioninSerbia,butalsothemultipleformsofdenial thathaveaccompaniedit. Eric Gordy pans out from here, contextualising the reception of the Scorpions video in a broader consideration of how ‘the Serbian public’ has dealt with the viii Introduction memory of the war, and how the workings of the ICTY have intersected with the formationandreformationofcollectivediscoursesaboutthewarandwarcriems.He tracesthenatureofthepublicdebateatthreeconstitutivepost-war‘moments’that (could) have opened up the discussion about recognition of Serbian responsibility forwarcrimesinBosnia.ThethreemomentsarethearrestofSlobodanMiloševic´in 2001,themurderofprimeministerZoranDjindjicin2003,andthebroadcastofthe ScorpionsvideoshowingtheexecutionofcivilianprisonersinBosniabyaSerbian paramilitary unit in 2005. In reflectng on the politics of denial in Serbia, Gordy concludes,notthatdenialhasturnedintorecognition,butthatthediscoursesofdenial havechanged—fromdenyingthefactsofthecrimes,toreinterpretingtheirmeanings. ErnaRijsdijk’schapterconsiderstheconceptof‘trauma’asconstitutivenotjust of an individual, personal experience, but of the social order and national self- imagination, as well as national positioning within the international world order. SheusesseveralexamplesregardingtheinabilityoftheNetherlandsasapolityand societytoacceptresponsibilityfortheSrebrenicamassacre.Theseincludethepolit- icalrehabilitationofDutchbat,thedescriptionoftheSrebrenicaepisodewithinthe contextofanofficiallysanctioned‘canon’ofDutchnationalhistory,andtheofficial reactiontotheEuropeanParliament’sResolutiononSrebrenicacommemorationday. Sheendswithadiscussionofarecentnationalcourtcaseinwhichtheresponsibility ofboththestateassuchandthemilitarystationedinSrebrenicaisofficiallyrecog- nized,illustratingthatthepoliticalandindeedlegalstrugglewithintheNetherlands overtheroleofDutchpeacekeepersinSrebrenicagenocideisfarfromover. JasminaHusanovic’contributionchallengesthe‘transitionaljustice’paradigmas aregimeofknowledgeandpowerandthepracticesanddiscoursessurroundingthe politics of witnessing trauma in Bosnia. She makes visible some of the emergent waysofresistanceintheformofcriticalknowledgeproductionatpublicplatforms, inclassroomsandinartisticexpressions. ThechapterbyFrederiekDeVlamingandKateClarkexaminesinternationaland nationalreparationmechanisms,arguingagainstthestrictdivisionbetweenindivid- ualandcollectiveformsofreparation,thatistypicallymadeincurrenttransitional justiceliterature.Theyarguethat,inBosnia,themicrolevel—classicallypertaining tothereparationstoindividualvictims—hashardlyeverbeenaboutindividualsonly. Reflecting on specific cases, they show that, for the victims, individual claims for reparation have always had larger ‘public good’objectives: the recognition of the warcrime,ofthewrongdoingandofitseffectsonthespecificpeopletowhomthe individualorthegroupbelongs. Inbringingthesechapterstogether,wehopetocontributetothegrowingbodyof knowledgethatexaminesinternationalcriminallawbeyonditslegalapplicationsand engageswithdiscoursesonwarcrimesandpost-warjusticeassituatedinmultiple (geo-)political,social,symbolicandlegaldomains.Wehopetodrawattentiontothe contingentandcontestednatureofthemeaningsofwarcrimesandofpost-warjustice. DubravkaZarkov MarliesGlasius Contents PartI NarrativesofLawandJusticeintheInternationalCourtrooms 1 OntologiesofInternationalHumanitarianandCriminalLaw: ‘Locals’and‘Internationals’inDiscoursesandPracticesofJustice .. 3 DubravkaZarkov 2 ExpertWitnessesandInternationalWarCrimesTrials: MakingSenseofLarge-ScaleViolenceinRwanda ................. 23 DorisBuss 3 Terror,Terrorizing,Terrorism:InstillingFearasaCrime intheCasesofRadovanKaradzicandCharlesTaylor.............. 45 MarliesGlasius 4 TheShiftingStatusofGrandNarrativesinWarCrimesTrials andInternationalLaw:HistoryandPoliticsintheCourtroom ...... 63 PredragDojcˇinovic´ PartII DealingwithJusticeafterYugoslavWars 5 ACrackintheWallofDenial:TheScorpionsVideo inandoutoftheCourtroom..................................... 89 VladimirPetrovic´ 6 TracingDialogueontheLegacyofWarCrimesinSerbia ........... 111 EricGordy 7 ‘ForeverConnected’:StateNarrativesandtheDutchMemory ofSrebrenica .................................................. 131 ErnaRijsdijk ix x Contents 8 Resisting the Culture of Trauma in Bosnia and Herzegovina: EmancipatoryLessonsfor/inCulturalandKnowledgeProduction... 147 JasminaHusanovic´ 9 WarReparationsinBosniaandHerzegovina:IndividualStories andCollectiveInterests ......................................... 163 FrederiekdeVlamingandKateClark Index ............................................................ 187
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